Kaspers Korner

At the beginning of the season the Ravens looked like one of the teams to beat in the AFC North.

However, a playoff birth is on the line as the Ravens are heading into a key stretch of games.

According to the Baltimore Sun, over the next three weeks the Ravens face three straight opponents that are coming off their bye week.

To make matters worst the first two games are against the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals followed by the Cleveland Browns.

With already being on a three game losing streak if the Ravens were to lose the next two games it would put a playoff birth in real jeopardy as  after the Browns the Ravens face the Indianapolis Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers twice.

In the end the next tree weeks will show what kind of team the Ravens really are.

The Baltimore Ravens were the favorite going into this week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but went down in defeat.

What went wrong this week for the first time this year the Ravens vaunted run defense allowed a 100 yard rusher.

That means the Bengals controlled the clock, wore down the defense, and limited the Ravens’ number of chances the offense had to score points.

Also, quarterback Joe Flacco threw a costly interception in Bengals territory.

In the end we need to remember that Flacco is only in his second year and he is going to have bad games.

Baltimore Ravens second year quarterback Joe Flacco will go up against the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick.

With the impact that Flacco has had in the first two games one has to wonder does he have it to figure out Belichick’s defense?

Young quarterbacks usually get eaten alive by Belichicks complex disguised coverages.

However, Flacco is not your usual young quarterback with growing pains as in the first three games of the year Flacco has thrown for 839 yards passing with 6 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Also, Flacco in two of those games threw for over 300 yards passing, which is elite level quarterbacking.

With the Patriots jettisoning several veteran players this could be the year that proves it wasn’t all Belichick on the defense.

In the end Flacco has what it takes to beat Belichick he is just going to have to work his butt off for it.

Joe Flacco proved last year that he is a franchise quarterback.

However, that has not stopped him from making some rookie mistakes off the field.

According to the Kansas City Star, Flacco met with reporters and state, “I don’t think it’s a good way to begin it. We’re going to come in here and play well, and I don’t think they’re really going to want to play us by the end of the game.”

Somone on the Kansas City Chiefs got word of it and since then has posted it in the lockeroomto use as motivation for the game.

Even though the Chiefs do not look like a very good team they are still an National Football League team and in the NFL on any given Sunday anyone can win.

Either which way Flacco has now learned that he has to be careful what he says, because any little statement can be used as motivation.

In the end Raven fans better hope that it is not enough to put the Chiefs over the top.

The Baltimore Ravens have not had injury problems over the last several years to key aging players.

The question is can those players stay healthy?

The Ravens have a group of aging key players in linebacker Ray Lewis, wide receiver Derrick Mason, center Matt Birk, safety Ed Reed, nose tackle Kelly Gregg, and defensive end Trevor Price.

It will be up to these player, plus the often injured tight end Todd Heap, to stay healthy if the Ravens are going to contend. in the AFC North.

With Reed being the youngest, who turns 31 on September 11th, in all likely hood this year could be the year that they see a rash of injuries as they have a prety tough schedule as they have to face the NFC North, along with the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.

Fortunately, for the Ravens their offensive line is young and good, which means that the running game has kept their defense off the field.

That allows the defense to see less plays and be more rested.

In the end it will most likely be the offense that will carry the Ravens into the playoffs this year.

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver DerrickMason has been an integral part of the Ravens offense for the last four seasons.  Considering what time of year it is Mason’s announcement is selfish.
Mason announced his retirement on the website Jocklife.com Monday.

Most likely the death of former teammate quarterback Steve McNair made Mason to rethink his priorities.

The problem is that training camp is only a couple of weeks away and if Mason would have announced this early in the offseason it would not be a problem.

The thing is that even if the Ravens went out and signed a veteran wide receiver that person would still struggle as there is simply not enough time between now and the beginning of the regular season to memorize the playbook well.

What Mason did was totally disrespectful to McNair as he would have never put his team in that kind of a situation, nor would he want a teammate to do it either.

What Mason should have done is play out the 2009 season and then retire when the season is over for the Ravens.

In the end Mason will take a lot of criticism from the media and former teammates, which he rightfully deserves.

Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk filled in for Peter King’s SI.com column Monday Morning Quarterback this week. Birk was right on the money in his column on one particular issue.

Birk’s column addressed the issue that former National Football League players that are struggling to even put food on the table for their families.

As Birk stated in his column many former players are unable to make ends meet as they are unable to physically work.

Two things that make this a huge problem is that these players are are usually unable to get disability thru the NFL and very little money is put towards pensions.

Former players have a hard time getting disability, because the disability doesn’t apppear until way after his playing career is done., which makes it hard to link the two together.

The other bigger problem is that only a mere two percent of 59 percent of NFL revenues that players get are going towards retired players.

That means a mere 1.18 percent of the 59 percent is going towards the retired players, which is nothing considering that the NFLPA is getting several billions from NFL owners.

In the end current players need to start ponying up a lot more money or a lot of them will suffer the same fate as many of the current retired players are suffering.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has been a dominant force in the National Football League now for the past 13 years.  The question is will this be the year that spells the beginning of the end for Lewis.

Lewis has always kept himself in great shape and has suffered very little injuries as he has never missed a whole season, along with only missing half a season twice in his career.

With the career of future Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison’s career taking a nose dive it is only time that Lewis’s skills start to recede.

However, this is Lewis were talking about and he is going to be hell bent on proving his critics wrong as many of them are say that with the loss of linebacker Bart Scott and defensive coordinator Rex Ryan the Ravens defense will be not as good.

Fortunately, Lewis has a solid defensive line in front of him that is still in tact.  If he did not then he would certainly see his production slip.

If Lewis does not return to the Lewis of old then it is up to second year starting quarterback Joe Flacco to get the Ravens back to the playoffs.

If Flacco does not improve on his 2008 stats of 2,971 yards passing with 14 touchdowns with 12 interceptions for a 80.3 quarterback rating then it will be a long season for the Ravens.

The Baltimore Ravens took a major hit to its defense when it lost linebacker Bart Scott to free agency.  With the state their linebacker core is in it has to be the main focal point of the Ravens.

In addition to the loss of Scott the Ravens still have to sign linebacker Terrell Suggs to a long term deal.  The linebacker was franchised by the team, so for this year he will still be with the Ravens, but after the 2009 season it is anyone guess what will happen.

Also, there is linebacker Ray Lewis who is going to be 34 in May.  That most likely means that this is his last contract.

Currently, ESPN.com has Tavares Gooden is the replacement for Scott at the right inside linebacker spot.  Gooden only played in four games last year as a rookie.

The other current option is Brendon Ayanbadejo.  Ayanbadejo is 32 and and played in every game last year for the Ravens in a reserve role.

They definitely need to grab someone within the first three rounds of the draft.  Even grabbing a stater in round three is a possibility, because it is reported that this is a very deep draft.

With the New England Patriots also looking for linebackers, and loaded with draft picks in the first two rounds, it is most likely they will grab a linebacker with 26th pick overall.
Ravens fans shouldn’t fear, because they still have Ozzie Newsome at the helm and Newsome is one of the best in the business when it comes to the draft.

Kyle Boller QB unresricted

Jason Brown C unrestricted signed with Rams five years $37.5 million $20 million guaranteed.
Mark Clayton WR restricted

Terrance Copper WR unrestricted signed with Cheifs
PJ Daniels RB restricted

Dwan Edwards DT unrestricted

Corey Ivy CB unrestricted signed with Browns one year
Sam Koch restricted

Dawan Landry restricted

Jim Leonhard S unrestricted signed three year deal
Ray Lewis LB unrestircted resigned with team three years $22 million
Marcus Maxwell WR unrestricted resigned with team
Derrick Martin CB restricted

Robert McCune LB restricted

Brandon McKinney DT restricted

Lorenzo Neal FB unrestricted

Evan Oglesby CB restricted resigned with team
Bart Scott LB unrestricted signed with New York Jets six year $48 million $22 guaranteed
Matt Stover PK unrestricted

Terrell Suggs LB unrestricted franchised by team
Quinn Sypniewski TE restricted

Daniel Wilcox TE unrestricted

Demetrius Williams WR restricted