By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

There comes a time when even the best regress. Keeping a unit together is hard to do in the NFL because of a number of things. Free agency is the main culprit but also because teams have to rotate in new players to keep the same aggression and coaches principles together.

The first thing that pops into your head when you think of the Baltimore Ravens is their defense. Preseason allows room for error and to improve on necessary issues. Through the first two games of the preseason, Baltimore has to be very concerned about their defense.

Sure there have been games that any team can be susceptible in an area. If teams are able to find a glaring weakness in the Ravens it’s going to be their secondary. Atlanta and Detroit discovered that in limited action with their starters the first two games. Week one of the preseason, Matt Ryan threw for over 155 yards and a touchdown. Nearly 110 yards of those went to stud wideout Julio Jones who also caught the lone touchdown pass of Matt Ryan’s.

Just yesterday Matthew Stafford had a very similar performance. He threw for even more yardage at 184 yards with two touchdowns. Calvin Johnson had 111 of those yards with a touchdown. The fact that both Stafford who only played in four series, and Matt Ryan saw limited action is alarming. There is still two preseason games left, but truly after week three of the preseason that will be the main action left for the starters.

Julio Jones and Calvin Johnson are two of the top receivers in football, but corrections have to be made quickly in Baltimore.

Lardarius Webb is a flash and burn type of cornerback. He will make up for the plays he gets beat on typically. Where the Ravens need help is at right cornerback. Jimmy Smith last years high draft pick is currently behind Cary Smith at corner. Even more veteran safeties Bernard Pollard and Ed Reed will need to remain the backbone of this secondary.

Ed Reed made comments that he wasn’t even sure if he had football left in him anymore. Contemplation in the off-season for him went beyond the usual time frame. He needs to be 100 percent ready for this team and play like the Ed Reed we all have come to see on Sundays. He is the type of player that can get subpar talent to play at a higher level because they feed off of him.

Obviously that has not been the case the first two preseason games. With relentless pass rusher Terrel Suggs out for most of the season, this secondary is going to have to be a strong point. The defense may not be as strong as we are use to seeing, which is why we like Joe Flacco to breakout a bit this year.

by Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com
Baltimore is one of those teams that enters 2012 with a last gasp left. In the era of free agency keeping a team intact for the long haul is tough to do.Defensively veterans such as Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are still around. Age has not prevented them from still being team leaders. 2012 success though will not be from the play of their defense.
Offenses are too talented and can pick apart any defense, even Baltimore’s. If this team is going to get to the destination they want it will be dependant on Joe Flacco.

Flacco has been a hot and cold quarterback in his career thus far. Displaying a cannon arm, Flacco can hit the deep ball on occassion. Where he has struggled is with consistency of play. The offense may call more pass plays on a given week based on a breakout performance from Flacco the week prior. Instead of seeing some advancement from Joe, he declines and the offense stalls.
That forces the Ravens to go to a more simplistic offense. Involving Ray Rice more, doing dump off passes and limiting his down field throws. It’s puzzling to see this trend so much from Flacco because he seems ready to take hold of the league. All it takes is that one game to propel an athlete.
Has that game already occurred for Flacco? Maybe so, his heroic comeback against the Pittsburgh Steelers was not only counted against, but one of the top finishes in the NFL last season. Afterwards Flacco remained as usual with his cool demeanor, but you know he was on cloud nine.
All you have to do is look at Flacco’s last three seasons of passing yards to know that Baltimore has kept him in neutral. His past three seasons of yards thrown have not varied beyond twelve yards. Throwing for 3,613 yards in 2009, 3,622 yards in 2010, and 3,610 yards last season.
Baltimore has to unleash him this season and live or die with Flacco. It’ll make Ray Rice more of a weapon, and feed the wideouts and tight ends appropriately. They have all the tools offensively to let Flacco flourish. There is no reason to hold back quarterbacks in this day and age of the NFL. The fact that Flacco threw below 200 yards seven games last year and six of those were below 175 yards is mind-boggling.
Joe thinks he is a top level quarterback and needs to start playing like it beyond a half season. With Pittsburgh having a banged up Ben Roethlisberger and uncertainty at running back, Baltimore could run away with this division.
From a fantasy standpoint Flacco currently barely cracks the top twenty in many rankins. Deservedly so based on his tenure and zero advancement from a fantasy perspective.

This year there is no reason that he can’t rise well beyond those early rankings. Landing in the top twelve to fifteen is very reachable.
Tag Flacco as your fantasy backup and you will be happy you did. He should surpass 4,000 yards finally and get near 27 to 30 touchdowns thrown.