Stitch01 said:
They have to use tons of cap space on an average to just above quarterback. Ozzie and company are still very good at what they do, but they aren't New England or anything like that when it comes to finding, coaching up, and scheming to cover up depth when injuries hit so they really need injury luck to seriously contend. They'll likely right the ship and go 9-7 or whatever, but they aren't likely to be perennial contenders again unless Flacco can become the guy he's paid to be.
I don't think this is true, Ozzie is amazingly good at his job and they have been one of the top three or four teams in the league over the last seven years. You can only make an argument that NE, GB, and Pittsburgh have been as good during the Harbaugh / Flacco era (since they came in together in 2008) and they all have the same number of Superbowl wins. The Ravens also play in a much tougher division than the Pats, with the NFC North producing 8 Wild Cards compared to the AFC East's 2 over that time frame.
Ravens over that time frame 2008-2014:
72-40 regular season and 10-5 in the playoffs with three Conference championship games and a Superbowl win
Pats over that time frame:
84-28 in a much, much easier division and 7-5 in the playoffs with four Conference championship games and a Super win and loss.
The Steelers over that time frame:
72-40 regular season and 5-3 in the playoffs with
two one Super Bowl title
s
Green Bay over that time frame
74-38 regular season and 6-5 in the playoffs with a Superbowl.
Considering that the Ravens are the only one of these teams succeeding like this without a first ballot HoF quarterback (rapist exceptions included) says quite a bit about Ozzie and the lesser Harbaugh's skills. Pats fans should also consider that their easy division (relative to the North) has also bought them home field advantage three of the four times they have played the Ravens in the playoffs during that time frame. Finally, only two coaches have beat BB's Pats twice in the playoffs, Harbaugh and Coughlin, and Harbaugh certainly didn't need any missed calls or miracle catches to do it. I don't like them, but Baltimore is a model franchise. They will be fine in the long term even this is a down year.