The Raven's season--a matter of inches.

[BiggSeth]

Think about it......

With the exception of the Houston game, the Ravens season can be summed up by.....inches

Losses:

Broncos--

• Flacco gets the first down on opening drive on sneak play, ball comes loose with his knee inches off the ground.
• pass thrown behind Boldon for pick 6
• Torrey Smith makes a fantastic catch out of bounds by a few inches
• Score a TD in the second half, recover the fumble on the kickoff out of bounds.....by inches

Redskins--

Reid recovers the fumbled punt at the end of regulation in bounds, game over.

Steelers

questionable blocking on the 'blind side' causes Flacco to fumble, Oher missed chipping the defender by a few inches. he gets that Ole! chip on the defender, Flacco gets the ball out of his hands....

Eagles

HORRIBLE call on Jones offensive pass interference on TD. replacement refs make a judgement call that they got wrong.

Wins

SD

Rice gets 1st down on 4th and forever by inches.....


the breaks have gone their way this year, and against them as well. With the injuries piled up, and backups' backups starting, a team needs to win the game of inches, and have a few breaks go their way.

Let's hope that all the bad inches are out of their system now moving into the playoffs....

[OriginalColtsFan]

And coaching in close games is critical. Harbaugh totally blowing timeouts for no discernible reason with mindless challenges that have no chance of overturning the rulings on the field is another contributing factor to losses.

[LarryN]

And coaching in close games is critical. Harbaugh totally blowing timeouts for no discernible reason with mindless challenges that have no chance of overturning the rulings on the field is another contributing factor to losses.

This infuriates me as much as the missed tackles and lack of blocking.

[OriginalColtsFan]

This infuriates me as much as the missed tackles and lack of blocking.

Because it's so inexcusable.

[LarryN]

Because it's so inexcusable.

And of course, last year, in the AFCCG, he DIDN'T call the timeout!

[OriginalColtsFan]

And of course, last year, in the AFCCG, he DIDN'T call the timeout!

I was going to add...it's not just the waste of time outs, it's the NOT calling TOs that's a problem as well. The same has been said of the rushed play before the end of the first half against the Broncos. Harbaugh, in his explanation, cited the fact that the play that was called/rushed in, was something they'd called several times before in the past. Well...GUESS WHAT? When you've called the SAME PLAY several times in the past, opposing DC's KNOW that. What a tool he is sometimes, man.

[LarryN]

What a tool he is sometimes, man.

sometimes?

[OriginalColtsFan]

sometimes?

LOL. I guess I was feeling a bit mellow today.

(Damn mood enhancing fat burner capsules!!!)

[TDL]

The Ravens have been getting by by the skin of their teeth.Kansas City basically gave them the game,Dallas game luck,San Diego game luck.They were very fortunate to win the first game against the Steelers against an injured senior citizen without scoring an offensive TD and having to rely on a punt return.Their defense made Charlie Batch look like Peyton Manning and the games against the Texans and Broncos showed that this team just isn't ready to compete with the big boys in the league.

Still trying to figure out how they beat the Pats, but then again that was only by a point.Age,injuries and poor drafting along with horrid coaching have finally caught up to them.They just aren't a very good team.

[LarryN]

God. Ol' 'Numbers' is probably sitting back, laughing his *** off right now. Thank the dear Talk Admins for suspending him. He'd be insufferable.

[jessup270]

In almost every sports match up, a matter of inches can decide the outcome of any sporting event.

[Aclobat]

God. Ol' 'Numbers' is probably sitting back, laughing his *** off right now. Thank the dear Talk Admins for suspending him. He'd be insufferable.

Dust in the wind

[HallofFameRay]

In almost every sports match up, a matter of inches can decide the outcome of any sporting event.

You got it.

[afan]

This past week if you take away the Flacco fumble. The int that cost us 7 and than the out of bounds bomb and you get a 24 to 20 game with the Ravens going in for the winning score at the end of the game. It is a matter of inches but more importantly it is a matter of timely calls and just bad luck. It will even out soon and once again the Ravens will be playing for the right to go and play the big game.

[cprenegade]

The Ravens season has been a season of inches and luck. The luck went their way for most of the season, now it is going the other way. The coaching is the same as it has been for the last four. Maybe now, it is simply a case of the talent and the desire to hold onto older icons that is biting them. This team is simply not as talented as others in the AFC. While the Ravens were giving out large contracts to their older veterans, others were letting players walk, and filling their spots with younger guys at less money and fitting them into their system. The Ravens have done some of this, but have tied money up into a few high priced guys who could have been replaced with younger hungrier talent. Suggs has missed a good part of the season, and has played hurt the rest. Lewis has missed a good part of the season and was clearly on the decline before that. Reed is a shell of what he was. Ngata has been hurt most of the season. That's a lot of money for a little bit of production. Throw in the lost draft pick on Kindle, the injuries that have plagued Smith and it is not hard to see why the Raven's defense is now closer to the bottom than the top. On the offensive side, they have let the line deteriorate to the point where it is no better than Pittsburgh's line was. Joe Flacco is a manageable QB, but he is not a superstar that can make everyone around him better. The Raven's gambled that they could win it all before the window closed, and unfortunately for them, the window closed last year. They have serious cap problems and the depth that they claimed to have was not nearly what they thought it was. The future does not look bright at this point. They may not be a team in need of a ground up rebuilding, but they are a team in serious need of a retooling. With the problems they have on defense, the O-line disaster that it has become, the poor drafting position they will have, and the cap issues that they have, it is hard to see them truly being superbowl contenders for the next couple of years.

[SNAFU]

God. Ol' 'Numbers' is probably sitting back, laughing his *** off right now. Thank the dear Talk Admins for suspending him. He'd be insufferable.

Oh, he's still here----------Baltimore Ravens Let's Go

[tigercruise]

It's a game of inches.