OK, I don't have a ton of stats to back this up, but why does Sam Koch not make the Pro Bowl? Shane Lechler is a great punter but Sam Koch has 38 punts inside the 20 yard line and Lechler has only 26. I wish they had a stat for most punts inside the 10 or 5 because I bet he is the leader in that as well. Which is more important, longer punts or pinning the offense back?

I am feeling that this town has more negativity even with a 9 and 4 record. I agree that there are a lot of issues, but hey 9 - 4 is still a really good team. I'm so tired of 105.7 and Mike Preston thinking they know it all AFTER THE FACT. So, I thought we should have a positive only post! I will start.

1. Sam Koch - This guy deserves to be in the Pro Bowl. Just look at last night's game. He pinned the Texans inside the 10 all night and on the last punt in OT, he drove the punt returner back 20 yards before he was tackled around the 5 setting up the Ngata rush which set up the Josh Wilson INT. We also need to mention Cary Williams, David Reed and Marcus Smith for getting down there and making tackles.

2. David Reed - KO Return for touchdown. Let's hope whatever the cops found in his apartment was legal and he's able to keep up with the success. At least he wasn't on video smoking a bong like Miley Cyrus.

3. Josh Wilson - However you and Mike Preston want to grade the secondary, give it up to Josh Wilson for making some big plays. The Texans had a TD on the first drive swatted away by Wilson and of course, the TD in overtime was huge.

4.?

Remember, no Cam Cameron complaining allowed!

Yes, the Steelers pulled out the win. Fair and square. No complaints about refs or any whining. I do want to give it up to the Ravens fans for showing up in full force. Of the 10 plus Ravens Steelers games I have been to, that was the smallest Steeler crowd I have ever seen.  2 Steeler fans behind me said they paid $425 a piece for lower level seats which is also a win for Ravens fans because they helped our economy. I would guess there were about 500 Steeler fans. "No means no" was very loud also!

The Ravens were in control for the better part of the game and did not take advantage of a long pass to Stallworth or a long punt return by Webb. The defense played its best game I've seen since Rex Ryan and did it against a very capable 9-3 Steelers team. I'm not going to yell at Harbaugh for not kicking the FG. (Like Mike Preston who always seems to be a genius after the fact...) They said it was out of his range so I'm fine with that. Flacco is an NFL QB and has to be able to adjust to secondary routes and make that pass to Dickson. He throws that accurately, Dickson would have probably made it to the 25 yard line out of bounds. Flacco also needs to know where Troy Polamalu is at all times and needs to call an audible, shift protection, hell run a freakin QB sneak. ANYTHING but getting blind sided. Oher was blocking down but really didnt have full responsibility for Harrison and should have picked up Troy. With McClain, they maybe run the ball 2 more times and either bring the clock down to the 2 minute warning or get rid of Steeler timeouts. Who knows... Tough loss but don't make this to be a season ending game. With Heap and McClain in the game, I think Ravens probably would have played better and hopefully this loss will motivate them for the rest of the season.

Who's ready? I had already started thinking of the Steelers as I was walking out of the stadium.

Of course, Steeler fans will use the excuse that we only beat them because Ben Roethlisberger  was suspended. Oh well... The Ravens beat the Steelers defense with a winning touchdown to TJ. Not Ben Roethlisberger.

This game is huge for both teams but I look at it being important for the Ravens because if they can get a win, they will own the tiebreaker over the Steelers (as well as a one game lead).  

Say what you want about the Steelers getting lucky against the Bills, but the Ravens were also fortunate that the Bills fumbled the ball and we were able to hit a field goal to win the game.

Injuries...Le'Ron McClain, Michael Oher, Dawan Landry. Hopefully all 3 will be back. The Ravens offense changed with McClain out but credit Ray Rice (and O-line) for getting the yards at the end in a single back formation. Without Landry or Zbikowski, we saw Nakamura and Hamlin back there. They did ok, but were in there on Tampa's touchdown drive.

DEFENSE...Can our secondary contain Ben Roethlisberger and can we get to him? We did better at stopping the run holding Blount to 55 yards. We weren't able to get Freeman down and let him get away a few times but also contained him. It seems like we usually struggle with passes to the middle of the field. Tight ends and Welker-like receivers seem to get open in the middle. Is this LBs, DBs, or defensive play call? No matter what, we need to get to Ben.

