The Pass Rush - Problems?

[UKRavenStockers]

I've not seen the last two games but I'm just wondering about what's happened to our pass rush this season?

- Is the loss of Adalius Thomas causing teams to be able to double team Suggs on the other side? Are we not taking advantage of one on one matchups opposite Suggs?

- Did the loss of Pryce affect us massively this week? Could we not get the pressure even when Levi Brown went down?

- Are we not getting the same pressure up the middle? Are Gregg and Ngata struggling to get a push up the gut?

- Are the blitz packages not timing well this year? Is the loss of Adalius affecting us here too in that we can't be as creative in our fronts knowing that we don't have the same versatility back there on the strong side now?

Genuine questions, only seen the Bengals game, any answers greatly appreciated.

[ravenjoe]

For whatever reason, and you articulated several of them in your post, this defense seems to be a shell of what they were last year. No push up the middle; Pryce being out; corners playing soft; poorly disguised blitz packages, as evidenced by the opposing team's ability to figure this team out come the fourth quarter, all suggest that this is going to be a long year for Ravens' fans. I guess one positive is that other teams won't be banging on Rex Ryan's door come season's end - I guess that is a positive?!

[highwater]

I think Pryce being out really hurts the pass rush a lot. But even that doesn't explain why there hasn't been much pressure up the middle. I don't know what the problem is, but I'm not really worried yet. I think Rex does a pretty good job of disguising where the rush is coming from. They just need to perform better. They'll come around.

[Ravenswarrior19]

I see it as 2 factors
1.) Timing - Last year we used delayed blitzes and had LBs coming unblocked to rattle the QB. We would also called a lot of zone plays where a player would engage a blocker or two, and then peal back into short coverage while someone else came through clean. I'm not sure if we've been doing much of that this year, but when we have the timing hasn't been there. Last years timing was like clockwork, and hopefully we can get in that rythmn again soon.

2.) Scheme - It doesn't seem like we've opened the whole Defensive playbook yet. Without Adalius Thomas, some of packages (ex: 3-5-3 Steeler) have disappeared. But we still haven't seen them line up in a true 46, and haven't seen much with the only 1 or 2 lineman packages. Also, the D isn't wearing armband this year like they have in the past. My thinking is the Rex Ryan is saving some of the more intricate stuff for the real tough competition later in the season.

Note: They may also be keeping things simple for rookie Barnes, as he is seeing a lot of snaps now.

[Galen Sevinne]

It seems most of the pressure has been coming off the edges with d-backs. Actually I thought Linehart was pressured throughout the 1st three qtrs. There were not a lot of sacks but he was forced to throw a bunch of balls poorly. He struck me as pretty scared back there in the pocket...there were not many times he stood and delivered a nice ball. It seemed the Ravens stopped most pressure once Ariz. got into the no huddle in the 4th.

I think the difference ths year is the lack of LB's and DE's getting the heat on the q-backs. That I believe Ryans to be holding onto until the 2nd half of the season (I hope). I think he might have 2 general schemes...one utilizing mostly the d-backs and the other with the LBs and DEs like last years.

You have to figure that teams watching last year's film saw Bart Scott, Pryce and Suggs applying pressure. This year it has been Ivy, Sapp, Landry which I guess in theory defenses would not have seen as much film of. When NE, Pitts. and Indy watch film of this year, they will see these D-backs and will not have prepped as much for Scott, Suggs and more pressure up the middle. Maybe we see more of that package then. Just a theory.

[RavenFanatic2k6]

The loss of Pryce. Edwards is a nobody who couldn't crack the starting lineup for a reason. Without any kind of threat on the other side, teams can double Suggs all day.