I don't know Mr. Schmuck, there may be some merit to your theory. Is there anyway possible you can stay away until the playoffs? lol

On a more serious note, that was Raven football with a punch on offense yesterday. I love McGahee, but R. Rice is the present and the future and maybe down they road, they split carries like other teams do. But for now, Rice is the man.

And all along I thought it was me!

You may have not been at the Game, but Koji Uehara sure was!

I have picture proof, he sat one section over from me, and was there the whole game, and looked interested.

So, Orioles players DO stick around, and they are interested in the city they play in. Even ones who arent even from this COUNTRY!

And he wasn't in some swanky box, he was in the rain with the rest of us(Sec 128), witnessing that this city can get behind a team that has success.

With the game safely tucked away, there was no need for the Ravens to wear down Ray Rice in the last three minutes.

Awww, Pete, I'm so sorry you didn't get to fly to the Left Coast on Saturday. That way you could have gone to Eugene and watched the ass-whuppin' the Oregon (G-O-N-E-R, huh?) Ducks put on your Troy Men. You know the numbers I most liked Saturday night? 613 and 1946: the most yards anyone has laid on SC since Notre Dame (you remember them!) powered up 623 yards in 1946. What a thoroughly enjoyable game to watch!

Where's the Game 4 post?

Here's a quote from Charlie Manuel:

"I've seen us go through it before. We've blown 22 games from the seventh inning on or something this year. That's got to tell you something about the resiliency of our team."

Here's a tip for you Charlie: Don't want to blow 22 games from the seventh inning on next year? DON'T BRING IN BRAD LIDGE. It's not 2008 anymore.

And what resiliency is he talking about? He basically said, "We're resilient because we've blown a lot of late leads." What?

Once this World Series is over, no matter who wins, something needs to change in Philly. They either need to get rid of their joke of a closer or their manager whose faith in said closer can't be shaken.

not brooks. I agree with you and it's amazing the Phils made it this far with the 'pen they had. I reminded me of the brutal O's pens of late but the difference is the Phils have such a potent offense, they usually outslugged the opposition. I guess the weakness shows up more when they face good teams. If it wasn't for Jeter hitting into a DP, the Yanks may have won the Series last nigtht.
Oh well, makes for interesting games but Manual must be close to having a heart attack by now!

It's not you, Peter. It's me.

My girlfriend bought me a Flacco jersey for my birthday, which was the same day as the New England game. I was grateful, and wore my jersey proudly but now I know the truth: she put a curse on it.

I wore it three Sundays in a row, and whaddaya know? Three losses. This past Sunday, no jersey, dominating win. Coincidence? I think NOT!

Now where did I put my Carson Palmer voodoo doll...???

Hey Pete, let me start this off by apologizing for commenting on something that is completely off the topic of this blog.

At the conclusion of the Falcons-Saints game last night, in which Matt Ryan was 19-42 with 3 interceptions, the MNF postgame crew spent the majority of the segment telling me how amaxing Matt Ryan is. Every time he completed a pass in the highlight reel they talked about how perfect of a throw it was. At one point, I believe it was Steve Young who said that Matt Ryan is the best second year QB he has ever seen.

Why? In what way is Matt Ryan better than Flacco?

Let me make it clear that I am a huge Ravens fan and that Flacco is quickly becoming my favorite player. But how can anyone say that Ryan is better?

Lets just look at the numbers (Ryan's listed first and Flacco's listed second)...TD 12-12, Int 9-5, Comp % 59.7-66.0, yds/gm 235-264, rating 82.4-95.6.

So obviously the numbers show that Flacco is having a better year, but numbers aren't everything. People argue that Flacco plays on a better team, and that's why his numbers are better. Well...Matt Ryan has arguably the best tight end in football, a stud receiver in Roddy White, and an O-line that has allowed 3 fewer sacks than the Ravens have allowed.

Sorry for how ridiculously long this comment was. I guess I just wanted to vent my frustration about the media's love fest with Matt Ryan. Do you have any idea why everyone thinks Ryan is better? If anyone else reading this blog has any insight for me please feel free.

You could spend the time and of the Baltimore associated personnel to enjoy your absence. The fact that you posses only 1 GREY CELL (an element of the brain) would only spread enormous joy and glee in CHARMCITY! i KEEP TELLING YOU THAT "AJO" is almost to large for your miniscule brain and personality.

Actually, I think Charlie Manuel looks like a confident manager. Joe Girardi, in the other dugout, looks like a nervous wreck, eyes twitching, his weight down enough that he could ride Summer Bird. The arms-folded shtick is fooling no one.

Girardi keeps looking for answers in his 200 plus page notebook binder. He'll need to have a new section hole-punched in after the Yanks blow the World Series on Thursday night.

Barry -

I never said Manuel wasn't confident. In fact, his problem is that he's overconfident in Lidge.

Thankfully, he brough in Madson last night instead of his "closer" (although that was almost a disaster as well...).

Mike R.

You raise a good point and backed it with some clear-cut evidence. Given that the facts you provide pretty clearly show that Flacco, not Ryan, is the superior QB, I can only think of a few possible explanations:

1) Pedigree: Ryan was the heisman candidate from a BCS school who had been ordained an NFL star before he ever took a snap. Flacco was a Pittsburgh reject who wound up at Delaware, and has had to prove himself in the NFL (wasn't handed the starters job, etc). It's amazing how prone talking heads are to worshiping someone with Ryan's blue-chip pedigree, ignoring actual performance.

