Make-or-break game for QB

Is the Ravens' quarterback race finally reaching the finishing line? Tonight against the St.Louis Rams, Troy Smith should bring some clarity to the quarterback quandary in his most extended audition of the ...

[edward keller]

Who's the best of the bad? There's not a NFL Q back on the team. And there my friends rest the whole season. It's gonna be a long one, and ugly at times.

[lopl]

Smith is the best QB the Ravens have, sad but true!

[Billick]

I hope 'you all' see this is a set up for Troy to win the job , playing against St.Louis he might actually look like a pro Q-back tonight..........They have protected him all along , they can't protect him when the real season starts , and we will see him for what he is , a college Q-back that chokes..........one who won the Heisman because he was surrounded by great talent..........what a joke we are looking at him to lead this pro team.........

[daddyman57]

You need more than confidence to play QB. You need to complete more than 50% of your passes. He's completing 47% in pre-season against teams playing 2nd and 3rd stringers without game planning for him. He's Heath Schuler with legs.

[Tony]

I don't see any of the 3 being able to seperate themselves from the pack. Start Smith.

[Theo]

4-12 with Smith as as QB. Sad ....

[ann]

I'm really hoping things improve in the QB area. It's bad to be pessimistic this early on but right now it looks bleak. Troy Smith really seems to have the drive; hopefully it will be enough to carry him.

[WVTERP]

Everyday I come on here to hopefully read some good, positive remarks only to find more negative comments. I have traveled and read newspapers from all across the country and Ravens fans are the most negative commenting fans in the NFL. It is constantly doom and gloom. You guys are absolutely pathetic. I love football and the Ravens as well as the Terps. We take our lumps just like most other sports fans do but man I can't live thinking like you losers do ALL the time. Didn't your mom and dad teach you " that if you can't say something positive (at least once in awhile) then shut the hell up!!! Please!

[Gino Toretta]

Hey, I won a Heismann too.. Can I suit up for the Ratbirds?

[eddie]

Theo wrote:

4-12 with Smith as as QB. Sad ....

name 4 teams these guys can beat-- remember-- cameron was 1-15 with miami--

[gscaton1]

It doesn't matter to me. Both of them stink. Its going to be a long season. This team period is not good. Half of them are hurt and have been hurt for about 3 years. Not only are they hurt but there is alot of old players on this team. Good luck coach, you will need it.

[Randy]

WVTERP wrote:

Everyday I come on here to hopefully read some good, positive remarks only to find more negative comments. I have traveled and read newspapers from all across the country and Ravens fans are the most negative commenting fans in the NFL. It is constantly doom and gloom. You guys are absolutely pathetic. I love football and the Ravens as well as the Terps. We take our lumps just like most other sports fans do but man I can't live thinking like you losers do ALL the time. Didn't your mom and dad teach you " that if you can't say something positive (at least once in awhile) then shut the hell up!!! Please!

Didn't your mama and daddy teach you that everyone is entitled to their opinion even if it's perceived by you as negative? Maybe some people have more experience watching sports to recognize the tell tale signs of an organization in trouble. If you want to be positive about your sports teams that's your choice but learn to tolerate others without all the name calling. Being a positive fan with an outlook that others may regard as Pollyanna doesn't make you a BETTER fan, just one that wants to believe all is well in your world.

BTW you have a real challenge in front of you in your quest to get others to shut up because you don't share their views. Good luck with that!

[eddie]

WVTERP wrote:

Everyday I come on here to hopefully read some good, positive remarks only to find more negative comments. I have traveled and read newspapers from all across the country and Ravens fans are the most negative commenting fans in the NFL. It is constantly doom and gloom. You guys are absolutely pathetic. I love football and the Ravens as well as the Terps. We take our lumps just like most other sports fans do but man I can't live thinking like you losers do ALL the time. Didn't your mom and dad teach you " that if you can't say something positive (at least once in awhile) then shut the hell up!!! Please!

Maybe we are more knowledgeable and smarter than what the newspapers you have read You Think!(I can't believe u read 1 newspaper that picks the Ravens to be anything but mediocre)-- we can see with this O-line we have on the field and with not one deep threat WR- and a coach whose chief experience has been specialty teams we are realistic- my mother told me before you make decision review the facts -- not be in the fantasy world that you seem to be.

[WVTERP]

Randy wrote:

<quoted text>Didn't your mama and daddy teach you that everyone is entitled to their opinion even if it's perceived by you as negative? Maybe some people have more experience watching sports to recognize the tell tale signs of an organization in trouble. If you want to be positive about your sports teams that's your choice but learn to tolerate others without all the name calling. Being a positive fan with an outlook that others may regard as Pollyanna doesn't make you a BETTER fan, just one that wants to believe all is well in your world.
BTW you have a real challenge in front of you in your quest to get others to shut up because you don't share their views. Good luck with that!

