Here we go again against another undefeated team and man, I am pumped!! I know the Ravens are going to come out fired up and play hard the whole game and get this win. Three losses in a row have really killed us and the blame should be on the defense. I hope they practiced hard this week and I want to see them play with intensity in this game. We need to apply defensive pressure on Orton and I want to see Kelly Gregg get a sack this game. I know our offense will do well because it has done well all year. This game is all about the defense. Kyle Orton is a very good QB and has many targets and we have to get to him early to help out our corners. I'm hoping our corners play well this game and I want to see Frank Walker redeem himself. I know we will win this game because we have to and there is no way Ray will let this team lose. So lets go!
Here's the problem - good luck getting any pressure on Kyle Orton and the Broncos. He has been sacked only 9 times and the offensive line including Ryan Clady are very talented.
We can't handle the other teams with Mattison's schemes, I don't see how we are going to break through a very good offensive line to apply pressure with the front 4 that Mattison will send all game. If a win is coming, our offense is going to have to show up against their defense.
I am praying that Mattison got an earful from the Head Coach about his schemes and lack or blitzing. Mattison had better realize quick the Ravens are a pressure Defense that blitzes almost every play. He has not been doing that all year and it obvioulsy shows. If he doesn't get it together on Defense NOW, he will not be back next season, period......
We can't handle the other teams with Mattison's schemes, I don't see how we are going to break through a very good offensive line to apply pressure with the front 4 that Mattison will send all game.UNLESS someone sat down with Greg and said "Look, we cant pressure anyone with 4....its ok to run 4-3 defense, but we need to bring more people to pressure....we need to disguise our blitzes...we need something to change, because this doesnt work.....do that or lose your job."
Seriously, if he made adjustments to get pressure on the QB like our defense (which consists of almost the exact same personnel as the #2 defense from last year does) and has decided to mix up the looks a little, then we have a good chance to win and continue winning.
And if Mattison continues to call defensive plays like he has been, without any changes to the scheme at all, then we might as well all start getting our mock drafts together for 2010, because we might win 4 more games.
The talent is there, it just needs to be utilized correctly.
I hear you. I was planning on making another topic about schemes and such since most of the topics we get now are someone reposting articles from the Ravens website.
I am not optimistic at all about the remainder of this year. There is so much talent on both sides of the ball that we really could have made a run to the Super Bowl. Instead, terrible coaching decisions are going to ruin us. We are looking at possibly the last year of Derrick Mason. Ray Lewis and Trevor Pryce are not getting any younger. Samari Rolle is already done, and who knows if Kelly Gregg is going to get back to his old form. We have the offense to win now with a better defensive personnel than last year (yes our secondary is better - Frank Walker is not a starter).
Instead, we have a defensive scheme that doesn't fit us at all. Look all around the league and you see how vital defensive coordinators are to the success of teams. The Broncos, Saint, Cardinals, and Jets are just examples of teams that got a new scheme and identity and are paying huge dividends. We were spoiled by Brian Billick picking incredible coordinators and staff, and we never appreciated it until now when we see the new defensive product on the field.
This is just sad. I am 50/50 on the Broncos game. It can go either way. At the same time, we are going to get demolished by the Colts. If Peyton Manning could dice up our old defense, he is going to have an absolute field day throwing to receivers and tight ends that get wide open as he has all day to scan the field.
Broncos then Bengals...100% true....but the Ravens need to focus ONLY on beating the Broncos this week....its essential to us attempting to get back on track. If we can do that this week, then we can go refocused into Bengals game and making a strong 2nd half run. If we go into the Broncos game with no new defensive tactics, then the Bengals game might not be so big after all....because our season might be on its way down the tubes thanks to a horrible defensive coordinator wasting a great wealth of talent on defense, and a head coach too stubborn to see that he is wasting the best offensive personnel that the Ravens have EVER had by letting this defensive crap continue. Clarence Brooks for DC...or anyone else for that matter.
I'm really not feeling too confident about this game. I know we had an extra week off, but so did the Broncos.
It just seems to me that the Broncos are built to take advantage of our weaknesses. They protect Orton, and we have problem getting to the QB. Orton is only an average QB, but has pretty good WRs. Marshall is a BIG WR, and will probably eat our corners up.
The match that I'm interested in seeing is our O versus their D. One or the other is gonna have to give.
I'm not throwing out a prediction, but it wouldn't surprise me which ever way this game goes.
Your defense better wake up when you come into Cincinnati. The Bengals got their offense going, and they have a week to watch video and prepare. Everything started going on all four cylinders, with Carson Palmer and Cedric Benson handing the Bears and their so-so defense a wooping. Obviously, if you lose to the Bengals again, you can almost certainly kiss the division title goodbye.
Obviously, this game is not a shoe in, and if we would have struggled or lost to the Bears I would be far less confident, but the Bengals are hella resilient. Plus, it looks like we are going to get Roy Williams and Andre Smith back. Smith could very well open up the run game even more for Benson, which could spell doom. If we can continue to dictate the game on the ground, it would be a long day for you guys. Still, anything is possible when you have Ray Lewis out there. You just need to figure out who you are offensively.
Your defense better wake up when you come into Cincinnati. The defense better wake up period.
But, since this is the Ravens-Broncos thread, I would rather have it wake up this week and stay away, than have it wake up just for Cinci.
You just need to figure out who you are offensively. That, right now, should be the LEAST of the Ravens worries....if we get some kind of defense resembling last years defense, then we should be in good shape. If we dont fix the D, it doesnt matter what our offensive identity is, because we wont be able to stop anyone.
