Fret over Ravens? Why? NFL stands for 'not for long'

Super article. If it wasn't true, you might be hailed as a great football mind. Sometime reality is right in front of us but our need to be identified with a winner is also there as a barrier to the truth and block us from just enjoying a sport.

Flacco had A lousy day against the colts.......goihg to sleep with the ball in his hands against the stealers didnt help either......and its not like he didnt have a lousy day against the Titans....a lousy day that wasted an outstanding effort by the leauges best defense who showed the Titans and the rest of the league who really has the best defense in the NFL....only to be sabatoged by lacco and it'Stover. Im not frayed because they lost to the colts...... I fully expected them to lose to the colts......just like I fully expect them to lose to the dolphins and everyone else except the raiders.as long as he remains the starter....I'm upset because Ozzie Newsome and the braintrust either couldnt understand or just didnt care that this would be the case.....that told me they were more interested in securing their supposed ''quarterback of the future'' than givng the leauges #2 run defense the secondary upgrades it needed to get back to being the leauges best overall defense .....even though it has kept this team competitve for the last eight years.No quarterback or the desire for him should have overshadowed that....but obviously Ozzie and the Ravens front office dont appreciate or respect what Ray Lewis and this defense has accomplished over the last eight years....how much more evidence would one need after last season that Mcalistr and Rolle were done.....and if the raiders fel like washington was their weak link why would newsome think he would be his stopgap....corey ivey on Reggie Wayne.... are you serious ?

Well the NFL wanted to be the sports league of "parity", seems it has become a "parody" of itself. Go Joe Flacco!

Pete,I'm glad you said "guessing a win" over the Fish this week because I still remember the announcing from last year's Florida game and all the Ravens fans that left disappointed.How can you be even a little confident after the Colts just put a whipping on us?I don't see this one as a soft game anymore but maybe Joe Flo will wake up better under the Florida sun and throw only 2 ints and Yamon Noodles will figure out what a lane looks when he's running(?)Sorry for some gloom here,I love the Ravens but they need their home fans more than ever to succeed on the field,I bet.

4-12, 3-13, 1-15 == Rookie records for John Elway, Peyton Manning,and Troy Aikman respectively. My gut tells me that Joe Flacco's rookie record will be better than any of those three. Let's evaluate things at the end of the season, not in mid-stream

Well said Petey.

Peter-
What a great column. The best one written since the loss on Sunday. 100% true. Everyone just needs to chill the !@## out. If you can't handle the growing process, then turn off the TV and check back in 2010.

We are all pretty much in agreemwnt. It's a "wait til next year", year. Although it's still very exciting. Out of the 5 games so far 4 have been very entertaining. Some were killers, but greatly entertaining non-the-less. Go Ravens!

Finally a sensible article that is right on the money. I love the Ravens just as much as anyone and hate when they loose but some fans need to CHILL OUT!!!! Its the short-sighted "win now" mentaility that has hurt us in the past.

Patience is not a virtue of some Ravens fans such as Rob from Las Vegas -> so quickly to blame everything on the QB because then it would be "easy to solve". However, all three losses were team losses caused by some flailing on offense and some major breakdowns in defense.

THIS IS A YEAR TO GROW! The Ravens had no chance of winning the Super Bowl so lets chill out so that we can have a solid QB for the future.

Everybody seemed to forget that Manning missed the entire off season due to kne surgeries. The reality was the Colts first 4 games were his and his receivers "preseason" games and the Ravens were unfortunately the first "regular" season game. The Colts could very well go 9-2 the rest of the way. That offense is dynamite and nobody has receivers like theirs. For the ravens, of course Flacco is going to have these games, he is a ROOKIE, but he shows he has the tools to go on to better things.
Now Troy Aikman (R) after 5 games, 0-5:
78comp 144 attos 1045 yds 4 tds 8 ints

Peyton Manning(R) after 5 games, 0-5:
78comp 152 attps 819 yds 4 tds 7 ints

And my boyhood hero;
Johnny U after 5 games(mid season) 3-2:
77 comps 142 attps 1390 yds 6 tds 7 ints

Seems like Flacco is a little better in some aspects and a little worse in some, in other words, just a rookie. I always preferred the exhilaration of a roller coaster ride instead of a merry go round.

Let's Go Flacco

Amen, Peter. People need to realize this is a transition year. Regardless of what Angry Dragon will come on here and say it is. Harbaugh even said as much in his presser the other day. He said that "it's not about wins" or something to that effect for this year. It seems that everyone but a select group of fans around Baltimore realize this. Enjoy the good games but don't get too down for the bad ones. I watch the games from start to finish looking for positives to take from them. The naysayers turn them off at halftime and have already made there minds up that the Ravens are garbage. Although Sunday's loss was tough, the other games were very enjoyable and I think Flacco took some positive steps in the second half of the Colts game. I expect for that to carry over into the game this Sunday. Go Ravens.

OC John wrote:

Super article. If it wasn't true, you might be hailed as a great football mind. Sometime reality is right in front of us but our need to be identified with a winner is also there as a barrier to the truth and block us from just enjoying a sport.

