GO RAVENS!!!!!

[Hawktawk]

Beat the Tardinals

[Zorn76]

The Ravens are crap.
26-10 score was a more accurate in terms of where Baltimore is at right now.
Az is pretty solid, but they are beatable.
And how kind of Flacco to drive all the way down before throwing a INT in the end zone to end the game.

[obiken]

Right they are not the Panthers but they will be tough. Receivers getting bubble screens wont work on our DB's like with the Ravens. Our guys should beat a 5.9 DB especially Kerse and Baldwin. Running on them then and passing with our OL will be hard. Our line is dog food.

[RiverDog]

I was impressed with Arizona. As long as Palmer stays healthy, they are going to be really, really tough to beat. They brought some pretty good pressure against Flacco last night, and I hate to think what they'll do against our motley crew of an OL. We'd better hope that we can sustain a running attack.

[Hawktawk]

If that officiating crew follows AZ around all year they are going to win the Superbowl. Just sayin.... Ravens still gave them a game.

Palmer vs our pressure up front is going to be the key to this match up in a couple of weeks. If he has time there are too many targets for the LOB to handle. I like Seattles chances at home. I think they will get to him here.

[depaashaas]

I was impressed with Arizona. As long as Palmer stays healthy, they are going to be really, really tough to beat. They brought some pretty good pressure against Flacco last night, and I hate to think what they'll do against our motley crew of an OL. We'd better hope that we can sustain a running attack.

Its hard to believe but some people are complaining more about the ravens OL than we are about ours

[burrrton]

Its hard to believe but some people are complaining more about the ravens OL than we are about ours

According to this, BAL appears to have a very, very good o-line with regard to pass blocking:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

Maybe I'm reading it incorrectly (although it does have us dead last, so I'm thinking not).

[RiverDog]

According to this, BAL appears to have a very, very good o-line with regard to pass blocking:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

Maybe I'm reading it incorrectly (although it does have us dead last, so I'm thinking not).

Hey, wait just one darn minute! We aren't ranked dead last, we're tied with Tennessee for 31st!

[burrrton]

Hey, wait just one darn minute! We aren't ranked dead last, we're tied with Tennessee for 31st!

Oh my gracious- I'm sorry. My mistake!

[depaashaas]

According to this, BAL appears to have a very, very good o-line with regard to pass blocking:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

Maybe I'm reading it incorrectly (although it does have us dead last, so I'm thinking not).[/quote]

Stats are the weirdest things to look at, they can be your best friend or your greatest enemy. Look at this stat http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/rushing you think that if we had this OL we would be able to run the ball at will and be undefeated

[HumanCockroach]

Its hard to believe but some people are complaining more about the ravens OL than we are about ours

Not humanly possible unless they have decided to forgo food, toilets and sleep.

[HumanCockroach]

The Ravens got hosed. One of the worst officiated games of the season. After that showing, I'm not all that impressed with the Cardinals ( of course,I never have been. At least not to the effect of "oh no, their for real, we'll never catch them" worry some have shown). In all honesty, the Cards should be sitting at 4-3, and it wouldn't have been all that close if the officials hadn't blown multiple crucial calls ( Runner down, no forward progress, refuse to blow whistle, defense stops, let go, then run for a TD, the stupidity of the tackle eligible play, where the lineman does everything but announce over the PA that he is eligible, that turns into a penalty instead of first and goal from the four, the highly questionable fumble after Ravens take a lead, and have the ball with chance to build on it, of course add a personal foul for playing patty cake with the other guy doing the same, etc). But you know consistency, really not the NFLs bag.

[EmeraldBullet]

As it is though the cardinals have a great point differential, I think the best in the NFC. Of coarse, having to play us twice should help with that.

[burrrton]

Funny you mention that, HC- I didn't watch the game all that closely, but on a punt return, the tackler took the ball away *clearly* after the returners knee had touched (you couldn't see the ball coming out and the knee touching in the same shot, but if you watch the other positions when each happened, it's clear the knee hit beforehand), but they deemed it insufficient to overturn.

It was a bizarre failure to get the call right, at least to me.

[HumanCockroach]

The sad thing was it wasn't even the most egregious error of the night, it would be third on the list, all of them putting points on for Arizona or taking points off the Ravens.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/ ... nst-ravens

[burrrton]

I didn't see that- sounds like a bullsht no-call (er, no-whistle?).

[RiverDog]

Without a doubt the worst called-one sided game in a long time, or at least any that I've witnessed. The Ravens fans have a right to be pissed. That whole officiating crew ought to be suspended.

[HumanCockroach]

I didn't see that- sounds like a bullsht no-call (er, no-whistle?).

Having just witnessed the forward progress stopped in the Niners game on Thursday when Lynch initially scored, despite never being wrapped up and continuing to fight for yards and then seeing this joke, sometimes I find myself wondering if the NFL is actually fixed ie the WWE stuff. I don't buy it's written, but encouraged results? Much bigger grey area IMHO.

ultimately I don't think so, but, games like this make me wonder more than I have any right to.