I hear you. I was planning on making another topic about schemes and such since most of the topics we get now are someone reposting articles from the Ravens website. Glad someone else noticed, i haven't posted on these boards at all recently, as i saw no decent threads starting up nor did i have the urge to create a thread due to my heart still being on the fritz since last sunday.
to the game at hand.
This team talent wise is good but their strength lies in their coaching, O and D co-ordinators are doing one hell of a job, they have two deep threats in Marshall and Royal, royal has amazing acceleration and turn of direction, he can not be allowed to be given to much space, i look them throwing the ball up for brandon all day, we can talk about how to protect against the deep ball or how we can assign defenders to contain said recievers but at the end of the day; we need preasure.
there is no way on this forsaken planet that anyone is going to convince me that Kyle Orton is the second coming, he is still good old kyle, we can rattle him, take him out of his comfort zone, blitz the hell out of him and often. we can not let our secondary cover these recievers for 5-7 seconds, we will be absoloutely demolished.
this leads me of to the bigger problem at hand, which some have adressed. Their O line is amazing, Ryan Clady imo was one of the Rookies of the year last year and he is a product of his position meaning, if he was anything but and performed to that level he may have won the award. Moreno is young, he has shown promise, and our RUN D is no longer reliable, we need gregg to step up or we should let Brandon McKinney get the snaps, we need to start collapsing the pocket. start using players such as jameel in their right positions, let that man rush the edge, he is NOT an ILB.
their D is playing great, with dawkins at SS running for the big gains may be a difficult feat but its doable, if we get them on the back foot we have a good chance to put up some solid numbers, this game however truely lies on our front 7 on D, if we can get preassure it hink we can win, if we cant then things will start to look bleak.
I agree about the defense.. the play calling definately needs to improve also need to get that secondary woken up back there as well..maby a couple hours before the kickoff instead of giving the players gatorade they should be given a big batch of Jolt Cola or something..thallt gettem moving quickly..
I'll be honest, I'm suprised with all the negativity on the boards lately. I agree that the defense hasn't been good this year, but everyone is talking and sounding like the season is over. The Ravens are 3-3 and have a lot of season to play and have a great chance of getting into the playoffs. I would understand the negativity if the Ravens have been blown out of their 3 loses, but they lost by 6, 4, and 2 points and had the opportunity to win all three games.
Let's not give up on this team; all the defense needs to go is get into the top 12 and our offense will take care of the rest. We were in the same situation and looked what happend last year, AFC championship.
i completely agree with ravens01 ... the past three losses are agonizing but they were only really painful b/c we lost by such little margin... a few plays go the Ravens way and we're 6-0... im not optimistic about the ravens chances of winning either but at this point of the season, this is where we see which teams become contenders and which are pretenders... on week to week basis ANYTHING can happen and i highly believe the ravens play best when they have their backs against the walls ... if 3 three losses in a row like this doesnt wake them up .. then i really dont know what will.. hey the bright side is if we waste this season by losing and not making playoffs, we'll get a good draft pick in a deep/talented draft this year... and theyll finally realize mattison is NOT an NFL coordinator and fire him .. or he'll have a full season of nfl experience under his skin and he'll get better.. although i kinda doubt that and i would rather have him fired lol..
my bigger concern is after this year... some teams might start lookin at cam cameron as head coach again.. maybe actually take a chance on him with the way he helped Joe Flacco .. or actually this whole offense develop.. who woulda thought this offense was guna be top ten while our d is 17th.. its actually a realll strange feeling .. i dont know about u guys.but i NEED to see this D become dominant again .. it just makes sense.. its whats right.. its what ive been accustomed to the past 10 years when i first started watchin the Ravens .. i feel like something is terribly wrong when the defense doesnt play up to its potential .. lol.. a feeling i cant explain but im sure all die hard ravens fan know what im talkin about..
I dont think its the fact of fans giving up, I just think some are coming back down to earth. When we were 3 - 0, it was like people were already planning their superbowl party. The last 3 loses have brough us back to reality, and that football is a long season. You will have your ups and downs. With that being said, we have a tough 2nd half, and probably need to go 7 - 3 in our last 10 games to make the playoffs. We'll see if the team can bounce back.
there is no way on this forsaken planet that anyone is going to convince me that Kyle Orton is the second coming, he is still good old kyle, we can rattle him, take him out of his comfort zone, blitz the hell out of him and often. we can not let our secondary cover these recievers for 5-7 seconds, we will be absoloutely demolished.
Are you sure you want to blitz a team that makes their name off short, quick passes and screen plays? I'm sure there's some thinking by this claim... but what makes you say the best plan against the Broncos is playing to their strengths. We want Kyle to get rid of the ball quickly, you're only helping that by putting fewer guys into coverage and more on the blitz. Although I am worried about Trevor Pryce... There's been some pretty big revenge games this year.
I'm hoping our corners play well this game and I want to see Frank Walker redeem himself.
We just signed Mitch Berger this week... As long as Walker doesn't spit in his face again.. We're fine. Otherwise, Berger is completely liable for one good gut check or helmet bashing.
We've struggled against the screen game... Ray Rice has to win this game for you. trano- If you remember, we were struggling against the screen against the Cowboys, Patriots, and the Chargers, but in the 2nd half of each game, you could see Denver's D swarming to the screen. It was almost like clockwork when the Chargers went to a screen in the 2nd half, you could see the DLine pulling out of their attack and swarming to the ball carrier.
OK, Ravens fans... your team is very good and you still have a very good D. When you have Ray Lewis and company, your day is not going to be easy.
I just don't see your WR's getting open enough or your running game getting your Offense going. I see the Ravens scoring 13 points. I also don't see your DB's covering all of our WR's, TE's, or RB's on passing plays. We have plenty of weapons and Orton is hitting them all with 1 INT all year. Broncos score 30.
