I Like Our Chances Going Forward

[BFritz21]

I'm not doing cheers and praising how things have gone so far, but I'm also not as pessimistic as everyone else and I like our outlook going forward.

First off, it was Marvin's first time calling a game as a defensive coordinator in over 15 years, so he obviously was going to be some adjustment time, but let's hope that it's over. We also had injuries at backer.

I don't know if anyone knows this, but Hardy Nickerson wasn't hearing Marvin though the headset on the Ravens' opening drive, which resulted in a touchdown:

Quote:“Poor Hardy had it tough early on, no doubt. He’s standing there looking at me, and I’m pushing the wrong button,” Lewis said. “After the first drive, it kind of settled down a little bit. But there were a couple of times, even with the timeouts, he’s looking at me, and I’m wondering why he’s looking at me.”

That anecdote would undoubtedly be more humorous if the Ravens hadn't driven down 75 yards to score on that drive, or if the Bengals had won the game.

Considering that we lost by 3, I'd say that it's a pretty big deal.

Also, players now seem excited to play for Marvin and excited about the outlook, which maybe it's because none of them are old enough to remember when Marvin was a coordinator and just heard about the 2000 Ravens D like it was some sort of legend:

Quote:“Coach Lewis, he’s always out there on the field and you feel like he’s in the fight with you,” linebacker Vinny Rey said. “We feel like we’re fighting for Coach. Even though we’re professionals and we’re all grown men, you still go out there and you play for somebody. I do. I wanted to go out there and win this one for him. I wish we did. We came up short, but it’s a long season.”

That sounds like motivation like we haven't seen in a while, and maybe the team can find similar motivation going forward. They might be inspired to play for a legendary coordinator.

Quote:Several players spoke during halftime of the loss to the Ravens, apparently urging the team to come together, and although the statistics wouldn’t indicate it, Rey thought it helped them play better in the second half.

“We learned we have to fight together,” Rey said. “At halftime we had some guys come in here on defense and say some words. It really brought us together, just knowing you’re not out there playing for yourself. ... You’re playing for someone else. If you play for yourself, you’re not going to do that great. If you’re playing for others, you’re playing for something bigger than yourself, and you’re going to play harder than you ever think you could.”

I like that because guys are stepping up and taking leadership.

I think it's bringing a whole new energy to our defense, and so does Dunlap:

Quote:Dunlap said he sensed a change in Lewis this week that he hopes everyone can use moving forward.

“I think he did really good. It’s like naturally in his DNA to have those reins as a D-coordinator,” Dunlap said. “He seems motivated and inspired, and it sparked something in him. I liked the energy…

“We definitely played better today. We definitely have enough to build on. We’ve just go to go do it.”

Liking the energy is something we don't see coming from players in reference to Marvin, but let's hope that he gets into a rhythm and the defense starts to play like we know they can!

Another reason for hope is that AJ could be back as soon as this week. We should have won without him, and you could tell how much worse our offense is without him, so it speaks volumes that we should have won anyways.

The Ravens currently have the tiebreaker with us, but I see no reason why we can't make a push for the playoffs:

Vs Browns- win, especially if AJ is back. Marvin's first game at home as coordinator and I think our team just plays with fire in that game.

Vs Broncos- horrible coaching and I think we just unleash hell against them in Cincinnati. Hit them early and they're not coached well-enough to get back up.

@Chargers- L. We could get a W here, especially if our D forces some turnovers because I think they can be rattled, but I'll give us a loss just so I don't seem like a Homer.

Vs Raiders- W. The Raiders are dog shit. Coming from the West Coast and playing at 1 should allow us to eat them for lunch.

@Browns- we'll be rolling and ready to just bring the heat to the Dog Pound. We get the W.

@Steelers- We'd be at 9-6, so we'd need this game to even have a chance a the playoffs, which I'm hoping that AJ will be back to 100% and our defense will be playing inspired football under Marvin. I think we could pull out a win here, bringing us to 9-7.

Now, as for the Ravens, they'd need to lose two games if we were to lose one, which I think is possible:

Vs Raiders- W

@Falcons- The Falcons record isn't great, but they're not as bad as their record says and they've played a lot of teams tight. I think they can beat the Ravens, especially now that Julio Jones seems like he's coming alive after he slept through the first half of the season.

@Chiefs- loss because the Chiefs are too good.

Vs Bucs- W

@Chargers- L. I don't see them going to LA In Primetime and being able to play with the Chargers.

Vs Browns- win at home.

That puts them with at least two more losses but potentially 3. There's three other teams at 5-5, so I think we can only lose one game and still make it, but we could potentially lose two if things fall our way. The Dolphins do have the Pats, Colts, and Vikings left, so they could lose 2, and the other teams don't have super-easy schedules, with a few of the other 5-5 teams playing each other, so they could knock each other out.

I'm not betting my wheelchair on us making the playoffs, but I don't think it's as far-fetched as people are making it sound.

Who-Dey!