Time for some more perspective

[ActualSpamBot]

Well our game in Washington has a real good chance of being as close to neutral field as you can get outside of London. And the Skins have a talented, if underachieving, defense. Could be a good control for this theory.

[RedSkins Fury]

I'm happy they won. But it's also about what could and SHOULD be. The frustration is also built upon 10 waisted years... and still seeing an OC trying to pound a square peg into a round hole.

[moose10101]

Funny how ActualSpamBot laid out a bunch of stats to back up his argument, and you come in with a couple personal attacks. Hmmm

The disagreement is about the tone of the board today, not statistics. There's praise; there's criticism. I think most people recognize that this was a good game between two banged-up teams, and the Ravens did well to win.

Did you find it "painful" to read the forum today?


Edit: for the record, no, I don't care that the Ravens just tied the record for consecutive division wins. What they did last year and the year before that doesn't get them any close to the Super Bowl this year.

[Ravenswintitle]

great thread; we just played our hated rival with the #1 defense, at home in arguably a 'must win' scenario.... and WON! Who cares how they won it, they won it. Freakin awesome!!!

[pslholder96]

Right, you're not angry.

Don't you think you're being a little unfair and judgmental here? It was simply a thread started by an OP who wanted to highlight the positives. It's okay to disagree with him but don't attack the messenger, just attack the message.

[JohnBKistler]

It's like a roller coaster ride. Some folks are enjoying the thrill of the ups and downs and twists and turns, and others are yelling, "We are going to die!!!".

To each his own....

[pslholder96]

Good thread however one of the reasons why there's concern is because the expectations we all have. Now I will admit some of the negative tones on this board goes way beyond rationaliztion. I'm personally happy with the win. It was huge. It's just that we know this offense on the road can easily be the same offense at home. If we could just see 3/4 of the efficient offense at home we see on the road then maybe there would far less bickering.

[2gigch1]

Back to perspective, I've had one more thought swimming around in my mind that I'd like to voice now, and that's about asterisks.

There are some who would like to say "the Ravens won but Roethlisberger was out" as if that somehow means something. I suppose if the totality of the game was measured by 60 minutes of playing time, perhaps that argument could be made. But the reality is far greater: there is planning, drafting, practice, and strategic decisions that do not happen in a vacuum. Also you would have to be an idiot to think injuries don't factor as well, and you have to plan for them too. Football is a game where all of this matters, and all of this goes into a win.

Sure you can say Ben is a great quarterback, but you also have to know he is as high risk as he is high reward. If you roll the dice with him you may very well lose. Ben's problem is that he's beat up, and I would be worried that he would not last a season, as we see here.

So here we have situation where the Ravens may not put Flacco out there to win the game big, but he sure didn't lose it. And he's still very healthy.

The Ravens manage their game so they can take some injuries to key players and still win. Would we win in Flacco went down? Probably not. But on the other hand the Ravens didn't put him out there for years, let him get clobbered, and then wonder why he's breaking down midseason now.

Ben injured and out is a result of decisions made and damage done weeks and years ago, and that has as much to do with this win as any play on the field last night.

Those who desire an asterisk can stick that pointy little mark right up their ass.

[festivus]

It was a good game. I was glad we escaped with the W.

There are two things that matter *far* more than anything else: (1) Winning and (2) staying healthy.

We've done a good job with (1) and a fair job with (2). Sure, we always want to win elegantly and we always want to win 55-10, but concerns like that are small compared to (1) and (2).

I thought we were clearly the better team yesterday. The score was close, but the better team won. Hopefully next week we will win again. Maybe even win pretty, but I'd be happy with the win.

[Haloti92]

Back to perspective, I've had one more thought swimming around in my mind that I'd like to voice now, and that's about asterisks.

There are some who would like to say "the Ravens won but Roethlisberger was out" as if that somehow means something. I suppose if the totality of the game was measured by 60 minutes of playing time, perhaps that argument could be made. But the reality is far greater: there is planning, drafting, practice, and strategic decisions that do not happen in a vacuum. Also you would have to be an idiot to think injuries don't factor as well, and you have to plan for them too. Football is a game where all of this matters, and all of this goes into a win.

