Becoming the Ravens of the NFC

Originally posted by BrianGO:
That Cardinals team was all about Kurt Warner. He was everything. When they lost him, that was it.
I think everybody can agree that our team does not depend upon our quarterback like that.

We will be a competitive team with Harbaugh. But keeping this defense intact will be difficult.

They had a 9-7 record with Warner the year they went to the superbowl. They made the playoffs only because they played in a weak division. We have a more complete team than the Cardinals did then. The offense will improve next year to take some of the pressure off of the defense.

The Ravens defense has been a top defense for almost a decade. That team has had ONE Superbowl appearance. They happened to win it, which is great. But without a good offense, you can make the argument that the decade of dominant defense has gone to waste.

Which brings me to the point you all know I am going to make. We need to upgrade the offense. It is VERY difficult to count on winning with your defense. Can it be done? Absolutely. But having your defense carry you the way it did our team this year is not something that should be expected. If our offense doesnt catch up a little, our great defense will go to waste. Its like pitching in baseball. Yes, you can win with a pitching focused team. But it doesnt happen all that often (see the SF Giants with the best pitching in baseball 3 years running, with 1 playoff appearance to show for it).

If we want sustained success (meaning a real chance at a Superbowl year in and year out), we need to upgrade the offense.

Originally posted by unst4bl3:
We already are the ravens of the nfc. We find something that works (running the ball no tricky s**t) then when we need it most we don't use it.

+1

We already have our Trent Dilfer.

Originally posted by susweel:
We already have our Trent Dilfer.

We have been upgrading our O for 5 yrs now. Yes we need 3 WRs, a #1, #2, and #3 . Worse we need to trade craps, as he is doing neither himself nor the team any favors. Sooner he is gone, the better. That means we need WRs, and one of the FA, hopefully Bowe, would make us 50% better, esp on 3rd down. i look for some unheralded WRs from late in draft to UDFAs to come in and tear it up . MY guess is JH knows of a bunch of WRs he saw in college, and has his sights set on...many of whom may not be household names. It is too much to hope for Blackmon, but craps and Kap for blackmon would be a real coup. Esp to a team weak in Qb.

It is no secret we need a #1, 2 and #3. Morgan could be a #4, maybe #3 , and kyle maybe a #4 or 5. That means 3 new guys joiniing the team, at which point we will be well fixed to win it all next yr. As dtg mentioned in another post, one of those 3 WRs may end up as a TE, who ends up running WR routes, from the TE position. that would be interesting. But we are dangerously close to be a supreme football team for yrs to come. Now it is only WRs and another OG or OT who we could use at OG.

Originally posted by unst4bl3:
We already are the ravens of the nfc. We find something that works (running the ball no tricky s**t) then when we need it most we don't use it.

yeah like when gore and hunter were running right through the giants and we found a way to stop doing that, and become the patriots all of a sudden when it was apparent that our wrs suck major ass and our only receiving threat was getting doubled and tripled

We will have a better offense. This is year 1 of the offense with no off season to plug it in.


I expect our defense will not be quite as dominant next season, but our offense will perform much better.

whatz this "Becoming the Ravens"... Its Becoming the Niners or We are the Niners.
If im not mistaken we have had some good D in our history

Red and Gold

Originally posted by susweel:
We already have our Trent Dilfer.

If we acquire a super talented WR and still have issues next year...then we will need 5 new OL.

Originally posted by Sjceruti:

Originally posted by dhp318:
I see us becoming like the Ravens, except with a better offense. I think with the new offense being installed, I forsee an effective offense whose strength lies in its offensive line and scheme. The defense will remain dominant provided that the team continues to hit on their top picks.

The 2000 Ravens were great, but that continued defensive dominance afterwards was only made possible by hitting premium draft picks a la Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, and others. Strength builds on strength, and now that we've finally got a winning culture fueled by a dominant defense, you can't let that culture fade away, because it allows you to develop players so much more effectively. Think of how Bowman/Grant learns from Willis, or how Aldon Smith learned from Justin Smith, etc. Hell, since RayMac started working out with Justin Smith, he's become a great player in his own right.

We can't just pick a receiver/DB with our first pick because it's a need. We should pick the best player available, regardless of whether it's a strength or a weakness. Getting the best players on the field is the most important thing. Hell, if the best player is a LB or DT, I say take him, given how important depth is. If he turns out to be an excellent player, he'll make it on the field.

Completely agree about drafting BPA. Drafting for need is how you end up like the Colts.

Yes and no. As Niner fans we should remember that Bill Walsh never drafted on need or BPA...he drafted the best players who would fit his system; the Steelers, Ravens and Pats have taken similar approaches as well over the years. Right now, we have a lot of guys who fit well in our brand new systems but we can expect more to come...Aldon Smith is a great example of a guy who fit a need and fit our system well but many did not think he was the BPA. We run a power WCO and 3-4 defense. You need the BPA who fit these systems.

Differences between the 9ers and Baltimore? J Harbaugh is an offensive HC, his brother isn't. The 9ers D is young and just jelling, Ravens are ready to rebuild. The SF offense had a third of a training camp to learn the O, the Ravens were continuing with few changes after several years in the same system. The 9ers record was better even with limited experience.

Speaks well for next year doesn't it?

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by susweel:
We already have our Trent Dilfer.

If we acquire a super talented WR and still have issues next year...then we will need 5 new OL.

Joe what happened to you man? Why are you making little annoying comments like this? Are you back to blaming Smith again for everything? I thought you said he had elite intelligence and could maybe blossom into a Brady-like QB?

What happened? I swear hating alex is like crack to some of you guys...

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
We have been upgrading our O for 5 yrs now. Yes we need 3 WRs, a #1, #2, and #3 . Worse we need to trade craps, as he is doing neither himself nor the team any favors. Sooner he is gone, the better. That means we need WRs, and one of the FA, hopefully Bowe, would make us 50% better, esp on 3rd down. i look for some unheralded WRs from late in draft to UDFAs to come in and tear it up . MY guess is JH knows of a bunch of WRs he saw in college, and has his sights set on...many of whom may not be household names. It is too much to hope for Blackmon, but craps and Kap for blackmon would be a real coup. Esp to a team weak in Qb.

It is no secret we need a #1, 2 and #3. Morgan could be a #4, maybe #3 , and kyle maybe a #4 or 5. That means 3 new guys joiniing the team, at which point we will be well fixed to win it all next yr. As dtg mentioned in another post, one of those 3 WRs may end up as a TE, who ends up running WR routes, from the TE position. that would be interesting. But we are dangerously close to be a supreme football team for yrs to come. Now it is only WRs and another OG or OT who we could use at OG.

Wait....Crabtree isnt even a #5? Morgan just a #4? Williams a #5?.....I find that AWFULLY hard to believe on other teams....

I would say Crabtree= a 2, Williams is a plus slot #3 receiver, and Morgan is in between a #2 or #3. Then there is the duo of TE's, a position which only the Patriots could make an argument they are more talented.

Originally posted by susweel:
We already have our Trent Dilfer.

In what way do the compare other than they are human, male and have played qb on the same team? Alex is the superior qb in every way. Even Trent says so.