Sigh…
This wasn’t good, you guys. From the coin-toss loss to Joe Flacco‘s post-game “I sucked,” nothing about this game felt good.
Let’s just try to get through this together and hopefully move on…
Denial
It was hard enough to swallow the Whippin’ at Wimbley last week. But to imagine the Ravens would then return to Baltimore to play their greatest rival in a matchup that is always a 1-score game, in a stadium where Pittsburgh hadn’t won since 2012… and the Ravens totally shat the bed?
There’s no way…
I just don’t understand how it’s possible that this defense went from world-beaters in Weeks 1 & 2, only to completely disappear in Week 3 and stay gone in Week 4… or how the offense has literally gone M.I.A. all season… or how the coordinators on both offense and defense fail to adjust… or how Joe can look just flat out clueless all game long…
Anger
Ya know what?
Screw it!
This team is getting exactly what they deserve, and it all starts at the top! The fun post-game stat thrown around was “Since SB XLVII 13/17 draft picks in Rounds 1-3 have been defense” So, essentially, the Ravens paid Joe Flacco like a franchise QB… then didn’t bother to help him succeed in any way possible!
Oh, I’m sorry! How could I forget Breshad Perriman!
How the hell do you expect the offense to do anything with a cast of retreads off the street, an offensive line that couldn’t block a Twitter account if they had a You Tube instructional video, and a coordinator who can’t make adjustments if his job depended on it (which it kinda does, Marty)?
Then again, there’s Joe… threw behind a wide open Perriman for a touchdown, then took time to stare down his receiver twice like a rookie QB, leading to two just flat out awful picks.
And the saddest part about that?
We’re used to that now in Baltimore. It’s become the norm…
And don’t forget the defense! Sure, the Steelers only scored 26, but they could’ve score 40+ as the Ravens defense was walked all over, all damn day long! They literally took it easy on the Ravens, dink and dunked, and ran clock. Pittsburgh didn’t have trouble scoring, they simply felt pity on Baltimore, knowing the Ravens sure as hell wouldn’t score. I’d be willing to be they had half a playbook they opted not to use, simply because they didn’t need to with the Ravens struggling so mightily…
The offense sucks, the defense sucks, the coaches are awful, and Justin Tucker missed another stupid-long field goal.
I hate this team.
Bargaining
The Ravens had a chance. One particular moment that changed the game…
Flacco had the ball in his hands just inside the Steelers Red Zone. He dropped back into a pocket that held longer than it had all day, and Joe saw a wide open Perriman about 3 yards shy of the end zone with room ahead of him…
…only to throw it behind him and over his head (nice two-inch vertical, BPerr!) for an incompletion, settling instead for a field goal.
At that point, everything began to unravel.
If only Joe had hit Perriman in stride, they’d put 7 on the board… Then again, if only the officials had deemed Eric Weddle‘s interception a clean one from the start, he could’ve had a touchdown of his own. Right there, the game would’ve been 19-14 instead of 19-9 heading into the 4th quarter. At that point, had Joe not thrown 2 extremely ill-advised, yet very typical Flacco picks, we had a chance to come out on top, instead of far shy of a win.
4 plays. 3 of them on Flacco’s shoulders.
If only we had a better quarterback, I suppose…
Depression
Anybody else already looking ahead to the draft? Trying to figure out out who will be available in the top-5 picks, and internally debating if the Ravens would be more likely to take a quarterback, Saquon Barkley, or Calvin Ridley? Or perhaps if they could trade away assets and grab multiple top-10 players?
If not, get ready to join the hype train, because this team isn’t going anywhere any time soon. They have far too many holes on the roster, too many injuries, too many question marks all around to be anything close to a functioning NFL team. The offense is just awful top to bottom. The defense has left the building. The odds this team is better than 4-12 by the end of the season are continuing to dwindle…
Hell, 2 more wins may even be a stretch, as Cincy is looking much improved, and really everybody else on the schedule other than Cleveland will give Baltimore fits.
So 3-13, and knowing Steve Biscotti? The coaching staff gets another free pass for the injury issues and they all stay, allowing for another year of subpar play.
Splendid.
Acceptance
Sigh…
Look, it is what it is, folks.
The Ravens aren’t a good team. They’re injury-riddled, the quarterback is struggling mightily, the offensive line is in shambles, the receivers can’t get open, the offensive coordinator can’t call a solid game, the defense is winded, the defensive coordinator never dials up pressure, the head coach has his own issues, and the lack of depth & talent on the current version of the 53 sans those on the IR is just a poor excuse for an NFL team, or a great version of a semi-pro team.
Either way, it simply is what it is.
If anything, we can hope to steal a few games, spoil some hot streaking team’s hope of a post season, and really just not suck any worse.
Maybe we’ll see a coaching change before the season is over. Maybe we see some of these young players blossom and give us hope moving forward. Maybe we’ll see a top-5 pick.
Not believing your team is a contender doesn’t mean you’re giving up, or any less of a fan. It simply means you’re a realist, and the bar is simply a bit lower.
Not like Cleveland low, but yanno. Still lower.
