Baltimore Ravens ‘Ultimate Franchise Player’ Selection

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This is the third post in Kurt’s epic quest to identify the NFL’s Ultimate Franchise Player. For an explanation of his methodology for choosing each franchise’s ultimate franchise player, and then how you and he will choose the NFL’s Ultimate Franchise Player from that list, click here.

To see all the category page for this series, of which there will be one for every franchise, click here.

Previous selections: ARI | ATL

Quoth the Raven, nevermore.

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride – at least recently. (Never mind that no Maid of Honor could ever possibly look bad in purple and black with some gold thrown in, but I digress…)

Just merely getting deep into the playoffs has gotten old quickly for the Baltimore Ravens, whose Super Bowl 35 win now seems like a lifetime ago – and whose close loss in the recent AFC Title Game in New England is just the most recent and painful in the franchise’s attempts to get back to the big game, let alone win it.

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Baltimore Ravens-New England Patriots 5 P’s: Preview, Point Spread, Pick, Prediction, and Poll

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In this afternoon’s first conference championship game, the top two seeds in the AFC face off as Baltimore travels to Gillette Stadium to face the Patriots.

For Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (the subject of a recent MSF photo story) this is a big opportunity to show that he belongs in the discussion of the upper tier quarterbacks in the NFL. For Patriots superstar Tom Brady, today provides an opportunity to avenge a playoff drubbing at the hands a Baltimore a few years ago with a win propelling the Brady-Belichick duo to its fifth Super Bowl appearance.

Here is all the basic info you need to know, what MSF’s writers have said about the game this week, and a poll so you can take your pick.

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AFC Championship Game: Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots Preview and Prediction

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The best two teams in the AFC will play for a berth to the Super Bowl on Sunday, as the top-seeded Patriots welcome the second-seeded Ravens to Gillette Stadium.

It is not often that the top two seeds both win in the divisional round, but their opponents both had shortcomings. The Broncos ran out of steam and were overwhelmed in New England, while T.J. Yates could not get anything going against the Ravens’ defense.

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Cam Cameron, The Key To Sunday’s Ravens-Patriots AFC Championship Game

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The AFC Championship Game this weekend between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens hinges on one person.

That’s right: just one.

Tom Brady?  Nope, not the sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer.

Ray Rice?  Sort of, but that’s not the answer.

Joe Flacco?

Bill Belichick?

John Harbaugh?

No. No. No.

Actually, the most important person in deciding who will advance to represent the American Football Conference in Super Bowl XLVI is none other than the gentleman who holds the worst all-time record of any “non-interim” head coach in NFL history: Baltimore Offensive Coordinator Malcolm “call me Cam” Cameron.

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Photo Story: ‘No Respect’ starring Joe Flacco, John Harbaugh, and special guest Rodney Dangerfield

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For all of his talent as a passer, and his very good regular season and post season records during his first four years in the NFL, Joe Flacco is not generally considered to be among the upper tier of quarterbacks in the NFL.

As good as his won/loss numbers may look, Flacco’s stats suggest to many that the Ravens win in spite of him more than they win because of him, with defense and a strong running game keying this decade of success in Baltimore. And save for a few big performances in big games (the two Pittsburgh games this year, his statistically terrific start against Kansas City in last year’s playoffs), Flacco has mostly underwhelmed in his most watched moments. This clearly bothers Flacco, as his comments this week prove.

Among these now-notorious comments was this gem: “I’m sure if we win [the Super Bowl] I’ll have nothing to do with why we won, according to you guys.”

For our latest photo story I decided to analyze Joe Flacco’s pervasive feelings of disrespect, as well as what effect the sharp drop in completion percentage Flacco has experienced this year (the lowest of his career) may secretly have had on his teammates and coaches, whose undying support of Flacco has always seemed just a too too effusive, without Flacco really earning it.

Of course, I’m not in the locker room, so what do I know?

Update: I published this a day before these comments by Ed Reed caused a bit of a firestorm. Perhaps this photo story was more accurate than I thought…

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NFL Playoffs: Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens Preview and Prediction

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Much of the AFC playoff coverage has been focused on Tim Tebow and the Broncos, but there is another game being played on Sunday that should be great to watch.

The Houston Texans, who are now undefeated in the playoffs as a franchise, are heading into Baltimore to take on the Ravens. They already faced each other this season, in a game which the Ravens won by a score of 29-14. It seems like a lopsided win, but five field goals by Billy Cundiff turned out to be the difference, in an otherwise hard-fought game.