[Hawktawk]

That was one of those games where there is a clear bias towards one team. The league has no rooting interest in having a 1-5 Ravens team knock off the feel good Cards on MNF with their vet QB,reciever ,drive by shooting survivor running back and old gramps Arians.

Yes I saw the black helicopters again but tell me those were all "honest mistakes" .But hey its cool Blandino comes out and apologizes and not a GD thing ever changes.

Hopefully the trend doesn't continue in our place in a couple of weeks.

[NorthHawk]

It's just mistakes.
I believe it's caused by there being too many rules to remember.
Surely the ineligible issue was a terrible error, and I hear that that Ref has been reassigned, but there were a lot of people in the NFL who didn't know the rule about purposely batting the ball out of the end zone. There are still discussions about what constitutes a catch for goodness sake and that is a fundamental play let alone an obscure rule.
Pare down the rule book and we will see better and more consistent refereeing.

[RiverDog]

It's just mistakes.
I believe it's caused by there being too many rules to remember.
Surely the ineligible issue was a terrible error, and I hear that that Ref has been reassigned, but there were a lot of people in the NFL who didn't know the rule about purposely batting the ball out of the end zone. There are still discussions about what constitutes a catch for goodness sake and that is a fundamental play let alone an obscure rule.
Pare down the rule book and we will see better and more consistent refereeing.

That doesn't explain the Chris Johnson-forward progress run. That one was a basic fundamental that's been around since the game was invented, not some obscure rule. Like Harbaugh said, had they hit him, they would have gotten flagged for a late hit.

But I'm not going to subscribe to the conspiracy theory, either.

[NorthHawk]

I'm one of those that think Referees will occasionally have bad games just like players and the rest of us not working in front of millions of people with instant replay do.
Unfortunately for them, they can change or determine the outcome for 106 players + numerous coaches and such when they have bad days.
Its the fallible human element that is in play, and it sometimes shows up in clusters.

[Hawktawk]

That doesn't explain the Chris Johnson-forward progress run. That one was a basic fundamental that's been around since the game was invented, not some obscure rule. Like Harbaugh said, had they hit him, they would have gotten flagged for a late hit.

But I'm not going to subscribe to the conspiracy theory, either.

Naw sorry. I watched SB XL and I will never believe there aren't games officiated with a clear bias towards one team again. Monday wasn't as egregious but still awfully bad. Not all games, probably not the overwhelming majority of them, but they do happen and it usually makes good economic sense for the league when they do.Tell me the last time you have seen a truly bad team get a game absolutely handed to them by the officials vs a good opponent? It doesn't often happen that way.

MOF the case could be made that KJ and the Hawks benefited from an INTENTIONAL no call on the batted ball. The ref was in excellent position and looking directly at the play. He was not unaware of the rule. Blandino said the official felt the tap was "not overt". Can someone show me where "not overt" is in the rule book? I doubt it is. Its either a bat or it isn't. And these things just seem to happen sometimes. Refs make business decisions for themselves and the league. Like I say i hope we dont wind up on that side of the coin again someday but I will be watching closely.

[RiverDog]

Naw sorry. I watched SB XL and I will never believe there aren't games officiated with a clear bias towards one team again. Monday wasn't as egregious but still awfully bad. Not all games, probably not the overwhelming majority of them, but they do happen and it usually makes good economic sense for the league when they do.Tell me the last time you have seen a truly bad team get a game absolutely handed to them by the officials vs a good opponent? It doesn't often happen that way.

MOF the case could be made that KJ and the Hawks benefited from an INTENTIONAL no call on the batted ball. The ref was in excellent position and looking directly at the play. He was not unaware of the rule. Blandino said the official felt the tap was "not overt". Can someone show me where "not overt" is in the rule book? I doubt it is. Its either a bat or it isn't. And these things just seem to happen sometimes. Refs make business decisions for themselves and the league. Like I say i hope we dont wind up on that side of the coin again someday but I will be watching closely.

I don't see any evidence of a conscious bias, however, I do think that home teams tend to benefit from poor officiating than do visitors. Officials are human, and will respond to external stimuli, like cheers and boos, so I do believe that subconsciously, refs can be biased.

[burrrton]

MOF the case could be made that KJ and the Hawks benefited from an INTENTIONAL no call on the batted ball. The ref was in excellent position and looking directly at the play. He was not unaware of the rule. Blandino said the official felt the tap was "not overt". Can someone show me where "not overt" is in the rule book? I doubt it is. Its either a bat or it isn't.

I think "intentional" is part of the rule (correct me if you know differently), meaning it's a judgment call (not subject to review). Plus, think of it like holding- yes, the o-lineman clearly grabs a jersey, but if it's low-key enough and/or not affecting the play, it's often not called (and nobody can call for a booth review to 'correct' the play).

When KJ could have easily grabbed the ball, or chased it out, or bumped it with his belly, and no violation would have occurred, it's weak sauce for anyone to think DET should have been bailed out because he touched it with the wrong body part when no Lion was within 10 yards. KJ batting it didn't change the outcome of the play, so the ref made the right judgment.