2) Ravens' defensive reputation: For more than a decade the Ravens' public image has been that of a dominating defensive-minded team with a low-scoring offense (often led by a subpar QB simply asked to minimize turnovers). For all of last year Flacco's accomplishments were viewed in the context of that reputation (and the truth is that he wasn't often asked to win games last year with his arm), and he is only now breaking out if it.

I agree with you that a straight-up comparison is not favorable to Ryan. Flacco's numbers this year are clearly better, and as you mentioned that doesn't even speak to the fact that Ryan has Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Michael Turner, better weapons than Flacco has ever had at his disposal. If you look at the bottom line both teams are 4-3, but each of the Ravens losses were nailbiters to division-leading teams, where Flacco led the team to a fourth quarter lead only to have the defense cough it up. Atlanta lost its three games by an average of 13.3 points; Baltimore's losses have been by 2, 3, and 6 points.

It may have been a toss-up coming into this year, but now halfway through the 2009 season I really don't think any GM given the choice of Flacco or Ryan would choose Matt Ryan.

Good post.

Andrew,

Thanks for responding. I think you put it best when you talked about how the talking heads love Ryan's pedigree. I absolutley couldn't believe it when I heard Steve Young say that Ryan is the best 2nd year QB he has ever seen, especially since he was coming off of a 3 int. performance.

Thanks for chiming in

Why the pissing contest? Flacco and Ryan are both excellent QBs and have changed the way teams look at rookie quarterbacks. Stafford and Sanchez, to name only two, are starting for their teams in their rookie years, something I truly believe would not have happened had not Flacco and Ryan had the fine rookie years they had or had they not played at all.

It's also interesting to note that the Ravens first choice of the draft was Ryan. At the time, Atlanta was expected to pass on him and nobody else before the Ravens picked needed him, so it was assumed he would be our pick. It seemed just as clear that we were Ryan's first choice as well. As it happened, the Falcons chose him and Ozzie worked some hoops and ladders to land Flacco later in the first round.

My point, for which you all have undoubtedly been waiting breathlessly, is that there is no reason to look for reasons to like Flacco better than Ryan. They are two sides of the same coin and will both keep their respective teams in play over the next decade.

Fang Guy,

I think you are missing my point. I'm not at all trying to say that Matt Ryan won't be a very good QB. And I'm certainly not trying to convince everyone that Flacco should be getting all the attention that Ryan is, because I think it is better for a Raven's QB to be under the radar anyway. It suits the "us against the world" mentality better.

What I am trying to figure out is why it is so set in stone that Ryan is destined to be a hall of famer in the eyes of NFL analysts. And to that extent, what is Flacco missing that makes him a step below Ryan?

Sorry, Mike, I did indeed miss your point. You are asking the national media to be fair to the Ravens, an impossible request at best.

Think about it - It took about a dozen years and a change of commissioners just to get the refs to stop cheating when it came to unfairly penalizing the Ravens.

Hell, Art Modell - one of the most important, decent, and innovative team owners in NFL history - still cannot get into the Hall of Fane due to the whole Cleveland thing of well over a decade ago.

Life isn't fair, Mike, and when it comes to Baltimore in general and the Ravens in particular, it tends to be even less so.

When I was listening to the game Sunday night through my computer, I had a strange and unique experience. A sense of elation of being in a big game with a good team and having the vastly superior quarterback be on our side. I said to myself, "This must be how the Colts felt like playing the Ravens for the last several years."

I saw the game in my health club on Tuesday. Although I follow the Ravens, I consider myself reasonably objective. They were significantly better than the Broncos. Now whether that was Baltimore's good or Denver's bad, or both, I think that the team proved once again that they are on the short list of teams that will compete for the Super Bowl.

What impresses me most so far about their coach is that the team has never lost to a team that is well below them (see Eagles vs. Raiders), and they usually play very competively against teams at or above their level. Those 2 qualities, if sustained, give you a top 6 team in the NFL, in my opinion.

When I was listening to the game Sunday night through my computer, I had a strange and unique experience. A sense of elation of being in a big game with a good team and having the vastly superior quarterback be on our side. I said to myself, "This must be how the Colts felt like playing the Ravens for the last several years."

I saw the game in my health club on Tuesday. Although I follow the Ravens, I consider myself reasonably objective. They were significantly better than the Broncos. Now whether that was Baltimore's good or Denver's bad, or both, I think that the team proved once again that they are on the short list of teams that will compete for the Super Bowl.

What impresses me most so far about their coach is that the team has never lost to a team that is well below them (see Eagles vs. Raiders), and they usually play very competively against teams at or above their level. Those 2 qualities, if sustained, give you a top 6 team in the NFL, in my opinion.

When I was listening to the game Sunday night through my computer, I had a strange and unique experience. A sense of elation of being in a big game with a good team and having the vastly superior quarterback be on our side. I said to myself, "This must be how the Colts felt like playing the Ravens for the last several years."

I saw the game in my health club on Tuesday. Although I follow the Ravens, I consider myself reasonably objective. They were significantly better than the Broncos. Now whether that was Baltimore's good or Denver's bad, or both, I think that the team proved once again that they are on the short list of teams that will compete for the Super Bowl.

What impresses me most so far about their coach is that the team has never lost to a team that is well below them (see Eagles vs. Raiders), and they usually play very competively against teams at or above their level. Those 2 qualities, if sustained, give you a top 6 team in the NFL, in my opinion.