Sure you can say Ben is a great quarterback, but you also have to know he is as high risk as he is high reward. If you roll the dice with him you may very well lose. Ben's problem is that he's beat up, and I would be worried that he would not last a season, as we see here.

So here we have situation where the Ravens may not put Flacco out there to win the game big, but he sure didn't lose it. And he's still very healthy.

The Ravens manage their game so they can take some injuries to key players and still win. Would we win in Flacco went down? Probably not. But on the other hand the Ravens didn't put him out there for years, let him get clobbered, and then wonder why he's breaking down midseason now.

Ben injured and out is a result of decisions made and damage done weeks and years ago, and that has as much to do with this win as any play on the field last night.

Those who desire an asterisk can stick that pointy little mark right up their ass.

I don't care about the asterisks in terms of taunting Steelers' fans.

Nor do I view the win at less than 100% of a win.

But in terms of gauging our own performance in that win, it absolutely matters that Ben did not play. Why? Because the Steelers starting Leftwich all year, in my opinion, win like 6-7 games tops. In other words we barely beat an average-at-best team on the road last night. Can we do anything but play the team that is put in front of us? No, of course not. Is beating (barely, or otherwise) an average team on the road still an accomplishment? Yes, of course it is. But it isn't the same as beating a good team on the road, which would have been an even better, more-encouraging performance (like at Pittsburgh last year).

[Shambla]

"[we're] a pissed off 8-2 because we've got to get better, and the only way to get better is to chase perfection."
- Ray Rice

"We know we can play better"
- Terrell Suggs

If the players aren't 100% satisfied with the team's performance why can't fans hold the same opinion? As Rice put it, you have to chase perfection and I think the criticisms against the team are about finding areas for improvement to mold a perfect team.

Personally, I'll take a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh and overall I'm happy with this team. Only two things disappointed me last night - the playcalling (there's a whole thread for that), and Rice's performance. He's performing worse than the average back against Pittsburgh and if it's simply a mismatch for him why not let Pierce get some more action?

My motto for this year has been "9-7 Giants". We've had the pretty regular seasons for a while now, but all that really matters is getting in. It's more a less a crapshoot once the playoffs start.

[rharris1986]

Delusional perspective! The Ravens will never get to the Superbowl with Cam Cameron calling the plays.

[Jsmoove]

A perspective would be that Pees has finally started to utilize the pieces on defense to the best of their ability, I like we jammed Wallace and Sanders at the line and let Pollard play at the LOS with help setting the edge andd then have in lurking the open field to lay the hammer on WRs. I like how he Reed (after getting caught cheating up) played disciplined the rest of the game. He's rotating in guys at their strength, with Kruger on passing downs, Upshaw on running downs. The special teams have been huge since the Dallas game, Jacoby is becoming a force on returns. Cam cannot keep calling these kinds of plays or else we will be sitting at home after our first home playoff game. 3 AND 2 you can't go shotgun, when you have Vontea Leach, Ray Rice and Benard Pierce. On 3 AND 1 you could use a QB sneak, bootlegs, slants, seam routes, some kinda creativity. You can't score 6 points on the road against teams in late December and January and expect to win games.

[Ravenswintitle]

Delusional perspective! The Ravens will never get to the Superbowl with Cam Cameron calling the plays.

How long did you cry after they won the game? I know it just burns you up every time they win

[iggyman555]

i dont think the fans are mad we only won by 3 points...most people i spoke with are upset about the offense and particularity the questionable play calling. ill take the W any day tho

[rharris1986]

You really do need to seek immediate medical attention. I'm really flattered that you follow me so intently. I would have thought that those private photos of me that I sent you would have calmed you down. Clearly that's not the case.

How long did you cry after they won the game? I know it just burns you up every time they win

[Ravenswintitle]

You really do need to seek immediate medical attention. I'm really flattered that you follow me so intently. I would have thought that those private photos of me that I sent you would have calmed you down. Clearly that's not the case.

weak. You are on record saying you hope they lose every game; pathetic. Your obsession with a freakin coordinator is pretty sad

[pslholder96]

Delusional perspective! The Ravens will never get to the Superbowl with Cam Cameron calling the plays.

Still hoping the ravens lose the rest of their games?