Finally, "The Beast" is dead...or is it?

Congratulations to John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens. As fans, we should be excited that we have a new beginning with Harbaugh. I don't know the new coach but my Eagles friends tell me that everyone likes him and he is intense. Based on what MASN let us see of the press conference, Harbaugh seems energetic and a matter of fact, look-you-in-the-eye breath of fresh air.

All this, coupled with what reports say about him, really makes me feel much better about him than Jason Garrett. Garrett is just a benefactor of the hype machine. He has a Pro Bowl QB and WR, yet scored 6 points twice in his last 4 games and not more than 20 points in any of those games. A terrible month for him, including an embarrassing loss at home, after a bye to a division rival they scored 45 and 31 points against earlier in the year.

Garrett supporters say that Romo's thumb was injured and TO was slowed by the sore ankle. Ok, so let's say that makes Romo maybe just an above average QB and the ankle slows TO down some. Well, last I checked that still makes that talent much better than anything the Ravens have at those positions. Garrett knew he wasn't ready after just 3 seasons of coaching (and remind me exactly how good he was in managing the Dolphins QBs) and he got his payday to stay in Dallas - good for him and good for us.

I digress. The point here is that Garrett is the best thing to never happen to Baltimore.

As a result, the Ravens have a better "coach." Harbaugh's been around the league for 10 years and special teams coaches have turned into some of the best coaches in league history (Belichick, Cowher, Ditka, Levy, Vermiel). Not bad company. He has been around a championship franchise and learned from good coaches in Andy Reid and Jim Johnson. He has more experience than Garrett in dealing with the personalities of NFL players and I'll take a guy that's been in the game for 10 years over a 3 year guy anytime. You can't even graduate high school in 3 years, yet we were so hyped on Garrett.

I say the Ravens win big here with this hire and it seems as if the Beast is dead... or is it?

First, "the Beast" in this reference is the empowered attitude of entitlement that our prima donna players possess. The idea that they can come and go as they please, not stay in camp, not practice, go out the night before games, not play their assignments, make excuses, take no accountability, blame everyone else and hang their coaches out to dry whenever they want. The "me, me, me" mentality - the "I will retire" or "I want more money" if a hard nosed coach comes in attitude – you know the type, the type that unfortunately has become our Baltimore Ravens. They represent the Beast.

According to Brad Jackson the players that lobbied for Rex will have challenges with Harbaugh. Here is his quote... "There will be those challenges initially, I can tell that from the mindset of some of the current players I spoke to."

If that is true then real nice, guys - way to be professionals. What is your job description again? Because I thought it was to take a few million to knock the snot out of people. I didn't realize that evaluating coaching moves was part of the deal. Please replace your pacifiers with mouthpieces, buckle up your chinstraps and do the jobs you are hired to do.

Don't we need more guys like Todd Heap and Gary Stills?

Stills... "Now that we've got everything settled in that department, we've got to see what kind of changes are going to be made. I've heard of John Harbaugh before, and I'm just interested in playing some football. If he's somebody that the front office believes in, then that's somebody I believe in, too, because I trust the people who make those decisions. Some of the guys want a fresh start. Let's see what kind of fresh start it is."
Heap... "When you're in this process of finding a head coach, you're kind of in limbo as a team. Now, we can finally go forward. It's going to be an exciting time."

Over 9 years Billick's style helped the players win a Super Bowl and just like many leaders before him, his biggest strength became his biggest weakness. "The Beast" was born and Billick couldn't control it - once the nose is in the room, you can't stop the body. To kill the Beast, Billick was fired as was the entire staff.

One thing is clear from the press conference, Harbaugh is all about the team mentality and playing with discipline, and now that we have our coach it seems we can move on to a new beginning. The Beast is dead, the "me" mentality is a thing of the past.

But, wait!

Reports say (and Bisciotti confirms) that Rex could still be in the mix as defensive coordinator. Look, Rex is a great coach - no question about it, but please, please, please let him be a great coach somewhere else -- anywhere but Baltimore.

A Rex hiring will most certainly undermine Harbaugh's efforts at instilling his own culture on a team whose leadership in the locker room is dominated by those prima donna defensive players. These guys need some "shock and awe" and need to realize they are no longer in control. Harbaugh needs to show the younger guys - the guys that will be here for years to come - that he is in control, not the guys that will be gone in another year or two. He can do that much more easily without Rex.

And, if he is hired, won't Rex just take the certain pay raise and then look for the next head coaching gig to pop up? Do we really want that for our next head coach - an unsettled situation at defensive coordinator? Don't we want a coaching staff that is unified and cohesive - one that is built for the long haul? Shouldn't Ozzie let Harbaugh build this staff the way he wants? I sure hope Ozzie and Bisciotti let him do his job in that regard.

