Of all the observations I have ever read from the op-ed writers at the Baltimore Sun and The Delaware NewsJournal before that, Joe Flacco being panic prone is certainly not one of them.

The only knock on him to date has been that he was a little too deliberate with his reads and the ball wasn't coming out soon enough (a habit which has steadily improved).

Given his approach of "I want to see him before I hit him". The increased speed of the regular season might result in more sacks than we would like or a pass that would have been better if it had been earlier. But Flacco is always calm. His version of a rookie learning curve will consist of getting the ball out on time and letting that cannon do the rest.

Flacco will go 4 for 8 in the first half- Harbaugh mainly going with the running game to calm Flacco. Rice will rush for 60 yards in the first half while the defense bends but doesnt break.

Second half Flacco completes 8 of 12 passes for 1 TD. Rice rushes for another.

Final score: Ben-gals 16 Ravens 17

w is for win win win win

If you are Willie Anderson, don't you try to sign with the Chargers or Bucs?

I'm sure Flacco will be a little nervous going into his first game but everything he has said about his progression has held true so far. I really think he is the kind of person who just has to play to learn. He has steadily improved through the preseason and I expect he will continue to improve during the regular season (albeit at a slower pace). There are too many question marks on this team to predict anything but I think Flacco will be okay in the long run.

i don't call having 1 second to make a decision on where to throw the ball will being drilled behind the third string offensive line PANICING. He has gotten better as the preseason went on because A. He played with the first team in the third and fourth preseason games and B. We got back our two starting OTs in that time as well.

"w is for win win win win"

Is that one for each of the four wins we can expect this year?

I have been very impressed with how is coming along. I think the play calling on sunday will be key. They will have the balance between calling safe plays but not being to unaggressive and vanilla. I think its never a good thing to tell your franchise qb to "manage" a game. You want him to limit his mistakes but you want him to have the confidence to go out and make plays as well.

Remember what the Ravens did to Eli Manning a few years ago? Although the Bengals do not possess that defense, they don't need to. Eight in the box, man to man on the receivers, and Blitz, Blitz, Blitz. Poor Joe.

Big mistake.

Didn't I see Cory Ross go to IR? Is there anyone else behind McGahee Rice besides the fullbacks?

When Willis is healthy he will be the workhorse. He is by far the best running back on the team. I don't care what Ray Rice did so far.

Flacco I think will be overly excited the first couple of series then he will settle down and be fine. It is the Bengals not quite the fearsome fousome!

Why not elevate the rookie from the practice squad, I hear he's quite good and could benefit from the work if used in the right schemes of the playbook. Willie Anderson would also be a good addition to the line. Ahhh, the trappings of a first year coach. Lets see how you manage the game ?
Flacco will fine for his first game ! As for instant gradification, that may have to wait and we should be patient !!! Just being a realistic fan !

Flacco will do exactly what he has done against starting defenses, go 9 for 19, 120 yards, 0 TD's and 1 pick. Bengal’s 27 Ravens 9. “L” is for losing get use to it.

The real fun is you really can't say with any certainty what will happen. The weather could be a factor. The Ravens will likely stay more with the run.... who knows how much injuries will affect Anderson and Johnson on the other side... how well will the Ravens O-line play with Gaither back and the ripple effect that has...just how quick a study is Flaco? and so on...bottom line, nothing that happens in this game will surprise me.

Jim might be close to what will actually happen. I think Flacco will be under tight wraps, and despite his strong arm, we will see him throwing 4-5 yard swing passes to the backs and 7 yard slant passes on 3rd and 12. Same thing we have seen for years with the Ravens. My bet is that he won't throw for more than 140 yards.

Hi,

Love the positive outlook this town has.

Save the doom and gloom for when something has actually got to crud and let us Fans try and enjoy the start to the season with a little less sky is falling all over the place.

Sheesh!!!

we really never got to see the first string off. because gaither has been injuried and also they saw what mason can do. and hering that flacco can hit clayton 4 50 yards and a td they will score more points this year and we will get to see + they will get better than the squeelers clown bumbgals because the defense for clevend has a lot of trouble stoping the run and have a 30 year old running back and no return man + the jags show how to beat the steelers with a run game and the beganls work so hard on the o they forgot the D and they are working on that next.

the raven say in a year or 2 can and will get better because if the Qb turns out like we want him to then better Ol and more defensive peices +next year

W is WIN WIN WIN

I think he'll do okay he won't put up great numbers and he'll likely throw an INT but starting off against a D like Cincy is a good way to ease him in. If we had to start him than having him play their D is a decent way to start off a rookie. Plus, I think the O-line is going to be a little better than people think, the interior looks real good and Gaither has shown promise before I think he can be a solid player.

Well the way I see it and it's just an opinion the Ravens have done nothing to fix their number one problem -- the offensive line. Tom Brady would suck on this team.

The defense just hasn't shown it's usual fire - here's hoping. But; those guys get tired of doing it all -- we'll see.

I think Joe F. will do what the offensive line allows him to do. So get ready for loss # 1.