First of all I have a little more knowledge about football than you know. I coached football for 22 years with 15 of those at the high school level in Baltimore so don't try and pull" your more educated then I". I don't expect every comment to be rosey, however its unbeleivable that every comment on this article today has been negative so far??? I live 1 hour from Pittsburgh now and I read their paper also and I never here such comments from them!

[WVTERP]

eddie wrote:

<quoted text>
Maybe we are more knowledgeable and smarter than what the newspapers you have read You Think!(I can't believe u read 1 newspaper that picks the Ravens to be anything but mediocre)-- we can see with this O-line we have on the field and with not one deep threat WR- and a coach whose chief experience has been specialty teams we are realistic- my mother told me before you make decision review the facts -- not be in the fantasy world that you seem to be.

Hey Eddie, where in my comment did I make any predition as to were I thought the Ravens would finish??? Talk about fantasy world! I was any talking about someone saying someting like " man, that Ray rice looks good or maybe A comment about a young corner . Don't just bash to get your name on the board.

[Scott G]

WVTERP wrote:

Everyday I come on here to hopefully read some good, positive remarks only to find more negative comments. I have traveled and read newspapers from all across the country and Ravens fans are the most negative commenting fans in the NFL. It is constantly doom and gloom. You guys are absolutely pathetic. I love football and the Ravens as well as the Terps. We take our lumps just like most other sports fans do but man I can't live thinking like you losers do ALL the time. Didn't your mom and dad teach you " that if you can't say something positive (at least once in awhile) then shut the hell up!!! Please!

You read newspapers from other parts of the country? Or their websites? My first inclination is to say that with paper print, those comments are selected and edited.
But I do agree. There is often gloom and doom here, stronger than I have experienced when living elsewhere. P{ersonally I think it is the nature of this region. We surround the capital Beltway. We are taught by the masters of gloom and doom, the Politicians and Activists. When I lived in the South, Beltway news was a 3 min blurb on the nightly news and a single page back of the "A" section.

[DeeJay]

Dear Ravens Faithful,
Don't let the negative writers from the Sun keep you from cheering and supporting our Ravens. I am old enough to remember the Colts leaving town. I remember when we didn't have a team to cheer for. I have lived through the gut wrenching times of the Orioles when the obnoxious fans from Boston and New York take over our baseball park. Don't let this happen with the Ravens as we go through a rebuilding phase. So what about Kyle, Troy, or Joe. It is all about our team - Go Ravens!!!!!

[Brian]

Like I said before, this is still the preseason and we have fielded less than 50% of our starters in both the previuos two games. When the Ravens get all their starters back we will have a much better idea as to how good (or bad) this team will be. Also let's not foget that this is a new system with a new coach. There will undoubtedly be some growing pains.

[Scott G]

As far as tonight's game though, some interesting stats from games so far this weekend:

M. Ryan: 15-21 - 102 yds 1 TD 0 INts
C. Redman (yes, THAT one):9-11 83 0-0
A. Smith: 6-17 83 1-0 (boy, we complain about the letdown from selecting Boller?)
T. Romo 15-19 166 1-1
B. Johnson: 9-13 107 0-0
M. Schaub: 15-27 166 1-0
A. Rodgers: 18-22 193 1-0
J. Cutler: 6-13 115 2-0
P. Ramsey: 10-16 70 1-1
M. Guitierrez (PAts): 14-20 217 2-0
M. Cassel (also Pats): 8-14 60 0-0
D. McNabb: 13-17 180 1-0
K. Kolb: 9-14 106 0-0

Now I am not comparing any of our QB's to the other starters, but those are some striking numbers for the 3rd pre-season game for those teams. Particularly note the stats on the BACK-UPS for these teams.So, we will get a real dose of what Troy Smith brings to the table tonight.

I didn't like his comments in the article. His confidence (arrogance) will be his own undoing if he can't be accurate. It sounded as if he was already making excuses why his accuracy is so low. Your not playing Northwestern anymore. It's one thing for your receivers to drop the ball, it is another far cry from passing nowhere close to the receiver. A leader needs to take responsibility and recognize when it is his fault, not to blame it elsewhere. I think Flacco is already showing more in that regard, when he was pointing at himself after last weeks game, when he wasn't the one that put them in that position no less.

The sad fact is, many of those teams have better backups (that we missed on the last couple of years) than our starter. Unless Smith lights it up tonight, I have to lean toward Boller. He is far more accurate, which means you will move the ball and get drives going. You do run the risk of turnovers, yes, but you are moving the ball. Inaccuracy dooms you from the start.

[DGT]

Troy Smith is a class act who knows full well his Heisman (correct spelling, "Gino") is not going to get him any slack in the NFL. He has done nothing but work hard, stay positive, and a try to be the best leader he can be. He's taken maybe 30 snaps so far this preseason. That's not much to judge a player on. He had some success last season. Let's give him a real chance. As he said, "the opportunities will come."