Harbaugh preaches discipline, yet Rex runs an extremely undisciplined unit, one with weekly missed assignments, "communication breakdowns" and Ed Reed guessing that results in touchdowns for the other team. This seems like a core difference of opinion between head coach and potential defensive coordinator. Bringing Rex back just makes no sense. The continuity argument doesn't jive - that is why the Ravens are in the spot they are in. The staff was fired to end that mentality for good. We need a clean break - it is only fair to our new head coach.

Coach Harbaugh, don't make your job harder - tell Ozzie to take Rex off the list. I can't believe they would even think about bringing back a guy that interviewed for the head job and didn't get it. No matter what Rex says, do you think he still feels the same way about an organization that basically said he wasn't good enough to be the man? Would you? I also can't believe that Rex would take the job after getting snubbed for the gig. I am praying that Atlanta takes our man and Rex has a nice life in Atlanta, or in Miami working for Bill Parcells as defensive coordinator. Rex did a great job here and we thank him. Time to move on - he will not be unemployed for long.

When Bisciotti fired Billick and then hired Harbaugh, he killed the Beast. I hope this doesn't become one of those 80's horror movies where the monster seems dead but somehow comes back to life.

The Ravens can't bring back a piece of the past or it will be like Freddy Kreuger, the Beast that never dies.

In Oz We Trust....Really?

"We stunk."

"I apologize to the fans for that pathetic display of football we put on the field today."

"I am embarrassed at how unprofessionally we acted on the field tonight. At no time is it at all acceptable to lose our composure in our workplace."

"We have begun fining players $5000 for every false start, offsides or delay of game penalty as well as missed assignments. Mental errors will no longer be tolerated. I am confident that since we only seem to be thinking about our paychecks that this will put an end to our problems with mental errors and communication breakdowns."

"I blew the coverage - my fault. No excuses."

"As leader of this team, it is my job to get my dogs ready to play. I am letting down my teammates, my coach and the fans of Baltimore."

Those are words we never heard from our coach, our players, our GM or our owner. Instead, we went the entire season with "we are working hard and we will work to improve this week."

"Accountability" seems to be the buzzword this week. The players certainly aren't willing to take any of it as witnessed all season long. If you haven't read Tony's latest blog entry then take a look to see what I mean - McAlister on The Anita Marks Show

So, in thinking about the season who is accountable? Evidently Brian Billick is, although he was not accountable for any of the wins last year it seems.

Look, I am no Billick apologist and it seemed like it was time for Billick to move on for sure. He took a lot of bullets for his players and fostered a culture that ultimately led to his demise. Those very players Billick protected, empowered and treated like men just picked up the gun and shot Billick in the back. But, hey, that's the nature of the beast. You can't fire the players in sports so the coach has to go. Again, I agree it was time although the way the whole thing went down smells a little. There's a story there and evidently our 20% season ticket price hike for a junior varsity football product doesn't allow us "the rest of the story."

Now, I am relatively confident that Billick ran the same plays that led to a top 12 offense after he took over the play calling duties in 2006. I am equally confident that he does not have any plays in the playbook that call for McNair to meander out of the huddle to the line of scrimmage, not have time to read a defense and then drop back and fumble the ball. Billick also didn't coach an undisciplined defense that continually had "communication" breakdowns that never seemed to get fixed.

So the players need to be held accountable but that won't happen because they are just worried about the first part of that word, namely "account" as in "bank account."

But, how about the Ravens untouchable one - the goldenboy, himself, Ozzie Newsome. Isn't the product we put on the field his creation? Where is he in this accountability equation? Isn't the "In Oz We Trust" mantra growing a little old?

Let's face it, 2007 was more of an indictment on Ozzie than it was Billick. We get a few injuries and look at what we rolled out on the field. These are the best backups we can accumulate in the NFL? Unfortunately it is when you draft like a dog. Let's officially eliminate the notion that the Ravens are great on draft day. Let's stop thinking of the past. What have you done for me lately?

Sure Ozzie and crew have had success with 1st round picks, but let's take a look at what he's done for us in the rest of the first day, the 2nd and 3rd rounders, otherwise known as depth or the "Next Man Up."

2003

Round 1: Suggs and Boller
Round 2: none - traded for Boller
Round 3: Musa (never a featured back)

2004

Round 1: none - traded for Boller
Round 2: Dwan Edwards (not a starter and not very good)
Round 3: Devard Darling (not a starter)

2005

Round 1: Mark Clayton (becoming a disappointment)
Round 2: Dan Cody (IR MVP)
Round 2: Adam Terry (not a starter)
Round 3: none (traded for Terry)

2006

Round 1: Haloti Ngata (stud)
Round 2: Chris Chester (dud)
Round 3: David Pittman (not looking good at this point)

2007

Round 1: Ben Grubbs (starter)
Round 2: none
Round 3: Figurs (returner)
Round 3: Yanda (not much more than a depth guy)

That is 14 picks in the first 3 rounds of drafts since 2003. Of the 14 picks we have 4 legitimate starters (Suggs, Clayton, Ngata, Grubbs). Of those, just 1 has made a Pro Bowl. Terry, Yanda and Chester have started out of necessity but they, as well as the other guys are just backups, with the exception of Figurs.

