This summer the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers spent nearly a week together between the preseason game and the joint practices at Ravens headquarters in Owings Mills, MD. The sessions were deemed efficient and more productive by nearly everyone involved – particularly the Harbaugh brothers.
The brothers were practically giddy over the “family reunion”, so much so that there was talk about the Ravens heading west to be guests of the 49ers during training camp.
With Jim’s departure to Ann Arbor, MI that idea is DOA.
The Ravens could benefit from Jim being in the college ranks. As he develops his program at Michigan the Ravens can expand their intel pipeline to the university to perhaps be on par that, that they share with Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
There’s been a lot of talk on the airwaves, on message boards and in blogs about the spoiling of the Baltimore Ravens fan base. And really there’s no denying it. It’s a natural progression as fans’ teams enjoy consistent success.
Think back to the arrival of Brian Billick. In 1999 the Ravens had their first non-losing season, finishing 8-8. That felt like a great achievement, considerable progress. And with each newly discovered rung on the ladder of achievement expectations are reset. When those expectations aren’t met, disappointment sets in.
Go to the playoffs five years in a row and make it to the AFC Championship in three of those postseason appearances and expectations soar. Fall short, and let the pity party begin.
Sometimes a little perspective is nice. Two world championships in 14 seasons aren’t so bad. Just ask the fans of storied franchises like those in Buffalo, Cleveland, Minnesota and Philadelphia.
Some fans have read my criticisms of Joe Flacco and now label me a Flacco hater or a Mike Preston wannabe. Mike does a great job being Mike, and he’s a good guy, but no thank you.
“Hater” is a term tossed around freely and applied liberally – and oftentimes inaccurately. My business, this website, my livelihood are all in large part tied to the success of the Baltimore Ravens. I LOVE the Baltimore Ravens. Anyone who has ever watched a game with me knows that I LOVE the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens know that I LOVE the Baltimore Ravens. It’s why I never went into the press box when I had access because I couldn’t watch the game without emotion, which is exactly what the NFL wants from press box visitors.
I criticize (and praise by the way) the play of Joe Flacco as I see it. You don’t always have to agree with me. I don’t mind. I care about Joe Flacco. I want him to get better just like you do. He needs to get better because if he doesn’t the Ravens won’t get better.
And when he doesn’t get better, or any player for that matter, it’s my job to say so.
One of the comments in a blog posted by Nick Bucher yesterday titled Flacco Puts Exclamation on Best Season posed a question to me about Joe Flacco. The commenter asked which QB’s in the NFL I would trade Flacco for.
Interesting question for sure.
To answer, I’ll assume there are no cap implications. Rarely do we see players traded for players in the NFL. The majority of trades are for draft picks and the cap heavily influences that thought process.
So, I first thought about which quarterbacks I think are better than Joe. Those include: Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Russell Wilson.
But to trade Flacco, I’d need to consider upside and longevity of career. And for me that reduced the number to these three: Luck, Rodgers and Wilson.
The Ravens secondary has played much better as of late and they’ve climbed from the 30th ranked pass defense to the 24th ranked pass defense. Will Hill is beginning to find his way and grades out at the 16th ranked safety per Pro Football Focus. Rashaan Melvin has shown some promise and Lardarius Webb appears to be as healthy as he’s been all season.
But let’s not get too excited.
The Ravens haven’t faced the likes of playoff quarterbacks during the secondary’s statistical climb. We’ll see how they do against the more formidable opponents such as Roethlisberger and Brady, assuming they get it done in Pittsburgh.
Perhaps you sometimes get frustrated with some of the challenges that John Harbaugh engages in. I know I do and I’ve criticized is so-called eye-in-the-sky while pondering out loud, “What (insert expletive) are they thinking about?”
So I decided to take a look around the league at some of the more established NFL coaches to see how they compare to our favorite ball coach. All statistics represent career statistics. Draw your own conclusions…
