I’m still waiting for an explanation on why Grantland.com’s Bill Barnwell hates the Ravens. I enjoy reading the ESPN/Bill Simmons love child that is Grantland, but I just haven’t taken their NFL staff writer serious after he called the Ravens lucky when the embarrassed the Steelers in week one.
Barnwell’s anti-Ravens bias reared its ugly head again in week nine when he called Torrey Smith a “flop of the week” after he caught the game winning touchdown on the road in Pittsburgh. “Again, maybe this is a little harsh for the player who scored the game-winning touchdown, but Smith also dropped what would have been the game-winning touchdown four plays earlier by slowing down on his route prematurely,” he wrote.
My favorite Ravens critic is back at it after Baltimore ran all over the Browns 24-10, this time calling out Joe Flacco.
Flop: Joe Flacco, who couldn’t capitalize on the incredible performance his running back was giving him. Flacco was just 10-of-23 for 158 yards and didn’t throw a touchdown pass, while just seven of Baltimore’s 24 first downs came through the air. He threw for just two first downs on third down all day, and naturally, one of them was to Rice.
I guess my problem with Barney (I’m calling him Barney now) is that he sees one side of the box score. He listed Torrey Smith as a flop of the week despite the fact that the Ravens burned Steelers safety Troy Polamalu all game. The same is true this week.
How about the Browns defensive line who surrendered 290 rushing yards or Colt McCoy who ran for his life all game or Peyton Hillis who struggled mightily against the Ravens defense? None of the guys are flops?
I’ve asked it before, I’ll ask it again. Barney, why do you hate the Ravens? When are you going to give them credit?
Sounds like he’s not worth reading.
It’d be nice if Barnwell defined flop a little better. Lets assume he means something like: “The player whose performance was the worst compared to an average player at that position.”
Assuming that criteria, the QB Flop of the week really isn’t a contest: its Caleb Hanie. Hanie’s performance in the red zone on Sunday was more than 7 times worse than an NFL average QBs (-704% DVOA). Given Heine performance alone the Chiefs had an 80% chance of winning the game. Now that boys and girls is a flop.
Barney’s dad is the biggest flop for bringing him into this world.
…but think about it, we’re all talking about Barnwell. He got just what he wanted.
You do realize that as the QB, he’s supposed to COMPLETE more passes than not … rigt? Flacco threw for 43.5% last week … that’s abysmal.
TEBOW played better last weekend than Flacco did … let that sink in.
^ Please don’t compare Joe Flacco to Tim Tebow. Please don’t get me started…..
Why not? Tebow is winning as many games AND last week he did with with a better completion percentage AND QBR.
You have no argument. Palko could win 5 games in a row and you would compare him to Flacco as well. Flacco and Harbuagh have done nothing other than win games since their Ravens tenure started. Nuff said.
I guess this topic is like someone else picking on your brother. I hear constant complaining from B-more fans about Flacco and other team issues. As soon as someone from the outside makes the same kind of comment, everyone is circling the wagons telling this guy what a baffoon he is.
No matter what you think of Flacco, calling him the flop of the game where Cleveland scored 3 points is absurd. If he wanted to pick on the Ravens, how about Cundiff missing two FGs and nearly missing an extra point? To pick on Flacco for only throwing a certain yardage where the RBs were tearing it up just goes to show one thing: these writers don’t watch the games, they just look at the stat lines and final scores to make their stories. If you didn’t watch the game, you shouldn’t be able to offer an opinion.