1,400 Yards, 13 TDs. Minimum.

[HoosierCat]

Hey, Jam, I have a completely off-topic question:

WTF is up with Baltimore radio? Do you have to promise to play nothing but s**t in order to get a broadcasting license in that town?

I had to go to Baltimore & DC on business yesterday, which meant I had to drive through the area twice. Jersey has good stations, Philly has good stations, and even DC has one or two points on the dial with decent music...but the whole Baltimore area is the radio equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition.

Far as I can tell, there are three types of radio stations in Baltimore: "Classic" rock (all the music you've heard a million times before...again!); bad country (my wife done left, my dog got run over, the house burned down and the Ravens got beat, Lord won't you please take me now); or -- the ultimate horror -- "lite rock." (Lord, I've seen fire and I've seen rain. And if you're driving through Baltimore your ears will be in pain...). For the luv o' gawd, you have more than one of these "easy listening" nightmares. I actually heard "Your Lyin' Eyes" being played on 2 different stations at the same time!

How do you stand it????

[BengalszoneBilly]

I don't know about Baltimore, but I've totally given up on radio. If I'm not listening to a CD of mine in the player, then the audio system in my car is off!

[membengal]

I take anything a Ravens fan says with a huge grain of salt. Good luck moving the ball consistently again this year fellas.

As for Rudi: it is hard to know exactly what we have, but from what I saw last year, he is a hard-nosed runner with good speed that allows him to seperate when he has the opporunity to do so.

More importanty, according to Lewis, he knows where the play is supposed to go and makes phenomenal use of his blocks, something that Corey never seemed to adjust to last year. Given how solid the line should be (if the injuries are indeed minor), then I expect Johnson to be a beast at the goalline, something Dillon wasn't. 1500 yards is not nearly out of the question for him behind that line, and with a deep receiving corp on the outside.

Hey Ravens fans, a receiving corp is what you call it when you have quality receivers. You may have forgotten.

[kevnz]

I take anything a Ravens fan says with a huge grain of salt. Good luck moving the ball consistently again this year fellas.

As for Rudi: it is hard to know exactly what we have, but from what I saw last year, he is a hard-nosed runner with good speed that allows him to seperate when he has the opporunity to do so.

More importanty, according to Lewis, he knows where the play is supposed to go and makes phenomenal use of his blocks, something that Corey never seemed to adjust to last year. Given how solid the line should be (if the injuries are indeed minor), then I expect Johnson to be a beast at the goalline, something Dillon wasn't. 1500 yards is not nearly out of the question for him behind that line, and with a deep receiving corp on the outside.

Hey Ravens fans, a receiving corp is what you call it when you have quality receivers. You may have forgotten.

Me thinks the new guy speaks much wisdom.

Welcome to the Zone membengal.

[Jam31]

Hey Ravens fans, a receiving corp is what you call it when you have quality receivers. You may have forgotten.

Hey Bengals Fans, a real football team is one that actually makes the playoffs and actually wins the Superbowl once in awhile. Just in case you forgot who you were arguing with.

You can certainly criticize that aspect of my team. Make fun of my quarterbacks too.

But guess what? Ill make fun of your entire roster save for Chad Johnson. Kim Herring is a savior right

You can't even come close to matching the Ravens level of productivity.

[BengalszoneBilly]

You can't even come close to matching the Ravens level of productivity.

Do you mean productivity as in being kicked to the curb by Tennessee? Sorry...we definitely have a match here!

[kevnz]

Hey Ravens fans, a receiving corp is what you call it when you have quality receivers. You may have forgotten.

Hey Bengals Fans, a real football team is one that actually makes the playoffs and actually wins the Superbowl once in awhile. Just in case you forgot who you were arguing with.

You can certainly criticize that aspect of my team. Make fun of my quarterbacks too.

But guess what? Ill make fun of your entire roster save for Chad Johnson. Kim Herring is a savior right

You can't even come close to matching the Ravens level of productivity.

Jam, you are crazy man. Make fun of Willie Anderson? one of the best Right tackles in the game...yeah right....Eric Steinbach? an anchor on the o line for years to come. Make Fun of Peter Warrick? Hell he's better than any three of your teams WR's. Get off of your fan boy cload Jam. You guys only won the division by two games in the last game of the season, then promptly had you asses handed to you in the playoffs. So please explain how you are so much better now?

