He will start the game, but then whoever has the hot hand will get the carries. Basically a starter in name only, after the first carry, he’ll have to earn more.

He had seven carries for 17 and two catches for 2 yards. By my calculation that’s nine touches for 19 yards.

1. Chris McAlister put his ego before the team and played on an injured knee. I commend his heart, but he was hiding the extent of his injury from our coaches. It wasn’t until after he was burned for two (at least) touchdowns that Harbaugh realized how bad he really was. He hasn’t started a game for us since Indy.

2. Our other corners were burned too. Fabian Washington, Samari Rolle and Dawan Landry were already out during the Indy game. Corey Ivy and Frank Walker could not cover Wayne, Harrison and Clark. Manning torched our secondary all game. Most of his yardage was from receivers running simple go-routes that our corners could not cover.

3. The Ravens could not run the ball, and Flacco was still developing. This is where Indy legitimately beat us. Indy stacked 8-9 guys into the box all game and shut-down the run. They also blitzed those 8-9 guys every play, and Flacco was repeatedly sacked. It wasn’t until late in the game that the Ravens changed their game-plan. With Flacco in the shotgun, the Ravens moved the ball much easier, but it was too late.

Again, Flacco did not play well in this game. He has learned alot since then and is playing at a high level now. McAlister’s injury caught us with our pants down. The secondary was already depleted and there weren’t any adjustments that they could make with the personnel available.

to the cowboys/redskins. Over the years there have been some really great cowboys teams that have just floundered against some truly terrible skins teams. For some reason, the Ravens do not do well against the Colts. I don’t know how, but it seems like the Colts are specifically designed to match up well against a Raven/Steeler style of team. I really don’t like the idea of facing a Colts team in the playoffs that has beat both us and the Steelers. Plus, Flacco was still a rookie then. I would love to see that game played today.

their in our head…we all have those and it takes years to change it..when mannong retires.

I cant remember if it was on this blog or not. But someone made a good point about the whole Passing situation with us.

Teams arent running the ball on us (we have 1352 rushing yards this season, compared to 576 yds from the opponents against us. We are out rushing them by 776 yards), so when they are passing that much there are bound to be some breakout plays. But with an interception every now and then you make the QB nervous and get the momentum back in your teams favor. So regardless of how many passing yards they are getting on us, we are still winning the game. Which is what is important… so we’re doing something right on offense and defense.

we haven’t beat a team with a winning record

Miami Dolphins

Although I agree with your overall point that we still needs to face down the tough teams. However, overall, this team has played very well in 6 out of 7 games.

The Ravens would be a Wild Card playoff team facing the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium.

I wonder what the preseason line was for top QB rating in the AFC North. It’s crazy to think Joe has a chance to end up the divisions top QB this year (in regards to QB rating and record). Really unbelievable when you factor in that starting game one it was a rookie (Joe), and three pro bowl QB’s (DA, Carson, and Burger). Our boy is really growing up.

Roethlisberger – over last four games (?), 1 TD pass and 8 int’s!

I like the Giants. They’ve participated in my two absolute favorite superbowls during my superbowl watching life. As for undressing Eli, everyone’s done it, now he’s gotten himself together and you have no reason to complain.

We’re playing around with Big Ben, but I’ll put up the Joe Flacco of the past four games against anybody. And being asked to do more should make your offense better theoretically. I wouldn’t say Flacco’s been getting the kiddie playbook though. He likes the curl and out patterns (but with Derrick Mason as a WR who doesn’t) and gets the ball to his RBs in the passing game (with Cam Cameron as OC, who doesn’t) but he’s been throwing it deep and over the middle as well.

Troy Smith runs our version of the gimmick offense. It’s a bit different than other packages because it often just has Troy Smith lined up as a RB with Joe Flacco handing the ball off to him. However there are a lot of different things that can be done, especially HB option plays. Troy Smith actually completed a 43 yard pass to Joe Flacco. It was awesome. You’ll see Smith for as few as 3 and as many as 9 plays against the Giants.

Flacco is in no way being babied like Billick did to Boller for all five of his years here. Flacco has grabbed ahold of the playbook and is a great study. Based on our playcalling, I don’t see much to indicate he is being given the “kiddie” play book.

The main reason I can think for Zona to trade Boldin is that they can’t afford to pay him and Fitz. Also, because of Breaston’s emergence they might feel the money can be spent better elsewhere. He wants a new contract and his play this year has backed up his demands. It is a long shot but he is #1 on my wish list, and probably my favorite non-raven player. He would be a perfect fit on our O, and would bring some of the same toughness and intensity that our D brings weekly. I think Ozzie would strongly consider giving up our 1st rounder (pick ~20 or so) and next years 4th to get him. I’d do that in a heartbeat. It’s also too bad you can’t do sign and trades b/c Bart and a second or third rounder might get it done. Boldin, Flacco, Rice, McClain, and our young O-LIne would have our offense set for years to come.