Ravens better than last year?

[JDM]

Ray Lewis was a shell of his former self. The leadership will hurt but the on field play will be better.

 

[briz almighty]

Ray Lewis was a shell of his former self. The leadership will hurt but the on field play will be better.

its how he plays the game, yes he has slowed down but his attitude and aggressive style on the field rubs off onto his teamates and transforms the way the team plays. it was the same with rodney harrison on the pats. with these guys on the field the team plays nasty and physical and aggressive. without them it slips a bit and is noticable, the whole unit just doesnt bring it the same. that can be the difference from a great defense to one that is average. you might have a young talented rookie that can step in and play well but unless they have the same attitude ray lewis or rodney harrison had they will not influence the players around them.

 

[PATSOX08]

never be topped!


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOhJawoc5-Y]Look on Ravens Players Faces when Cundiff Misses Field Goal Funny - YouTube[/ame]

 

[mcro_rave_2001]

never be topped!


Look on Ravens Players Faces when Cundiff Misses Field Goal Funny - YouTube

Too bad the Pats couldn't seal the deal for the AFC that year....What's it feel like to have your favorite team lose a SB?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Ravens D is better than last year and if you have to lose players, lose WR's..

My vote. Ravens back to Superbowl

Yep...the Redskins with Deion, and Bruce Smith et al were better too...on paper...didn't translate to the field. I say solid, but not better.

 

[mcro_rave_2001]

Yep...the Redskins with Deion, and Bruce Smith et al were better too...on paper...didn't translate to the field. I say solid, but not better.

it won't be hard to make the Ravens defense better than last year, hell their defense was ranked 17th, and well that really bad for the Ravens. I want them to get back and win the SB but lets face facts it's damn hard to do, so i doubt they will be i'll be rooting them on

P.S............Steelers Suck

 

[ATL96Steeler]

it won't be hard to make the Ravens defense better than last year, hell their defense was ranked 17th

17th is not bad...middle of the pack basically.

Repeating is hard, but so is trying to plug in so many new starters. I think the DEF will be solid due to the DL if Ngata is healthy.

I think the OFC will struggle more...Money is shrugging off the Boldin loss, but I don't see his replacement...Smith is not it...he's Mike Wallace except maybe not as good.

 

[Money]

I see where people are coming from when discussing the loss of Lewis from an intangible standpoint. It is absolutely true that he has made those around him much better football players. He instilled a sense of fearlessness in those around him when going into a game. This was especially valuable when the Ravens went into tough games on the road. His leadership will be very hard to replace. You can say the same thing about Ed Reed (who's leadership was overshadowed by the more outgoing Lewis).

There are, however, several players who are ready to step up from a leadership standpoint. Experienced players who have learned from Lewis and Reed. Players like Suggs, Webb and Ngata. They also brought in a player who has been a leader and great locker room presence his entire career in Daryl Smith. I happen to feel, however, that the bulk of the leadership will come from the offensive side of the ball. Flacco and Rice have already stepped up in this regard. Torrey Smith has also shown signs of stepping up.

Nobody can replace Lewis and Reed (Flacco won't be doing the chicken dance to "Hot in Herre" before games) and there will certainly be a different dynamic, but I feel that's actually good. How many teams repeat success by simply standing put and not making any changes?

 

[mcro_rave_2001]

17th is not bad...middle of the pack basically.

Repeating is hard, but so is trying to plug in so many new starters. I think the DEF will be solid due to the DL if Ngata is healthy.

I think the OFC will struggle more...Money is shrugging off the Boldin loss, but I don't see his replacement...Smith is not it...he's Mike Wallace except maybe not as good.

yea, i wasn't a fan of Boldin when he was in Baltimore. He had a hard time getting separation from DB and was always covered with a blanket. Every throw Flacco made to Boldin had to be perfect or in a place where it was a jump ball. Boldin was great at bringing down jump balls but that was about it. SF fans will see what i'm talking about this year.

 

[cdumler7]

Health is a factor for all teams. But assuming they're healthy, I think the Ravens have the best D by far. And Ngata & Suggs aren't "coming off injuries." They played in the Super Bowl, plus they had the entire offseason. Webb will have had over a year to recover by week 1 (I think).

Right now with the DL of the Bengals being what I would consider the best DL unit in the NFL I would take that defense over the Ravens anyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

The Bengals have a good D. No question. I'd give the Ravens the edge though.
Plus I have no faith in Andy Dalton.



