Why is everyone talking up the Ravens in the National Media

[SoTier]

5 hours ago, RPbillsfan said:

I keep hearing about how good the Ravens are and how they will challenge for a playoff spot in the AFC.

 

Really, they have an average QB with a dimenishing skill set, no top of the line running backs (sorry, don't see Alex Collins as even close to elite), an ok offensive line, very solid at T, interior decent.  The WR group dosent scare me challenging the Bills secondary and their #1 pick TE Hayden Hurst is out Sunday.

 

Defense is solid and not spectacular, solid outside pass rush in Suggs and Judon, very average secondary.  Defensive line is solid but again not elite and they are down two starters one on the defensive line (Willie Harris) and without their top corner in Jimmy Smith (suspended for being a knucklehead)

 

The special teams return game is weak, great placekicker in Justin Tucker and a good punter.

 

They have the look to me of a 6 win team at best.

 

So, please tell me why the national media is all over their jocks unless I'm totally missing something.

 

The Bills have a starting QB who threw 5 INTs in the first half of his first and only start backed up by a rookie QB who's never started.

The Bills have an excellent but aging RB who is no longer close to being elite.

The Bills have 1 bonafide starting caliber WR and 1 older WR who would make some NFL squads, which probably can't be said about any of their other WRs at this time.  They have no ability to stretch the field.

The Bills have a decent TE contingent, including one who can catch the occasional pass.   None are likely to be mistaken for Gronkowski.

The Bills OL is made up of scrubs and backups, and plays like it: it sucks.  Except for LT, none of the others are NFL-caliber.

The Bills have a couple of big names signings on their DL that have been completely uninspiring.  Their best DLer is at the end of his career.

The Bills have good safeties and one good cornerback.  The rest of the DBs, like most of the Bills team, are JAGs at best.

The Bills special teams have a great placekicker in Hauschka but has their punter ever kicked in a regular season NFL game?

 

If you think that the best the Ravens will do is 6 wins, then are you predicting the Bills to go 0-16?   If you aren't, then you're delusional.

[Charlottebillsfan2]

Ravens over the last three seasons

2017 9-7 

2016 8-8 

2015 5-11 

So they have showed improvement but are 22- 26 over the last three years. Bills are 24 and 24 over the same three year period. You would think its the Patriots playing the Browns by the way everyone is chalking up this game. 

[buffaloboyinATL]

Happens every year. Someone in the  media falls in love with some team and then it becomes group think and everyone else jumps on the bandwagon.  It is usually Miami or Cleveland that gets the love for no apparent reason.  It is never the Bills. 

[SouthNYfan]

3 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

The Bills have a starting QB who threw 5 INTs in the first half of his first and only start backed up by a rookie QB who's never started.

The Bills have an excellent but aging RB who is no longer close to being elite.

The Bills have 1 bonafide starting caliber WR and 1 older WR who would make some NFL squads, which probably can't be said about any of their other WRs at this time.  They have no ability to stretch the field.

The Bills have a decent TE contingent, including one who can catch the occasional pass.   None are likely to be mistaken for Gronkowski.

The Bills OL is made up of scrubs and backups, and plays like it: it sucks.  Except for LT, none of the others are NFL-caliber.

The Bills have a couple of big names signings on their DL that have been completely uninspiring.  Their best DLer is at the end of his career.

The Bills have good safeties and one good cornerback.  The rest of the DBs, like most of the Bills team, are JAGs at best.

The Bills special teams have a great placekicker in Hauschka but has their punter ever kicked in a regular season NFL game?

 

If you think that the best the Ravens will do is 6 wins, then are you predicting the Bills to go 0-16?   If you aren't, then you're delusional.

 

**Slowclap**

Good stuff.

Right on how I feel 

Have we made made improvements for the future?

Absolutely.

We have built a young core on cheap deals at some key positions (SS, fs, QB, cb1, MLB) and have a ton of cap room next year.

I think we are set up nicely for the next few years if the young guys pan out and we can snag an impact player or two in fa next year.

The fact remains though that until we get better at a few key positions (DL, OL, LB) we aren't going to be competitive.

We gave glaring holes and huge gaps in the roster.

Looks promising for the future though.

Not expecting much this season 

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

Ravens have 2x SB in the last 20 years, a big name QB (even if he's not very good) and a big name coach. They went 9-7 last year and missed the playoffs on that ridiculous 4th down play by the Bengals. They have mostly the same roster and were rolling in preseason. It's not a stretch to think they go 9-7 or 10-6 and are looking at a wild card. 

 

Is anyone in the media claiming the Ravens are elite and a legit SB contender? I would disagree if that's the case. 

[YoloinOhio]

18 minutes ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

Bills fans criticizing another teams talent just didn’t seem right to me... For many reasons 

Other teams are allowed to be criticized, independent of anything to do with the Bills. I’m not as much criticizing their talent overall, it’s just ok, not bad, not  great... but if I felt it was warranted I would and it makes no difference who I’m a fan of. The AFC as a whole is just not very good. 

Edited September 6, 2018 by YoloinOhio

[BuffaloSol]

19 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

The Bills have a starting QB who threw 5 INTs in the first half of his first and only start backed up by a rookie QB who's never started.

The Bills have an excellent but aging RB who is no longer close to being elite.

The Bills have 1 bonafide starting caliber WR and 1 older WR who would make some NFL squads, which probably can't be said about any of their other WRs at this time.  They have no ability to stretch the field.

The Bills have a decent TE contingent, including one who can catch the occasional pass.   None are likely to be mistaken for Gronkowski.