Now, we love to throw around the term "Pro Bowlers" here in Baltimore but we haven't drafted a Pro Bowler since 2003 (Suggs). Ngata seems to be on the verge but other than that our first day picks are questionable at best.

On top of that, draft day moves were perplexing. We all know about the Boller trade but then trading down in 2006 to then reach for Chris Chester at the 56th pick was confusing. Had anyone heard of Chester? Meanwhile, we passed on Marcus McNeill. Chester plus Pittman does not equal Marcus McNeill.

The draft pundits and message boarders all like to grade the draft before any of the players play a snap. Many correctly suggest that you need to withhold a given year's draft day grade for a couple years to see what happens with the players. Unfortunately for Baltimore fans, our Wizard's grades are slipping.

NFL teams need to have a high percentage of early round guys become solid players and starters in order to become a good football team year in and year out. The salary cap situation demands success in the draft and it is clear that the Ravens have struggled recently in the draft, which could indicate persistent problems in the near future. Let's face it, the depth is simply not there on this squad. Hopefully new coaches can bring some game out of these guys but hope is not a discipline.

Now, we all know about hindsight and I am not trying to pile on here. The main purpose of this little exercise is to show that there are a lot of problems with this team from the players all the way through the food chain. This is definitely a "lose as a team situation" despite what certain defensive players say.

Loosely using a Parcells analogy, it is hard to be a good chef when the ingredients are rotten. Changing the chef will not make doo doo casserole taste good. What's worse is that our older key ingredients are starting to spoil our new goods. Whatever doo-doo touches just seems to stink.

Bottom line, Ozzie needs to do a better job shopping and it's time he is held accountable as well.

Otherwise we need someone else to handle our grocery list.

Party Like a "Punk" Rock Star!

Was anyone else sick of the "Party Like A Rock Star" skit on the jumbo-tron at the games? In case you forgot, it was some terrible song that played while our "rock star" players danced around on the screen in their helmets. Reminded me of a estrogen-laden football sleepover dance party or something.

Don't we see our players dancing enough on the field after making a tackle 10 yards downfield when they are losing by 20 in the 4th quarter? The way our players have acted all year, we need to add "Punk" before "Rock Star" - that would be a little more appropriate for this crew this season, as our boys showed the entire country at the end of the Patriots game.

Well, our rock star players seem to have won their battle against Brian Billick and now the inmates have no warden. The coaching search is on and the hot names include Jason Garrett, Bill Cowher, Rex Ryan and Marty Schottenheimer as well as other candidates that have been interviewed, including Tony Sparano, Jim Caldwell, Brian Schottenheimer and John Harbaugh.

A few observations...

1. Bill Cowher will not ruin his Steeler legacy by coming to Baltimore, so we can all forget about him. Am I the only person who thinks that there's no way Cowher would even consider Baltimore? Why do we want him anyway?

2. Marty-ball? Does anybody really want that around here? Bisciotti could have kept Billick and not thrown $15 mill down the tubes if he was looking for a boring offense.

3. Garrett is too young, plus he is loaded with weapons on that team. Umm, we are not loaded with weapons on offense. Can he handle our primadona players? Let's analyze a TD play from the Giants playoff game -- Romo fade pass to TO for a TD - wow that is great playcalling. Let's face it Romo and TO can execute the plays whereas our players can't - and the Billick called enough fade patterns in the red zone to prove that theory. Let's not get carried away with all the hype over Garrett. 17 points against the Giants at home in the playoffs? If he's a genious when the team is scoring 35 then he needs to be accountable over the last 6 weeks when that team's offense has struggled. Next.

4. We need a Jack del Rio type. A former player that may not have head coaching experience but who is hard-nosed and commands respect because he's been there. Not saying this is who I would hire because I don't know him and don't know anything about his skills, but Singletary fits that bill. He may not be head coaching material (Ozzie and company can determine that), but he's the type of guy the Ravens need to get - a guy that will not bow down to these players and also commands respect.

Ozzie can easily hire the coordinators and coaches to coach up the players and develop schemes. The Ravens need a leader that is not afraid to tell Ray to shut his yap and to tell Bart to stop making excuses and to stop covering the invisible man in pass coverage.The players need to be held accountable by someone.

I'm so sick of the entitlement attitude from these rock stars. Rex thinks every defensive player is the best in the league - no wonder the players are lobbying for him - give me a break. See ya later Rex. Nice defense the last half of the year, allowing almost 30 points per game.

Here's a poll question... if we didn't live in Baltimore and instead lived in a city or state with no NFL team - would we even like this team?

Get some fresh coaching meat in here and light these players up some. I sure hope the party is over soon for you, "punk" rockers.