They didn't do enough to replace him though IMO. They have one elite pass rusher, but that's it. I really liked the DRC signing, but overall the defense has far less talent than the Ravens' D. They're still great on offense, but overall I'll go with the Ravens. JMHO. I could be wrong; we'll see...

You're right that Houston could do some damage (especially with Deandre Hopkins), but I have no faith in Matt Schaub.[/QUOTE]

They are coming off injury in that both of those guys were a shell of themselves for the most part last year. Yes both played through the injuries but it doesn't take away that neither of them produced less than what they usually do on a given year.

I trust Dalton more than most of the young quarterbacks as he is not a flashy quarterback but plays smart and makes plays. Now that they have a few more weapons around him this year I expect that offense to take the next step from the year before and I honestly think the Bengals could be the 2nd best team in the AFC right now.

The Broncos replaced Dumervil with Shaun Phillips who had 9.5 sacks in his own right last year and that was without having an elite pass rusher on the opposite side of him. They also drafted a pretty darn good kid in Quanterus Smith. They have Wolfe entering his 2nd year so should be better than last. They drafted a guy in Sylvester Williams to help add pressure up the middle. We shall see I guess whether that is enough to replace Dumervil's absence but I am inclined to think so.

Houston you are right they will go as far as Matt Shaub can take them. I still like that Defense though to be one of the few that can shut down the elite offenses in the league and have an offense that can at the very worst be a good ball control offense and keep games close.

 

[Money]

17th is not bad...middle of the pack basically.

Repeating is hard, but so is trying to plug in so many new starters. I think the DEF will be solid due to the DL if Ngata is healthy.

I think the OFC will struggle more...Money is shrugging off the Boldin loss, but I don't see his replacement...Smith is not it...he's Mike Wallace except maybe not as good.

People didn't see Todd Heap's or Derrick Mason's replacement either. I'm not shrugging off the Boldin loss, but every successful team loses good players. The Ravens feel like it's better to lose a player a year too soon than a year too late. They feel like they can replace 80% of Boldin's production at 20% of his cost. I agree. You then rely on players like Smith, Pitta, Jones and Dickson to make up that lost 20% of production between them.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I see where people are coming from when discussing the loss of Lewis from an intangible standpoint. It is absolutely true that he has made those around him much better football players. He instilled a sense of fearlessness in those around him when going into a game. This was especially valuable when the Ravens went into tough games on the road. I happen to feel, however, that the bulk of the leadership will come from the offensive side of the ball. Flacco and Rice have already stepped up in this regard. Torrey Smith has also shown signs of stepping up.

How many teams repeat success by simply standing put and not making any changes?

Two excellent points...going into tough road games...one thing you knew about the Ravens with Lewis...the DEF was going to show up...he wouldn't have it any other way...I don't think Flacco or Rice will get the DEF juiced (pardon the pun) like he did.

Changes...I think the changes were smart. PIT should've done that after the loss to GB and they would be a stronger team today imo...But, I just don't think you can change that many parts on a team and not miss a beat.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

People didn't see Todd Heap's or Derrick Mason's replacement either. I'm not shrugging off the Boldin loss, but every successful team loses good players. The Ravens feel like it's better to lose a player a year too soon than a year too late. They feel like they can replace 80% of Boldin's production at 20% of his cost. I agree. You then rely on players like Smith, Pitta, Jones and Dickson to make up that lost 20% of production between them.

True..., very true about a year too soon vs a year too late much like NE...Colbert could learn something in that regard.

IMO, it's not so much the production...sure SOMEBODY will be catching passes from Joe. It's the toughness he displayed in the middle of the field...I have to see that from Jones & Smith...maybe they get it from Dickson & Pitta as you say but you still have to see it.

 

[cdumler7]

True..., very true about a year too soon vs a year too late much like NE...Colbert could learn something in that regard.

IMO, it's not so much the production...sure SOMEBODY will be catching passes from Joe. It's the toughness he displayed in the middle of the field...I have to see that from Jones & Smith...maybe they get it from Dickson & Pitta as you say but you still have to see it.

To add to that a little bit not only his ability to go across the middle but his ability to be tightly covered and still make the catch. Last year especially in the playoffs when Flacco would feel the pocket collapsing his first reaction was to just throw it in Bolden's direction knowing either he will come down with it or at least will keep the defender from coming down with it. I have a hard time seeing Smith or Jones be that type of player. Pitta could definitely become that kind of safety valve for Flacco but other than a few games last year Pitta was "average" at best.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I have a hard time seeing Smith or Jones be that type of player. Pitta could definitely become that kind of safety valve for Flacco but other than a few games last year Pitta was "average" at best.