The Bills OL is made up of scrubs and backups, and plays like it: it sucks.  Except for LT, none of the others are NFL-caliber.

The Bills have a couple of big names signings on their DL that have been completely uninspiring.  Their best DLer is at the end of his career.

The Bills have good safeties and one good cornerback.  The rest of the DBs, like most of the Bills team, are JAGs at best.

The Bills special teams have a great placekicker in Hauschka but has their punter ever kicked in a regular season NFL game?

 

If you think that the best the Ravens will do is 6 wins, then are you predicting the Bills to go 0-16?   If you aren't, then you're delusional.

Your first two bullet points are factually incorrect.

 

Peterman has started twice we played a game against the colts last year remember?

 

And McCoy not being close to being elite is laughable he was 4th in the NFL in rushing yards and all purpose yards while having a qb that threw for less than 100yds multiple times, and this was last year.

 

 

[eball]

35 minutes ago, Rico said:

I have no idea what’s going to happen on Sunday, but there’s no one on this Ravens team that scares me. Suggs is the closest thing to an impact player, but he’s older than dirt. Everyone else is long gone.

 

They have good young D-linemen and Mosley is a stud.  But I don't buy the hype either -- I think it's habit (Harbaugh was cash money until about three seasons ago and everyone acts like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are still there).  Their offense is still very deficient.

[GunnerBill]

7 minutes ago, BuffaloSol said:

Your first two bullet points are factually incorrect.

 

Peterman has started twice we played a game against the colts last year remember?

 

And McCoy not being close to being elite is laughable he was 4th in the NFL in rushing yards and all purpose yards while having a qb that threw for less than 100yds multiple times, and this was last year.

 

 

Two starts, no finishes.

[BuffaloSol]

Just now, GunnerBill said:

 

Two starts, no finishes.

Wrong finished the new Orleans game.

[Juice_32]

Other than Yanda their OL is suspect. We need to keep everything in front and not allow them to hit any big play deep balls. Flacco will throw a couple to us.

[26CornerBlitz]

They were 9-7 last season even with Flacco's balky back.   They aren't a Super Bowl threat, but they are solidly built on the OL/DL and Harbaugh is an excellent HC.

[corta765]

Agreed.

 

Here is the Ravens record over the past 4 seasons: 2014 10-6, 2015 5-11, 2016 8-8, 2017 9-7 Overall Record: 32-32

Here is the Bills record over the past 4 seasons: 2014 9-7, 2015 8-8, 2016 7-9, 2017 9-7 Overall Record: 33-31

 

The national media lives off of Baltimore's previous accomplishment because they have won a Super Bowl in the past with Harbaugh and use to have an elite defense in the 2000s. The Bears get a similar praise the moment their relevant about their defense because in 1985 they were great even though it isn't the case.

 

Now I do think the Ravens offense has improved a bit especially at WR, but Flacco hasn't been the same since his knee injury and even before that he never was great, just sometimes really good.

 

I think they could win anywhere from 6 to 10 games, but they are far more mortal then what the media says. They lost to freakin Chicago at home last year and Trubisky threw like 10 yards that game.

[GunnerBill]

11 minutes ago, Juice_32 said:

Other than Yanda their OL is suspect. We need to keep everything in front and not allow them to hit any big play deep balls. Flacco will throw a couple to us.

 

Nope. Ronnie Stanley is a very good young tackle and the right tackle got better as they went through the season last year. They have the advantage on both lines in my opinion.

[corta765]

5 hours ago, Big C said:

I said this in another thread. Not really sure what all this talk up is about. They are always competitive but they aren't an elite team. I do think a lot of this chatter is more about their favorable matchup this week. Feels a bit like that year we opened at Chicago. They went like 5-11 and we got to 9-7. Time will tell. I'm staying hopeful for now.

 

Agreed. Remember that preseason in the 3rd game Buffalo stunk it up against Tampa Bay and everyone fretted the same way... and then they beat Chicago in a game everyone had them losing.

 

Typically in situations where things are universally pointed toward one team the end result is far from that.

[Rochesterfan]

15 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Two starts, no finishes.

 

 

I believe factually he had 2 starts and 2 finishes in 4 total games last year.

 

Starts against LA and Indy.

Finishes against NO and Jax

 

none were games to write home about, but he did see live action in 4 games including the playoffs.

 

Edited September 6, 2018 by Rochesterfan

[GunnerBill]

15 minutes ago, BuffaloSol said:

Wrong finished the new Orleans game.

 

You know what I meant. But yes, he did finish the New Orleans game.

2 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

 

 

I believe factually he had 2 starts and 2 finishes in 4 total games last year.

 

Starts against LA and Indy.

Finishes against NO and Jax

 

none were games to write home about, but he did see live action in 4 games including the playoffs.

 

 

Not to write home about? You can say that again. 

[YoloinOhio]

4 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Agreed. Remember that preseason in the 3rd game Buffalo stunk it up against Tampa Bay and everyone fretted the same way... and then they beat Chicago in a game everyone had them losing.

 

Typically in situations where things are universally pointed toward one team the end result is far from that.

This is especially true in the NFL (vs college, where there can more of a distinct talent difference between teams) and even moreso in week 1 before anyone knows much about what the teams will look like that season.

Edited September 6, 2018 by YoloinOhio

[dpberr]

The media loves their Harbaughs.  

 

Same goes for brothers Gruden.

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, dpberr said:

The media loves their Harbaughs.  

 

Same goes for brothers Gruden.

 

John has always been a superior coach to Jim IMO.