Something I've been saying for so long. Just enjoy the fact we have teams, for crying out loud. This applies to the Orioles as well. We are so fortunate. Yes, winning is the goal, but if you can't enjoy the the ride, what's the point? I enjoy the Ravens and the Orioles all the time. Win or lose!

Flacco is a rookie, it takes three years to learn and be comfortable with an NFL offensive system if your a vet. He is just getting started, must be that instant gratification thing, new QB, okay, now we get a Super Bowl. We lost three games, can him..get another...go, go, go,...just doesn't work that way. It's like having a new guy at the register at McDonald's, the line will be backed up for while until he gets it's down.

Ravens have NO shot at the Super Bowl, so just relax and let your QB. develop and enjoy the game...it's just a game.

bird brained wrote:

Everybody seemed to forget that Manning missed the entire off season due to kne surgeries. The reality was the Colts first 4 games were his and his receivers "preseason" games and the Ravens were unfortunately the first "regular" season game. The Colts could very well go 9-2 the rest of the way. That offense is dynamite and nobody has receivers like theirs. For the ravens, of course Flacco is going to have these games, he is a ROOKIE, but he shows he has the tools to go on to better things.
Now Troy Aikman (R) after 5 games, 0-5:
78comp 144 attos 1045 yds 4 tds 8 ints
Peyton Manning(R) after 5 games, 0-5:
78comp 152 attps 819 yds 4 tds 7 ints
And my boyhood hero;
Johnny U after 5 games(mid season) 3-2:
77 comps 142 attps 1390 yds 6 tds 7 ints
Seems like Flacco is a little better in some aspects and a little worse in some, in other words, just a rookie. I always preferred the exhilaration of a roller coaster ride instead of a merry go round.
Let's Go Flacco

Very true. Another thing to remember is that Aikman and Manning both had young, star in the making receivers to throw to. Irvin came into the league a year before Aikman and Harrison two years before Manning. The Ravens need to go out and get a guy that Flacco can grow with as his go to guy.

The Ravens lost the game because they approached the Colts with the wrong systems on both sides of the ball.Peyton Manning faces Cover 2 practices that teaches him to get rid of the ball quickly and his experience in that system.So when we tried with a 46 defense,he was ready for it because that system is not designed to stop him.The Colts defense was designed to stop Manning and it should have been easier for them to stop the Ravens.I think our running game is still good but it wasn't designed for the very fast Colt's defense.All eleven Colt defenders are fast to the ball.I think Rex Ryan should develop a cover 2 scheme to go with that 46 defense.

Rob wrote:

Flacco had A lousy day against the colts.......goihg to sleep with the ball in his hands against the stealers didnt help either......and its not like he didnt have a lousy day against the Titans....a lousy day that wasted an outstanding effort by the leauges best defense who showed the Titans and the rest of the league who really has the best defense in the NFL....only to be sabatoged by lacco and it'Stover. Im not frayed because they lost to the colts...... I fully expected them to lose to the colts......just like I fully expect them to lose to the dolphins and everyone else except the raiders.as long as he remains the starter....I'm upset because Ozzie Newsome and the braintrust either couldnt understand or just didnt care that this would be the case.....that told me they were more interested in securing their supposed ''quarterback of the future'' than givng the leauges #2 run defense the secondary upgrades it needed to get back to being the leauges best overall defense .....even though it has kept this team competitve for the last eight years.No quarterback or the desire for him should have overshadowed that....but obviously Ozzie and the Ravens front office dont appreciate or respect what Ray Lewis and this defense has accomplished over the last eight years....how much more evidence would one need after last season that Mcalistr and Rolle were done.....and if the raiders fel like washington was their weak link why would newsome think he would be his stopgap....corey ivey on Reggie Wayne.... are you serious ?

For the record the Raiders have one of the better defensive backfields in the NFL. Remember their Defensive Coordinator is Rex Ryan's brother. Do you really think that the Raven's would've traded for Washington without Rex getting the scoop from his brother? Washington is a solid cover corner. Lito Sheppard isn't starting in Philly right now but I would trade for him in a heartbeat. If the Ravens thought they could contend this year they probably would've gotten a corner in the second round of the draft. There were plenty of good ones still available at that time. I expect that they will concentrate on upgrading that position in this years draft.

ann wrote:

<quoted text>Something I've been saying for so long. Just enjoy the fact we have teams, for crying out loud. This applies to the Orioles as well. We are so fortunate. Yes, winning is the goal, but if you can't enjoy the the ride, what's the point? I enjoy the Ravens and the Orioles all the time. Win or lose!

Ann they are very nice comments, by a very nice lady. Athough I agree with you, I see the Orioles as a " we've waited long enough while Andelos has destroyed the Great Oriole Magic and stuff his poickets ar the expense of the orginazation and fans".

The Ravens should start using 3 and 4 wide reciever sets and 1 check down rb to be able to move the ball against cover 2 sets.Sometimes it's not the players that loses games but the systems that have to face each other.Actually,I think that we have enough to make the playoffs but we have to switch systems to get there.The only system I think you can slow Peyton Manning down with is a cover 2 and cover 3 defense or any type of zone defense but the people playing the zone must be very alert.

good article. i even fell into the "we are a playoff team" mantra after the first two weeks. let the boys play and learn. we've had worse teams than this that showed no upside at all. this team has an upside, i believe. and a long one.