Press the Easy Button - Run wide, Pass short across the middle

[Haloti92]

Two good posts and I think they're actually addressing the same issue. Wicked brings up how effective Mason's comeback routes were when he was here and Haloti92 points out the importance of chemistry between QB and WR in throwing over the middle. This is expressing the same problem IMO.

Mason had a chemistry with Flacco that doesn't exist with our other pass catchers, save possibly Pitta. Mason was a true technician at WR who knew how to use tiny head fakes, footwork, etc. to get an advantage over the defender, AND it was obvious that he and Flacco were on the same page in terms of ball positioning and route running.

A lot of Flacco's errant passes are due to pure inaccuracy, but we don't know how many of them are due to miscommunication or WR error. We don't know if what looks like a bad overthrow is due to Torrey rounding off his route 6 1/2 yards deep instead of making a sharp cut at 7 yards deep. It's hard to speculate without knowing the assignments on a given play.

Chemistry, pre- and post-snap reads, option routes, etc... these things are all complex. Complexity means more room for error. John Harbaugh is obviously a KISS disciple and wants to avoid all of that modern NFL offense nonsense. Run it up the middle, go routes on the outside, and when in doubt underthrow it a bit and hope for a PI. I think we're STARTING to move away from that, but we're not all the way there yet...

:word

Great point. I agree completely. Chemistry is a big factor. And as you say, the lack of chemistry is very hard to clearly identify on a play by play basis, but probably goes a ways in explaining some of the inaccuracies and even some of the turnovers.

I guess then the next question is exactly how do you get chemistry? Purely practice? Especially when the NFL seems to be reducing practice time and intensity? After-practice unofficial 'extra' work between WR and QB, a la Peyton and his receivers? Slowly through limited game reps? In which case maybe we are going too slow for some people's tastes (mine, lol).

And a further question would be, how come some other teams/systems can get better results from their rookies or 1st-time-starters in terms of initial chemistry? Is there a preferred way to 'build' chemistry in terms of which plays to start to master before proceeding to the next (more difficult) play?

Is more film study and teaching required to hammer in the thought processes required for these kinds of plays/reads?

I completely agree with your post. 100%. But I guess I am still not necessarily sure our "way around" or "way through" the chemistry problems is necessarily the best/fastest way. Maybe it is, it is certainly a subjective topic.

[lobachevsky]

[T]he MAIN reason that the offense was so successful in the playoff run wasn't actually the OL, as Joe Flacco faced similar ATS percentages in the playoffs as in the regular season. The main reason is that they attacked the middle of the field far more often and far more aggressively. They need to take the Harbaugh-Cuffs off and go back to doing that.

Have you gone to the trouble of noting which receivers they were using to "attack the middle of the field" during the 2012 playoffs? My wild-arsed guess is that the names you will see most often are Boldin and Pitta--neither of whom is currently on the roster, and neither of whose skill sets have been adequately replaced--& possibly Rice, whose skill set has fallen off the cliff this year. (Marlon Brown? Let us not forget the gift INT in the Bills game when he ran his slant pattern behind the LB instead of in front of him. IMO the kid's a keeper, but he hasn't yet earned the level of trust that Joe had in B&P.)

I will also hazard a wild-arsed guess that if you review Flacco's interception history you will find a disproportionate number occurring in the middle of the field. Anecdote =/= data, but I remember a pick intended for R2 in heavy traffic when they were driving for the winning score against the Colts a few years back. Add the Brown miscue mentioned above. I suspect there are many more like them...

If you want to fault the FO for not signing or drafting guys who can go over the middle & catch, or for not having a Plan B when Pitta went down, fine. If you want to fault the coaching staff for seeming to be unable to teach that particular skill set, or for failing to develop anyone who can run the comeback routes that Joe used to throw better than anyone else in the league--or indeed (with the exception of Torrey) any route but a fly pattern--I'm not going to argue.

But I don't know how you can blithely assert that the Ravens need to "attack the center of the field" based on statistics*, while ignoring the blunt fact that they arguably do not have the personnel on the roster to make that work.

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* I would very much like to review that analysis at some point.

[bmorecareful]

Have you gone to the trouble of noting which receivers they were using to "attack the middle of the field" during the 2012 playoffs? My wild-arsed guess is that the names you will see most often are Boldin and Pitta--neither of whom is currently on the roster, and neither of whose skill sets have been adequately replaced--& possibly Rice, whose skill set has fallen off the cliff this year. (Marlon Brown? Let us not forget the gift INT in the Bills game when he ran his slant pattern behind the LB instead of in front of him. IMO the kid's a keeper, but he hasn't yet earned the level of trust that Joe had in B&P.)