That's been my point here...sure they can replace Boldin's receptions. Smith has proven to be a Steeler killer and is good at what he does best, basically a deep ball guy. Jones is a 3rd WR at best. What I see teams doing (certainly what I would do) is bracketed Smith and forcing somebody else to beat them.

 

[Nyfan1980]

Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are huge losses. Both are playmakers and leaders. Their defense was worse without Lewis than with.

 

[catchbluefish]

Its hard to tell how good the ravens are going to be based on their roster this year. You can argue they certainly did a good job of filling most of the holes from departures with younger and talented players, but, the ravens didn't win the SB last year because they had the most talent. In fact, I think that, given the age of a lot of their key players and a lot of the injures, they were closer to the bottom of the group of teams that made the playoffs than the top.

The ravens won for 2 reasons" (a)for whatever reason the sum of the combination of players on the team played better than the individual parts and they got hot during the end of the season (b) the most important reason: flaaco had one of the best run, if not arguably the best playoff run in nfl history, certainly during the SB era.

Are they going to be able to duplicate that and is flacco, who I always thought was going to have a break out season at some point? I would argue that it is pretty unlikely (not that flacco is going to ever go back to his first few years in the league) but time will tell

 

[NinerSickness]

They are coming off injury in that both of those guys were a shell of themselves for the most part last year. Yes both played through the injuries but it doesn't take away that neither of them produced less than what they usually do on a given year.

I trust Dalton more than most of the young quarterbacks as he is not a flashy quarterback but plays smart and makes plays. Now that they have a few more weapons around him this year I expect that offense to take the next step from the year before and I honestly think the Bengals could be the 2nd best team in the AFC right now.

The Broncos replaced Dumervil with Shaun Phillips who had 9.5 sacks in his own right last year and that was without having an elite pass rusher on the opposite side of him. They also drafted a pretty darn good kid in Quanterus Smith. They have Wolfe entering his 2nd year so should be better than last. They drafted a guy in Sylvester Williams to help add pressure up the middle. We shall see I guess whether that is enough to replace Dumervil's absence but I am inclined to think so.

Houston you are right they will go as far as Matt Shaub can take them. I still like that Defense though to be one of the few that can shut down the elite offenses in the league and have an offense that can at the very worst be a good ball control offense and keep games close.

I'm with you on Quanterus Smith; I thought he was a great pick. I wasn't a huge fan of Sylvester Williams, but he's still a good DT IMO.

But I don't think Shaun Phillips "replaces" Dumervil in the pass rush dep't. And the fact that he went to the Ravens hurts Denver even more, which is why a big reason why I'm going with the Ravens.

 

[cdumler7]

I'm with you on Quanterus Smith; I thought he was a great pick. I wasn't a huge fan of Sylvester Williams, but he's still a good DT IMO.

But I don't think Shaun Phillips "replaces" Dumervil in the pass rush dep't. And the fact that he went to the Ravens hurts Denver even more, which is why a big reason why I'm going with the Ravens.

It is not a matter of Phillips is the only replacement for the loss of Dumervil. They added 2 DT's that should add pressure up the middle, Wolfe should be better in year 2 as it does take some time for DT's to catch on in the NFL. They added Smith in the draft. Ayers starting in Dumervil's spot isn't that great at getting sacks but he is decent at causing pressure. Von Miller I know people think well how can he be even better than last year well from what I understand has actually added about 10-15 pounds in the off season and is still as fast as he ever was. Throw in this is the first time in 8 years the Broncos will have the same Defensive Coordinator as the year before so players are not having to learn a whole new scheme.

I agree Dumervil going to the Ravens definitely helps that defense but he is a huge liability in the run game. So he replaces Kruger and will be better as a pass rusher but will be worse as a run stopper. I just think you look at that Ravens defense and see so many new faces and have to wonder some if they are going to struggle especially at the beginning of the season. They will have pretty much 7 new starters on defense and it has come out recently that they are thinking about putting Webb on the PUP list to start training camp. I guess for me I would rather take a defense with less question marks and better proven success the year before (ranked 3rd compared to 17th for the Ravens) at this point.

 

[NinerSickness]

I agree Dumervil going to the Ravens definitely helps that defense but he is a huge liability in the run game. So he replaces Kruger and will be better as a pass rusher but will be worse as a run stopper.

Possibly worse than Kruger, but as an OLB in a 3-4 his run responsibilities aren't as much as they are as a 4-3 DE. That's why he's a better 3-4 OLB than a 4-3 DE IMO.