Rookie QB in a big game on the road. The Fins ILB's better bring their lunch to stop the run. The Ravens run game is way better than it was the the last time. Tall order to go there and win again. Suggs had the big int last time. I really doubt you play as well this time.... Don't under estimate this Dolphin team.... They are damn bloody good.....
thats why we dont put our reliance in offense on flacco... thats why we have the 3rd best running team in the league. the 3-headed monster "The Fins ILB's better bring their lunch to stop the run. The Ravens run game is way better than it was the the last time." - dont know how that enlightens me of anything new that ive already not said myself yes i have gave props to the dolphins and said its gonna be a tough game. again nothing new as would be the case in any stadium you really doubt the d plays as well??? ha better do your homework on the ravens d dont understimate the dolphins??? i havent in every post on this forum... so???? im not underestimating in fact im being pretty gracious for us having already beating you guys by 14 earlier this year when we shut the offense off basically in the 2nd half that game
The fact that Jason Ferguson and Paul Soliai will play is a major boost for Miami. You can't beat the Ravens with Randy Starks playing every down at NT.
That's what people said about Dallas. You think the atmosphere will be more "charged" than going into Pittsburgh for the Division title or the dog & pony show Flacco endured in Dallas. Ravens have been in "playoff mode" since they were 6-4. Every subsequent game was a "must win".
Funny thing but being in playoff mode and actually being in a playoff game are two different worlds mate. If you think Flacco won't feel it you are fooling yourself. It is a different atmosphere and we are out to prove something to everyone still. Please don't compare the Dolphins to the Cowboys. The Cowboys are soft. Last I checked you lost twice to the Steelers this year so that holds no water. The Ravens won't win again in Miami. You will be disappointed.
Why are so many people overlooking this fact? No Ferguson or Soliai in that first matchup was HUGE. I don't know if we're going to win this game on Sunday, but the sledding won't be quite as easy for McGahee and Company this time around. The Ravens are very similar to Pittsburgh, in that if you allow them to get on top of you early, the defense will pound you into submission (like a school bully mentality). If you can get ahead of them though, they're not the same team and can't do all the things that makes their defense so tough.
im pretty sure flacco felt the pressure all year with one of the toughest schedules in the league but i agree with it being a harder atmosphere and that goes for a lot of your players also. many of your guys dont have playoff experience either if i recall right. pennington played in one and got mawled by the patriots (correct me if im wrong) tedd ginn- wr ronnie brown - rb greg camarillo- wr davone bess- wr anthony fasano- te Jake Long -lt justin smiley - lg samson satele - c vernon carey- rt thats the offensive players who have no playoff experience except for chad's one game. i tried to check it up so if im wrong on anybody my bad but was just trying to prove a point
lol true that but look at it. they have the ravens ranked 6th rushing and have matt ryan ranked 4 over mcnabb and eli (who has a sb ring )
Yeah, whatever to the power rankings. I bet the Giants wern't #1 last year... btw, I hope they don't repeat. I hate repeats (unless it's us...).
Hey if we're going to go by stats let's at least use the best source for it. FO also has Ryan ahead of Eli though. http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb
What ever body does not seem to understand is that the ranking the numbers the opinions none of that matter when you step out on the field on sunday. When those player are out on the field not off that stuff matter what so ever so every body that is focusing on that stuff and focusing on the last time the Dolphins and Ravens met none of that stuff matters. So stop worring about it.
With all due respect to the Ravens, they're an excellent ball club. I felt that we would beat the Jets simply because I knew we wouldn't get swept by them. I feel the same way about the Ravens. I'm confident that we know what to do and we'll get it done. However I'm sure an hour before kickoff I will be nervous like none other. Here's some things that I think should be thought about for the Ravens/Dolphins match up: -Willis McGahee is a great player, without question. But his latest comments could be a possible distraction to the team and the offense. How will the line protect McGahee with his actions? How will Flacco react to this? McGahee said he's going to go out for himself, not the team... That's definitely not something I'd want my star running back to say. -Joe Flacco is a rookie quarterback, that can't be ignored. He's facing a defense that is on fire lately, forcing turnovers and getting to the quarterback. Our past four games we have forced turnovers, notching a +7 turnover ratio.. Our defense intercepted the ball 7 times in the last 4 games and recovered the fumble 3 times. Our defense has gotten to the quarterback 12 times in the past 4 games... Our defense is hot too and this time you'll get to see who Jason Ferguson is. -Did I mention Jason Ferguson? He went out in the first quarter so you guys were able to run over us. Nose tackle is extremely important, you guys know this... We would have put in our back up nose tackle, Paul Soliai... But wait... he was inactive. Randy Starks is not a 3-4 DT and that's who you had to face in the middle. -With all due respect you faced us in week 7.. We were 2-3 when you faced us and you dropped us to 2-4. Do you really think you're facing the same ball club that has went 9-1 since this? I think not. -Chad Pennington is comfortable with his receivers now. Teddy Ginn has been making plays. Davone Bess is going to piss you off because he just doesn't drop passes. Ronnie Brown is still Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams is running on a mission. Our offensive line has been playing extremely well too. -The Wildcat. Sure, you guys stopped it last time we met... But let's face it... This is the playoffs and this is when new plays will be brought in. Trust me, you are going to say "Oh ****!!" at least once after a Wildcat formation is brought on the field... -The stadium... Our stadium sold out (reportedly) in FIVE HOURS. You know how huge that is? Teams like Minnesota and San Diego are struggling to sell out their stadium. Heck only 49% of Minnesota's season ticket holders requested playoff tickets... Sure we're in a recession, but it shows how important this game is to our fans... I guarantee you that the stadium will be loud, very.. loud.. This is going to be a tough game for both squads, but I honestly think that Miami will get the upper hand... Why? Partially because I'm a Dolphins fan I guess. Also because I don't think Sparano will let us lose to the same ball club twice in a year. I just don't see it happening. We have been playing lights out, as well as you guys. I just like the odds of our offense against your defense (as we tend to play mistake free) over your offense against our defense.
