We need to use Ray Rice more in the passing game.

Get him in space, he makes shit happen.

Hes THE best pass catching back in the league, hes a great runner, he just needs to be used more.

Last night is the prime example of what using him in the passing game does for everyone else on offense.

I agree and I would add this caveat: we need to use Ray Rice more PURPOSEFULLY in the passing game. Cam rarely sent Rice on actual routes out of the backfield, instead asking him to block and then leak out for a dump off. He's good at that role but he's used better as an actual primary receiver.

We saw last night that Rice is not just a great safety valve but a fantastic primary target as a route runner out of the backfield. The angle route he ran on his TD catch was a beauty and needs to be a feature when the defense is in man coverage and/or blitzing as he'll be matched up with a LB. Wheel routes, swings, and seam routes from the backfield with Rice occasionally splitting out wide... this is where they need to exploit his unique talents.

The Peyton Manning-led Colts did not use a huge playbook or huge personnel variations, they focused on each player having a role, practicing it endlessly, and executing it on game day. I think they should use Ray Rice as sort of a souped-up "third down back"--make him the focus of the uptempo game with draws, delays, stretch runs, and pass plays targeting him. Pierce would be the early-down bruiser in that scenario. I think they'd be an unstoppable tandem in that scenario.

I'd like to see them get Pierce 15 or so runs a game, with Rice getting about 15 runs and 5-10 catches.

There aren't many LB's who can keep stride with him on a wheel route like he ran last night for the TD.

A good wheel route also opens up zones for the TE's to sneak into open space vacated by a LB covering Rice.

Let's give Caldwell a little more time to get even more creative with Rice. I liked what I saw yesterday.

If Ray Rice gets past the line of scrimmage and he has a few yards between him and the linebackers - look out. He's so nimble in space he makes defenders look like they're trudging through quicksand. If we can sneak him out there on a pass play (which can be difficult because he's the guy DC's key on) then there's definitely some damage to be done.

Rice is so hard to tackle in open space


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Forget using Ray Rice in the passing game. I just loved the fact that we used the middle of the field quite frequently yesterday. Sending Ray Rice through the middle was just icing on the cake and should only be called for when appropriate.

he was the 2nd leading receiver behind Boldin

Rice is very Marshall Faulk like, him just lined up in the backfield with either 2 TE's or 3 WR's prevents blitzes and gives Joe options, Cam never could figure that out. When they take him out of the backfeild and go empty set, it rarely ever works and Joe gets blitzed, ie Washington fumble. They only went empty backfeild once and it failed as usual in the RZ. Having Dickson back was big, just as a decoy or being used prevents blitzes and creates space in the middle for WR's, Rice or Pitta. Even though Dickson doesnt have many catches it changes what the defense has to do, because they still have to account for him and his speed.

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Originally Posted by Boulderraven

Rice is very Marshall Faulk like, him just lined up in the backfield with either 2 TE's or 3 WR's prevents blitzes and gives Joe options, Cam never could figure that out. When they take him out of the backfeild and go empty set, it rarely ever works and Joe gets blitzed, ie Washington fumble. They only went empty backfeild once and it failed as usual in the RZ. Having Dickson back was big, just as a decoy or being used prevents blitzes and creates space in the middle for WR's, Rice or Pitta. Even though Dickson doesnt have many catches it changes what the defense has to do, because they still have to account for him and his speed.

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Uhhh, Torrey Smith's 6 yard TD came out of an empty backfield set. Ray Rice lined up wide right with Torrey in the slot. Rice lining up wide created the mismatch that allowed that play to happen.

Empty backfield sets are fine, you just have to call the right play and play within the design. Out of an empty backfield you need to find the weakness pre-snap and hit the first read on time, you don't go through reads out of an empty backfield. That's what killed the play vs. the Redskins, the call got in late, no time to set up the mismatch, play took too long to develop and Flacco made the mistake of trying to wait it out. Nothing wrong with the formation itself but everything else went wrong.

Contrast that to Smith's TD, they got the matchup they wanted and beat the blitz with a quick, accurate throw to the first read. That went right.

Using Rice as a legitimate receiving threat out of the backfield seems like such a no brainer now, its so frustrating that Cameron didn't do it consistently.

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Originally Posted by bmorecareful

Uhhh, Torrey Smith's 6 yard TD came out of an empty backfield set. Ray Rice lined up wide right with Torrey in the slot. Rice lining up wide created the mismatch that allowed that play to happen.

Empty backfield sets are fine, you just have to call the right play and play within the design. Out of an empty backfield you need to find the weakness pre-snap and hit the first read on time, you don't go through reads out of an empty backfield. That's what killed the play vs. the Redskins, the call got in late, no time to set up the mismatch, play took too long to develop and Flacco made the mistake of trying to wait it out. Nothing wrong with the formation itself but everything else went wrong.

Contrast that to Smith's TD, they got the matchup they wanted and beat the blitz with a quick, accurate throw to the first read. That went right.

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I saw that play, Rice was set to the Right, not that wide in the slot basically, and Torrey was at the TE position. Joe got blitzed and hit a split second after he released it. They got lucky Torrey held on, but that is way to risky a play call near goal line. That can result in deflected passes at LOS, tipped balls for Int or other things. It's a low percentage pass, but worked. If Torrey doesnt hold on that ball can be flipped up in the end zone. Risky play.

This is how I've felt that Rice should be used, more like Marshal Faulk. Faulk was more known for his pass catching ability than for actual rushing of the football.

Faulk was an extension of Warner that took enough of the defense's attention to keep things open down field for Isaac Bruce and Az Zahir Akim.