Baltimore Ravens Team Needs Analysis
Even after heading to the AFC Divisional round in the 2009-2010 playoffs, the Baltimore Ravens still find themselves with holes in their roster. Every team in the NFL has holes to fill when their season finally comes to an end, but one of the most talked about teams with this subject during the off-season will indeed be the Ravens. How are they going to be able to allow Joe Flacco to take the next step? How will the pass coverage improve? What is the best way to up the low sack total from last season? So here are the Ravens top 3 positional needs for 2010.
1. Wide Receiver
- The fans of the Ravens and everyone within the organization believe that they have found their Quarterback of the future with Joe Flacco. Now the next step in allowing for Joe to be as good as possible is to surround him with players who can make big plays and be more efficient in moving the ball. At the moment, the only WR under contract is Justin Harper, a WR who saw no action this season. Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Kelley Washington and Demetrius Williams are all Free Agents in some way. It is very likely that we see maybe 1 or 2 of these guys returning next season. Ozzie Newsome and crew must address this problem first and foremost in order to allow Flacco to win those shootouts that the Ravens have had serious trouble with in the past. There are some key Free Agents on the market this year such as Brandon Marshall of Denver, Malcom Floyd of San Diego and even Terrell Owens of Buffalo. This years draft does not seem to have so much first round talent, but the 2nd and 3rd rounds will definitely be WR heavy. Expect the Ravens to be aggressive in Free Agency while adding depth and more targets early in the draft.
Other needs after the jump.
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The Saints Went Marching In!
The New Orleans Saints put the finishing touch on an unimaginable season with 3:12 left in the game as CB Tracy Porter picked off a Peyton Manning pass and sprinted 74 yards for the back breaking and game sealing TD. After the Indianapolis Colts couldn't score from the five yard line with under a minute to play, the Saints just needed to take a knee for one play in order fo rthe victory to become official. Then the celebration began, in Miami and on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
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Super Bowl Sunday
Finally, after two full weeks of hype and daily updates on Dwight Freeney's ankle, it's game time! While the game will start sometime around 6:15pm, the ads will be as much a focus for many people at paties across the country and all around the world. Due to the crippling snowstorm on the east coast, many people will sit at home and perhaps make this event the most watched Super Bowl and television show of all-time.
SBNation is hosting a network-wide 'Open Thread,' so click here to go there to join in and post your thoughts along with fans of every other NFL team, although the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints blogs will be obviously hosting their own 'Open Threads.'
As far as the game itself goes,...
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Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith Lead the 2010 Class into Hall of Fame
Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith lead the way for five others as inductees for the 2010 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining Rice and Smith are guard Russ Grimm, CB Dick LeBeau, RB Floyd Little, DT John Randle and LB Ricky Jackson.
Rice and Smith are the NFL all-time leaders in receptions and rushing yards, respectively. They also own an assortment of records almost too numerous to list in this story. They were easily expected to be voted in, but the other five were nowhere near the shoo-ins that both Rice and Smith were.
Check out the story and breakdown of the inductees on NFL.com. Major congrats to all of these great NFL stars.
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Bisciotti's Voice Heard Amongst Owners
At the Baltimore Ravens year end press conference the other day, owner Steve Bisciotti was outspoken about what was coming down the pike for the owners and players as a result of the expiring Collective Bargaining Agreement. He spoke about how the current agreement has other owners who "are making less money than their linebackers."
He went onto state that unless something could be worked out before an uncapped year goes into effect in 2011, the owners would be put into a position of locking out the players and threatening the future of football. He spoke about how some teams are forced to "tarp" up 10,000 seats in order to make sure their home games are not blacked out on local television.
Biscitoti's words have since resonated throughout the league and the media.
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Four Ravens Make NFL's "All-Decade Team"
The NFL released their version of the All-Decade Team and four Baltimore Ravens, two each on offense and defense, were honored by their selections.
2000s NFL ALL-DECADE TEAM ANNOUNCED
The NFL’s annual Pro Bowl is a celebration of the season’s best. The 2010 version is also a chance to honor some of the decade’s biggest stars.
The complete 2000s NFL All-Decade Team was revealed during a special Pro Bowl edition of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown earlier today.
Twelve players named to the 2000s NFL All-Decade Team competed in the Pro Bowl before a sellout crowd in excess of 70,000. Broadcast live on ESPN at 7:20 p.m. ET from Sun Life Stadium, the Pro Bowl will for the first time be held prior to the Super Bowl and serve as the signature kickoff event of Super Bowl week.
All-Stars from the Super Bowl competing teams will not participate in the Pro Bowl, but they will attend the game and be honored as part of the pregame festivities. Three of those players have also been selected to the All-Decade Team: quarterback PEYTON MANNING and defensive end DWIGHT FREENEY of the Colts and safety DARREN SHARPER of the Saints.
The NFL All-Decade teams are chosen every 10 years by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee members. The 2000s will mark the ninth All-Decade team to be selected in NFL history.
This decade’s 53-player team will be comprised of two quarterbacks, four running backs, one fullback, four wide receivers, two tight ends, four offensive tackles, four guards, two centers, four defensive tackles, four defensive ends, six linebackers, four cornerbacks, four safeties, two kickers, two punters, two kick returners and two punt returners. Two head coaches have also been chosen.
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Baltimore Beatdown at Ravens Year End Press Conference
For those of you who caught the Baltimore Ravens year end Press Conference live on TV today, you might have heard me ask a question about the possible future induction of former Ravens owner Art Modell into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Those of you were weren't so lucky can either watch it on replay, online and just check out some of the comments here and on the earlier FanPost that some loyalists to The Beatdown have already posted.
As an invited member of the media, I was able to sit, watch and participate in the Q&A with the Ravens owner, Steve Bisciotti, GM Ozzie Newsome, Head Coach John Harbaugh and Team President Dick Cass. After the conference was over, some gathered at the front of the room for an informal conversation with Bisciotti for more comments on the team.
Apparently, my topic of Modell's induction into the Hall of Fame was a popular one.
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Baltimore's Roots in this Super Bowl
Not talking about the obvious relationship that Baltimore has with the Colts of yesteryear when they were so affectionately known as the Baltimore Colts, there are more than a few long reaching roots between the two teams in Sunday's Big Game and Baltimore. Then there are some amazing comparisons between the histories of the two Colts' franchises, whose balance is actually riding on the outcome of the Super Bowl.
On a general note of roots with the two teams, the Indianapolis Colts' Head Coach, Jim Caldwell, has to the chance to be the third rookie coach in NFL history to win the Super Bowl and the first since San Francisco 49ers George Seifert in 1989. The first rookie head coach to ever win the Super Bowl was the Baltimore Colts' Don McCafferty in the 1971 game when the Colts' Jim OBrian kicked the 32 yard game winner with seconds left in regulation to beat the Dallas Cowboys in a turnover-fest, 16-13.
Wait, the best comparisons are yet to come:
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