OFFENSE... Will we have Chris Chester and Michael Oher on the field? I hope so. Fumbles cannot happen (McGahee) and forced throws resulting in INT's. Flacco was 24 for 37 with 256 yards and a game winning touchdown. He seemed to go to Mason A LOT yesterday. Almost as if to either go after a certain DB or to show that Mason and Flacco and friends again. For the most part it was a success but I would love to see a few more balls thrown to Boldin if he's not being double covered. He is explosive after the catch. Also, we mostly used McGahee instead of Rice. Will that happen again?

I love Ravens - Steelers week! GO RAVENS!

http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/2010/11/16/ravens-bucs-flexed-to-415/

More time to... ______________________(fill in the blank).

I personally will enjoy watching some 1PM games that I never get to see.

This is the first flex move for the NFL. The game will be on Fox. It's hard to believe that the Bucs are that good but Josh Freeman is proving to be a solid QB. Hopefully, we can take care of the rest of the NFC South.

Did anyone else find it painful to watch the broadcast on NFL Network? Between Joe Theismann, Matt Millen, and Bob Papa, you would have thought that they were either all the proud father or happily married to Matt Ryan. (Which I don't think is legal is Georgia?) They even had home video! Granted, he did play very well but at some point SHUT UP! Really that was worst part, they talked way too much. Theismann was Captain Obvious and they just had too much extra conversation. I'm pretty sure there is a reason Theismann was canned at ESPN. He is so annoying! 

Anyway, good game. Tough loss but I was glad to see was responded in the second half. Didn't think the refs helped us out. Facemask on Suggs was terrible. The Jenkins ball didn't look like a catch live and the replay showed that it moved around as he was going out of bounds. Roddy White's offensive pass interference was so obvious that even Joe Theismann saw it. That would have knocked them back 15 yards to put them at the 48 yard line with about 20 seconds left.

Also, as much as Thursday night games can be a negative for a very short week, the bright side is now we a good bit of time to rest and prepare for the rest of the season, almost like a mini bye.

Go Ravens! (and Patriots this weekend...)

Reports are indicating that Ben Roethlisberger is trying to reduce his suspension to 3 games from the 6 games that Goodell handed out. As a Raven fan, I am torn. Part of me would be happy to see us Play Ben in week 4 so the Steeler fans can't use that as an excuse when we beat them. The other part of me knows it would be much easier to beat the Steelers without him.

My main problem is why do you give a suspension for 6 games and then reduce it months later. No matter what he has done since the suspension, it does not change what he did to receive the suspension. I think if you say its 6 games, then its 6 games. Thoughts?

Quoting coach Harbaugh... "Bad snap."

What is everyone thinking of Katula? He has been listed with a forearm injury and lately seems shaky with his snaps. I hate to question the guy because he has been very dependable for us and does a good job of making tackles sometimes as well.

Also, give credit to Sam Koch for recovering some of the snaps.

I guess it's a little late to do anything but try to fix the problem but it is a concern.

ESPN and NFL make it look like the Jets and the Broncos would get in but Jamison Hensley reported on Baltimore Sun that if the Ravens beat the Raiders, they will win.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2009/12/ravens_still_control_own_playoff_future.html

What is the official scenario? I saw something on Pittsburgh's site saying the Ravens would be in with a win.

I know that the Ravens blew it today and that I should be venting about that but I was hoping someone could clear this up. Thanks!

OK... So I made it to the final four despite having Jerome Harrison (72 points) and Michael Bush (32 points) on my bench. Now I need to figure if I should start these 2 who are playing each other or should I stick with...

Darren Sproles (7 pts)
Brandon Jacobs (14 pts)
W/R/T Hakeem Nicks (9 pts)

Any thoughts if these 2 will have anything close to the same results this week playing each other?

Also, glad the Ravens didn't sign McCalister. Sounds like he would be a cancer. Lets get Suggs & Co. to give us one heck of a pass rush knock Ben down.