Pennington has played in more then one playoff game. He has played in playoff games, 2 in 2002, 2 in 2004 and 1 in 2006 that comes out to 5 playoff games. He has a 2-3 record during the playoffs. You can't underestimate how much of an impact a playoff ready quarterback will have on the whole offense.
i agree... i rather play Baltimore than the Pats... not taking anything away from the Ravens. I think they have a good chance to reach the super bowl... i just think the Pats have our number again if we played them
I couldn't disagree more. We dominated them the first game and the 2nd game it was close all the way to the 4th. I think we'd get them this time. Defense wins in the playoffs and the Ravens are a top 2 defense(Pitt the other). Most definitely the best Rush Defense. We are going to have a really fun time scoring on Rex Ryan, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed. If there are any tricks left in the bag they all need to be used in this game, we'll need every 1st down, FG and TD here. Our Defense will need to pick us up for this game no doubt. The Pats we can at least feel comfortable about scoring on them.
I've no problem with the Ravens being favourite, if I wasn't a Dolphins fan and I had to bet on this game I would go with the Ravens as well. The 2 main differences I see from the first game are.. 1. This team now believes in itself. The first game came when the Dolphins were still trying to find their feet. Since that game we are 9-1 and although it hasn't always been pretty we have found ways to win games. 2. Jason Ferguson and Paul Solia should play. This makes a HUGE difference to the Dolphins run D. If we can stop the run then we can keep it tight and be in it at the end. I'm hoping for a Dolphins win, the head says the Ravens should win but the heart is obviously saying the Dolphins. I'm going to go with the heart and hope the Dolphins steal a 13-10 win.
thats the scary part. i'd say the same thing and i've seen plenty of bettis not saying he is better than bettis at all
I agree that we can slow their run game enough to keep the game close...the real question is whether we can move the ball on them...additionally, while a valid argument can be made that we aren't the same team that lost to them in week 7, a similarly valid argument can be made that Flacco has progressed quite a bit since then as well. Stopping the run game and forcing Flacco to win the game could be dangerous as well....I don't see us folding up shop or getting blown out, but I equally don't see us being able to overcome that D...
I've only seen 3 Ravens games this year (us, Pitt (2nd game) and Dallas) and tbh I didn't see feet that looked anywhere near as good as Bettis'. He did have that big run against Dallas and ran for some tough yardage against the Steelers. Over the 3 games I watched he was averaging just over 3 ypc until busting that big one against Dallas. It's obvious the Ravens run the ball well but they also run it a lot. Average of 37 times per game, for 4.0 ypc. The ypc isn't that great (around 20th in the league I think) but to be able to rush 37 times a game, they must be converting a lot of 3rd downs.
YPC doesn't tell the whole story. Much like our defense made opposing offenses "quit" in 2000, a defense gets tired of tackling a 260lb FB. This is why we lead the NFL in 4th quarter scoring (+TOP) and why Dallas (i.e.) was fatigued down the stretch. Then you bring in a jitterbug like Ray Rice or a change of paste guy like McGahee. P.S. I believe it was Randy Cross on Sirius who said that Romo couldn't carry Flacco's jock strap .... too funny!
I agree it doesn't tell the whole story that why I was curious to see if the Ravens convert a lot of 3rd downs and they did. The conversion percentage isn't that great at 41% but they made 95 3rd downs, 5th most in the league. They had the 2nd highest number of 3rd downs in the league at 232 so that suggests that basically the Ravens just keep running the ball even if it is going nowhere in the 1st half and get their rewards later in the game. I'm thinking TOP will be a big factor today, if the Dolphins can hold their own then they will have a big chance of winning this game.
non sense, we backed into those playoffs, nothing "truly succesful" about it. We sucked, the fans knew it and didn't even bother to come to the game.. and that feeling was supported by our being mauled.