[membengal]

Hey Ravens fans, a receiving corp is what you call it when you have quality receivers. You may have forgotten.

Hey Bengals Fans, a real football team is one that actually makes the playoffs and actually wins the Superbowl once in awhile. Just in case you forgot who you were arguing with.

You can certainly criticize that aspect of my team. Make fun of my quarterbacks too.

But guess what? Ill make fun of your entire roster save for Chad Johnson. Kim Herring is a savior right

You can't even come close to matching the Ravens level of productivity.

Sigh. Always it comes to this when trying to talk rationally with fans from other teams. The Baltimore defense is awesome. No argument there. The Ravens passing game needs directions just to get to crappy, which would be a marked improvement. Facts are facts.

And, while the Bengals have sucked, and we have suffered as fans, we have never had to deal with the pain of watching our local team slip away in the dead of night, and then been reduced to city whores to steal some other city's team. So I guess we don't know what that feels like either. That's two for you.

P.S. Sorry for Ogden's MCL sprain. Better pray that it is minor. That's your season flashing before your eyes...

[HoosierCat]

I don't know about Baltimore, but I've totally given up on radio. If I'm not listening to a CD of mine in the player, then the audio system in my car is off!

I work (when I'm not here goofing off ) at home, so these kinds of trips are the only time I get a chance to check out new music. I'm way behind but at least I get to hear something new here and there, usually. I try for the alt rock, hip hop, or "new music" stations. Not that I mind the occasional detour into a Zep tune or Floyd, but when you get carpal tunnel syndrome from changing the station so often like I did going throught Baltimore...and still all you can get is Jackson Browne whining for some props for "The Pretender"....oh, gawd, just shoot me.

Tho I will admit it did give me 1 laff. Coming into Baltimore on 95 there's this big black billboard, on one side it says "Ravenstown" next to this picture or Ray-ray's eyes and nose. I saw that at the same time I heard one of the multiple renditions of "you can't hide your lyin' eyes" as I drove through town...

Irony is the spice of life!

[jditty47]

bro. I was in LA last weekend and the music there sucked. At least in vegas we have definate stations for all types of music. All i could find was hip hop and spanish.

[Jam31]

P.S. Sorry for Ogden's MCL sprain. Better pray that it is minor. That's your season flashing before your eyes...

Nah, we're ok there, I think we have about 9 other pro-bowlers to fall back on. Besides he'll back in a few days. I hope nothing happens to CJ or your season is the crapper.

but when you get carpal tunnel syndrome from changing the station so often like I did going throught Baltimore...and still all you can get is Jackson Browne whining for some props for "The Pretender"....oh, gawd, just shoot me.

yeah I agree, the radio stations aren't so hot here. I do A LOT of channel surfing if Im on FM but I just stick to sporstalk on the AM dial most of the time.

Jam, you are crazy man. Make fun of Willie Anderson? one of the best Right tackles in the game...yeah right....Eric Steinbach? an anchor on the o line for years to come. Make Fun of Peter Warrick? Hell he's better than any three of your teams WR's. Get off of your fan boy cload Jam. You guys only won the division by two games in the last game of the season, then promptly had you asses handed to you in the playoffs. So please explain how you are so much better now?

OK, CArson Palmer I like, but I seriously don't like his chances versus our defense. He is going to have growing pains vs everybody. God forbid that pocket collapses...

I respect Kitna but his candy arm couldn't crack us when it counted most last year.

Rudi is ok but the way you guys hype him up well it makes me laugh.

Johnson - legit

Warrick - legit if he can stay healthy

Washington - former Vol so no undue criticism there

te's - LOL

Ol - Anderson and Jones are good to me, Steinbach...you're right he is a good one.

DL - What d-line??? Justin Smith gets lost in their ineptitude

LB - Hardy at weakside? Ummm he's just about 5 years past his prime now. Webster in the middle?? Next Ray Lewis right?? Reality Check here. Simmons, well he's pretty solid but maybe an underachiever

CB - Laugh

S - Laugh

Special teams - decent b/c of warrick

head coach - legit

There ya go, my respect assessment of your team.

Now get past qb and wr on my team and then try and laugh about our two games this year.

Also when I said productivity you obviously didn't get what I intended. How bout 1 Championship in 8 years. What year are you guys working on???