Also, lets hope that we have fixed the flags. No stupid ones at least. If Frank Walker is beat and the guy will score thats ok, but no false starts, offsides, illegal shirts, too many men in huddle.. Oh and a punt return without a hold or block in the back would be great.

GO RAVENS! Anyone heading up there? I thought about it but last year's AFC Championship was horrible. They treated us so bad I don't think I will go back. We never said a word and they called us every name in the book and threw beer on us. Losers.

Sorry... I know this isnt that important of a post. But, anyone else at the game notice the Star Spangled Banner? Being a music teacher, I thought it was hilarious. Miashio (spelling) Miller must have been told to try and time the banner with the flyover, but it he made the performance leading up to the flyover pretty memorable.

At first, within 2 lines, I noticed he was singing way too fast. Then, by the middle he was singing in slow motion. Anyone else catch that? Would love to see a video of it.

I wonder who made the decision to do the Anthem after the players get to the field. I understand that it is probably a good thing to have the players out there for it.

It reminded me of the movie Mystery, Alaska where Little Richard sings it slow to make the NY Rangers cold.

Just a random thought...

 I also enjoyed seeing John Harbaugh try to get the fans up during the game. Reminded me of when Denver's McDaniels did it after the win against NE.

Go Ravens

I am just curious what other people's thoughts are about her. She has been really annoying lately in my opinion. It is almost like she is Willis McGahee's agent. "I believe that Ray Rice is NOT the best running back on the Ravens". "If Willis McGahee had the same amount of touches, he would be doing just as good if not better." IS SHE CRAZY!!!?

The other thing that drives me nuts is when she says that her "sources" have told her something. I think she talked about Brandon Marshall everyday this summer. It is my opinion that she has no sources other than her gut feeling and the ESPN ticker.

Would someone please get it through her thick head that right now, Ray Rice is the best back the Ravens have and should be on the field as much as possible.

Hey folks. It took me forever to figure where Rexx went. But it's nice to be back on here talking about the Ravens. I had to get away for awhile after that trip to Pittsburgh. (About 8 months...)

OK.. So did anyone else feel like deja vu last night watching the Titans play defense. When Pittsburgh came to town last year, we did the same exact thing. Rush 4 (a tired 4) drop back and cover. Arizona also did that as well. It is very simple in my opinion. Cover all you want but you cannot give Ben 7-10 seconds to throw a football.

Tennessee was dominating all game on DE except on the drive at the end of the half and then completely switched gears into a passive cover team. I understand that the Steelers went no huddle, but that doesnt mean you have rush only 4.

Thoughts?

See you Sunday, Im in section 150 this week. Bruce (Rex), I may try to make it over to your tailgate if you dont mind.

"There are 2 fouls on the play. False start, #71, offense. Personal foul, roughing the passer, blow to the helmet, #55. By rule, we'll disregard the false start, and only enforce (stumble with words) the roughing the passer. 15 yards, first down."

Roughing the passer a.k.a. slap on the arm.

Where were you when this happen and what did you scream, throw, punch etc?

Go here to watch the video.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29589&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&season=2008&week=REG5

Again, I am not making excuses because our defense could have stopped them.  They needed 6 as we were up by 4 but that was so bad of a call.  If it was a false start, why did the play even happen. They ALWAYS jump in and blow the play dead except for that play. Kerry Collins got a pass off and everything.

Say what you want, but our team is better.  You replace the rookie throws Flacco made with the throw aways that he made last week. You replace the poor officiating with a crew that wont screw up a call (one would hope) with a national TV audience watching, you continue to run the ball well with McGahee and McClain getting a combined 115 yards and the defense holding the Titans to a combined 48 yards from Johnson and White ETC and the Ravens will get a win.  Maybe a big special teams play as well. Maybe a big play from the Suggs package. I like the Ravens this time around.

What is everybody's thoughts on the cheapest way to get to Miami.  I am not much of a traveler other than trips to Western MD or DC.

What about any charter buses filled with Ravens fans?

Again, this is just for a nice trip south during the winter cold. Nothing to do with the P word.

I have seen some good deals on Craigslist for an event gathering at Dolphins Stadium but was curious about flights, bus, etc.

Thoughts???