I will also hazard a wild-arsed guess that if you review Flacco's interception history you will find a disproportionate number occurring in the middle of the field. Anecdote =/= data, but I remember a pick intended for R2 in heavy traffic when they were driving for the winning score against the Colts a few years back. Add the Brown miscue mentioned above. I suspect there are many more like them...

If you want to fault the FO for not signing or drafting guys who can go over the middle & catch, or for not having a Plan B when Pitta went down, fine. If you want to fault the coaching staff for seeming to be unable to teach that particular skill set, or for failing to develop anyone who can run the comeback routes that Joe used to throw better than anyone else in the league--or indeed (with the exception of Torrey) any route but a fly pattern--I'm not going to argue.

But I don't know how you can blithely assert that the Ravens need to "attack the center of the field" based on statistics*, while ignoring the blunt fact that they arguably do not have the personnel on the roster to make that work.

- - - - -

* I would very much like to review that analysis at some point.

Oh, I agree totally. I have emphasized the very fact you point to repeatedly over the past few months. Boldin and Pitta were absolutely key in making the 2012 PO offense work because they had over-the-middle skill-sets. Ozzie gambled on being able to replace Boldin and Pitta's production with just Pitta (idiotic, on pure football considerations alone) and we were one injury away from disaster... we all know the rest of the story.

I disagree that the Ravens simply don't have the personnel, though. Marlon Brown can clearly work the middle of the field. Torrey Smith can work the middle of the field. Neither of those guys, nor either of our TEs, offer the kind of upside and ability that Boldin and Pitta did, that's certainly true. The thing is, what they're doing now is NOT working. They can't really afford to just throw up their hands and say there's no other choice. If the Ravens want to win more than they lose down the stretch, they NEED to have an NFL caliber offense, and that means throwing over the middle.

Also, regarding interceptions and "risk" plays over the middle--it's inarguable that Joe has thrown more to that zone of the field than to the sidelines. That's irrelevant, because ALL NFL QBs throw many more INTs over the middle of the field. That fact would only be relevant if there was evidence that Joe was somehow worse throwing over the middle than he was to the sidelines (not true) or worse than the average QB at doing so (also not true.)

I can go back through my posting history to find some analysis, but the numbers are obviously out of date now--and my preferred source for such statistics (Pro Football Weekly) is no longer being updated, unfortunately.

[lobachevsky]

Oh, I agree totally. I have emphasized the very fact you point to repeatedly over the past few months. Boldin and Pitta were absolutely key in making the 2012 PO offense work because they had over-the-middle skill-sets. Ozzie gambled on being able to replace Boldin and Pitta's production with just Pitta (idiotic, on pure football considerations alone) and we were one injury away from disaster... we all know the rest of the story.

IMO he was also gambling on Dickson stepping up his game in a contract year.:grbac:

I disagree that the Ravens simply don't have the personnel, though. Marlon Brown can clearly work the middle of the field. Torrey Smith can work the middle of the field. Neither of those guys, nor either of our TEs, offer the kind of upside and ability that Boldin and Pitta did, that's certainly true.

Torrey certainly can. Marlon shows real promise. For that matter Deonte has good burst & Doss has shown flashes. The problem I see there is that none of them has the build to handle the concomitant battering week in week out, or outmuscle LBs for a ball. There's a reason TEs are big & thick & it's not all for blocking. (And a reason they called Boldin a TE playing WR.) I would worry about compromising what looks like really bright futures for those guys by getting them beaten up this year.

The thing is, what they're doing now is NOT working. They can't really afford to just throw up their hands and say there's no other choice. If the Ravens want to win more than they lose down the stretch, they NEED to have an NFL caliber offense, and that means throwing over the middle.

I don't disagree that it needs doing if it can be done, but IMO with the current personnel the team has to pick its spots carefully so it doesn't get one of their bright young stars in the making, as they say in Glasgow, kilt.

Also, regarding interceptions and "risk" plays over the middle--it's inarguable that Joe has thrown more to that zone of the field than to the sidelines. That's irrelevant, because ALL NFL QBs throw many more INTs over the middle of the field. That fact would only be relevant if there was evidence that Joe was somehow worse throwing over the middle than he was to the sidelines (not true) or worse than the average QB at doing so (also not true.)

Color me skeptical re those assertions--love to see the figures--but never mind. I think Joe has occasional brainfreeze where he just doesn't see a defender. I also think he has that gunslinger's mindset that he can fire a fastball into a narrow window that defenders can't react to in time. And he's not always wrong about that. (I recall one sideline toss to Mason in the 2008 game vs Dallas--the CB broke on the ball absolutely certain he had a pick-6 but by the time he got there Mase was hauling it in for a nice gain...) But when you have guys clogging the middle... I think they may be gunshy for reasons like that.

I can go back through my posting history to find some analysis, but the numbers are obviously out of date now--and my preferred source for such statistics (Pro Football Weekly) is no longer being updated, unfortunately.

A shame.