I also won't relive the move stuff here b/c we've all heard it before. The bottom line is Cooke and Tagliabue snubbed us at every chance. You telling me Jacksonville deserved an NFL team!??? Riiiiiiiiiight, they couldn't even sell out a home playoff game.

We stole the Browns and my life is much more exciting for it. Its great to have an NFL team especially one that is run so well

Marvin is just trying to emulate us so you guys should really have some respect.

Oh yeah and Mike Nolan has our defense in top form again. So don't bombard me with my team aint crap since Marvin left, because its simply not true.

Finally Kevnz, quit whining about how close you came!!!! Either you win or you lose. Tennesee beat us and I admit that. But you guys folded in December and we won the divison outright. It doesn't matter how close you were. You still didn't qualify for anything!

[LABengalsFan09]

Ditty, You came to LA????

You should have told me, I could have pointed your dial to KROQ, or Power 106!

[kevnz]

Finally Kevnz, quit whining about how close you came!!!! Either you win or you lose. Tennesee beat us and I admit that. But you guys folded in December and we won the divison outright. It doesn't matter how close you were. You still didn't qualify for anything!

Dude, I never whined, I got sick of your whinging about your "awsome" team. I'll be the first to admit that we lost, but winning the division in week 17 is a lot different than winning ir in week 14....

[hottub]

Jam31, I got to give you props for your honest and respectful evaluation of Bengals talent. Truthfully, I can't bring myself to disagree. In fact, I'll even give you one more position where the Ravens far out-shine my beloved B-boys: general manager. After a career of doing everything wrong, Art Modell finally did something right in hooking up with Ozzie Newsome. Newsome did an excellent job in putting together the SB Ravens, and seems to has done a fine job since.

That said, the Ravens year to year improvement has slowed dramatically. and I doubt they are going to be much better this year than last. Your defense is, of course, terrific, but teams need balance to be consistent winners. Do you really think you've improved your offense this year? Do you really think you have a change to win it all if Jamal Lewis misses, say, four games? Isn't he your whole offense? And as great a back as he is (and he is great- he always seems to find the crack!), you still punked out in the first round of the playoffs.

The Bengals aren't yet dominant on either side of the ball, but they do have potential and they are far better balanced than the Ravens... plus they are going to keep getting better. It may not be this year, but I believe that, barring some magic from the "Wizard of Oz", next year the Bengals will be the division favorites. A year away - who cares, right? But just remember where you heard it first.

BTW, I'm not counting the Bengals out of the playoffs this year either. They could be excellent on offense, and if so, even a mediocre defense would get them into the playoffs. I think it's possible... but I'm not betting a mortgage payment on it. Personally, I'll be pretty damn happy if the Dec 12th game against the Pats is still meaningful for both teams...

[ckj414]

Wow! More yards than Portis!?! I hope he's right, and I think he may be! :player:

1400 yards at the minimum? I don't know about that, I think Rudi will end up with around 1300 yards. Still pretty good though, just all we can expect for a back of relatively average physical talent whose taking the handoff from a first-time starter. But he runs hard, doesn't seem to put the ball on the ground, and will get the tough yards - all you need to win, right there.

And I agree that he'll have more yards than Portis. I have a feeling that the Redskins will be a dissapointment once again.

[ckj414]

More importanty, according to Lewis, he knows where the play is supposed to go and makes phenomenal use of his blocks, something that Corey never seemed to adjust to last year. Given how solid the line should be (if the injuries are indeed minor), then I expect Johnson to be a beast at the goalline, something Dillon wasn't. 1500 yards is not nearly out of the question for him behind that line, and with a deep receiving corp on the outside.

I don't know about 1500 yards, but I think you've hit the nail on the head. There is no substitute for running the play as its designed. You see a lot of very talented players with an NBA mentality, who the team concept is lost on. I think Rudi gets it.

As for 1500 yards or more, I don't think the defense is good enough to keep the opposition off the field enough to get Rudi that many carries.

[ckj414]

Oh yeah and Mike Nolan has our defense in top form again. So don't bombard me with my team aint crap since Marvin left, because its simply not true.

So *thats* what happened to Mike Nolan. Wow, promising coach. That partially explains how the Ravens have had such a productive defense after losing Marvin Lewis. This is a guy that gets a head coaching job sometime in the next few years assuming he catches on with a stable team. He didn't have it with the Giants, Redskins, and Jets, but I think the current Ravens fit the bill.