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Fantasy Football Week 16 Advice: Last Minute Tips on Marshawn Lynch, Khalil Bell, and Others

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The final week of fantasy football is upon us, and that brings along with it a very tense holiday weekend.

There are thirteen games being played on Christmas Eve, where the bulk of fantasy playoff games will be decided. Quality time with the family will be second priority for those fantasy owners in the championship game, so here are some last minute tips for this week in fantasy.

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Fantasy Football Week 14 Start em, Sit em Advice, Projections, and Lineup Q&A

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Week 14 is here.

For some of you, that means you have a team (or hopefully teams) on bye this week. If so, major kudos to you.

For others of you, Week 14 means that it’s the first week of the playoffs. If so, good luck, and hopefully the advice in this post will help you move on.

For others, Week 14 is the last week of your regular season. Maybe you’ve clinched a playoff spot or maybe you’re still scratching and clawing for one. Regardless, hopefully we can do you and your lineup some good with our picks in this week’s start em, sit em.

And for some of you this may be your first week without fantasy football – if your playoffs start this week and you did not make it; but if that’s the case, why would you be reading this?

Alas, if you’re here, you are looking for help in Week 14. And you’re in luck, because that is exactly what you’re about to get.

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Fantasy Football Week 13 Advice: Last Minute Tips

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Another day of football is right around the corner, with a game that got bumped from primetime, Colts vs. Patriots, because of the lack of talent from one of the teams. Monday features a game that should have been bumped, with the 4-7 Chargers taking on the 3-8 Jaguars in a game that is sure to be anything but exciting.

Enough ranting, here are some fantasy football tips for this week.

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Fantasy Football Thanksgiving Day Start Em, Sit Em Lineup Advice, Projections, and Roster Q&A

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Jon will have the overall Week 12 start/sit post ready to go for tomorrow morning, but with three games on Thanksgiving Thursday I thought it might be helpful to do a special start/sit column for those games.

So in this post I’ll do just that, providing analysis and recommendations for the key players you need to decide on before Turkey Day.
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Fantasy Football Week 11 Start Em, Sit Em Lineup Advice, Projections, and Roster Q&A

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Sooooo…yeah….

That’s probably how a lot of you felt after last week’s fantasy results. If you had a bad week, join the crowd.

It appears that certain defenses (the Cowboys, Titans, and others) may have finally caught up with certain offenses (Bills, Panthers, and others) after the long offseason, which led to some surprising and disappointing performances in Week 10.

But not for Aaron Rodgers owners. Never for Aaron Rodgers owners.

No worries.  If you have a bad week, it’s not your fault; it was just one of those weeks.  Good grief, the Chicago Bears’ DEFENSE was the number one fantasy player last week.  Let’s just write it off as an off week and get back on the horse, ready for Week 11.

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Fantasy Football Week 9 Stock Report: Blount, Flacco, more

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All the talk this year has mainly been of the struggles of Chris Johnson and Philip Rivers.  As painful as it is to watch, dwelling on the problems will set you back.

Six team byes have been scaled back down to four this week, so fewer players will be sitting out of your matchups, but it will still likely necessitate at least one or two touch decisions; decisions you shouldn’t take lightly, because while this may be the middle of the season for the players, our playoffs are right around the corner and crunch time is upon us.

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Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers Preview and Prediction

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The AFC North is usually one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL, at least at the tops, and its best two teams will square off Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

The 5-2 Baltimore Ravens will head to Pittsburgh to face the 6-2 Steelers in Heinz Field, where the Steelers are 4-0 this season. The Ravens embarrassed the Steelers in Week 1, winning 35-7. The Steelers had seven turnovers in that game, and the Ravens coasted to victory.

Sunday night’s game should be much more competitive this time around.

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Fantasy Football Week 9 Start Em, Sit Em Advice & Projections

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Before we get to the Week 9 fantasy football start/sit advice, I want to add a couple more thoughts on my Tebow article from yesterday. (And don’t worry; I’ll analyze his fantasy prospects for Week 9 too.)

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How many NFL teams would trade their current QB for Cam Newton right now?

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How many teams would trade their current QB, right now, for Cam Newton?

This is a question I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past several weeks, as I continue to be more and more impressed (and surprised) by how well Cam Newton is transitioning to the NFL in his first season.

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