12/23/07 Can Baltimore Support Such Unusually Careless Kamera Setup?

[Filmstudy]

Happy holidays to everyone. Sorry for the late delivery of this column. I’ve written several times on my dislike for SD games, so I won’t again, just pretend you’re a CBS cameraman looking for that special acronym sign to pick out of the crowd. Let’s go to the stats first.

Overall: 66 plays, 337 yards, 5.1 YPPA (excludes 1 kneel)
Best: Edwards 34/142, 4.2 YPPA, Martin 57/269, 4.7 YPPA
Worst: Gregg 42/249, 5.9 YPPA, Gaston 8/76, 9.5 YPPA

Vs. the Rush: 35/145, 4.1 YPC
Best: Edwards 21/66, 3.1 YPC
Worst: Barnes 12/77, 6.4 YPC, Pittman 13/77, 5.9 YPC

Vs. the Pass: 31 pass plays, 192 yards, 6.2 YPP
Best: Martin 26/127, 4.9 YPP
Worst: Gaston 5/65, 13.0 YPP, Gregg 21/159, 7.6 YPP

By number of Pass Rushers:
3 or less: 6 plays, 19 yards, 3.2 YPP, 1 sack
4: 11/80, 7.3 YPP, 1 sack, 1 TO
5: 11/84, 7.6 YPP, 1 TO
6: 1/3, 3.0 YPP
7: 2/6, 3.0 YPP

By number of Defensive Backs:
3: 2 plays, -4 yards, -2.0 YPPA
4: 35/176, 5.0 YPPA, 1 sack
5: 25/159, 6.4 YPPA, 2 TO
6: 4/6, 1.5 YPPA, 1 sack

Notes:
• The broadcast (or my dish reception) had some hiccups not related to SD. In particular, Seattle’s first offensive play of the 3rd quarter was missed entirely. If you recorded the game please take a look to see if that play is in your version and let me know. In the meantime, I have recorded that play as if the 11 players that played the next play were on the field.
• Another complication to recording participation for this play was Ryan’s switching of DB’s. The closest rule I could set through Seattle’s first 4 drives was that when the ravens had 4 DB’s, the corners were Gaston and Ivy. With 5 DB’s, that changed to Ivy, Martin, and Pittman. Odd rotation, and there were several exceptions (Prude came in for Ivy for 2 plays and one of the nickel sets included Gaston, Ivy, and Martin).
• I mentioned last week that the Ravens DB’s each have had their stock rise and fall this year. Yesterday, Gaston took a step back after being burned deep by Burleson in the 2nd quarter. On the play, Burleson clearly outraced Gaston, but Gaston may have committed forward when he had deep responsibility (Scott looked to have the responsibility short on that side). It’s seems more plausible that he’d be benched for misunderstanding his coverage assignment than getting beat in a man-to-man matchup. Gaston only played 9 snaps, and not another after that TD pass.
• Martin had his best game as a professional with an acrobatic interception, 2 other near picks, and 3 total PD’s. He was not burned badly on any play and when Hasselbeck threw to his side, Martin seemed to get a hand on the football. If he has a similarly good game against the Steelers, I’d like to know how the Ravens project him for next year. I think he’s a valuable 4th corner, and he’s so young, I’d be surprised if he does not start for some team. Could his reemergence be a tipping factor for the Ravens first round selection? Despite all the training camp talk of his versatility, he’s someone I think the Ravens need to groom to play purely on the outside. The Ravens have (and there are more in the population) DB’s that are nickel projects.
• The Ravens did not play the nickel at any time during the 4th quarter, so Pittman’s last snap came on the Seahawk’s 2nd drive of the 3rd quarter. They picked on him some, but the Ravens played better pass defense with him in than without.
• At one point on Seattle’s 2nd drive (2nd and 5, 9:23 in the 1st), Engram audibly clapped for the football when uncovered in the slot. The pass was on target and went for 17 yards.
• Barnes had another tough game with 2 dumb penalties (late hit on Hasselbeck, too many men of the field). He had a QH, but no other defensive stat recorded in 26 snaps.
• The defense had by far it’s worst day of the season vs. the rush, allowing 35 carries for 145 yards (4.1 yards per rush, kneels excluded). They had previously allowed 4.4 yards to Arizona (14/61), but no other games over 4.0. Not surprisingly, the Ravens were without Ray Lewis for the game. Greisen was in for every snap, and did not appear to play poorly himself vs. the run. However, the Seattle running game had been very mediocre prior to this game. I can’t help but think Ray would have added something, be it individual skill, leadership, or attitude that would have reduced their effectiveness.

[festivus]

Can Baltimore Support Such Unusually Careless Kamera Setup?

FS, how long did that take you?

On to the game, or actually, the season in retrospect. This was Barnes' rookie year, notable first and foremost for stupid penalties. Though I don't blame him for the 12 men on the field play; that was an 'optional' call by the refs, the late hit was plain stupid. And he's had plain stupid flags going back to the preseason.

Setting aside the bad flags, what do you think of Barnes' rookie year? Can we project him to replace Suggs, if Suggs leaves? For the moment Barnes is a pass rushing specialist, but so was Suggs when he was converted. . .

Correct me if I'm wrong, but could we not field the same defense next year, but with Barnes and Pittman in place of Suggs and Rolle? Just a thought.

While we are on the subject of season-long retrospectives, I think it speaks very well of Edwards' improvement as a ball player that you let this:

Best: Edwards 34/142, 4.2 YPPA, Martin 57/269, 4.7 YPPA

Vs. the Rush: 35/145, 4.1 YPC
Best: Edwards 21/66, 3.1 YPC

pass without a snarky remark.
Thanks for all the hard work, as usual FS. :toast:

[highwater]

Insightful as always, Filmstudy. You made two points I'd like to emphasize:

Martin's performance in the secondary was encouraging. He shouldn't be starting right now but he seems like someone the Ravens should keep around.

I think this was mentioned last week, when Ray went out, but it bears repeating -- anyone who thinks Ray is over the hill just needs to look at how the defense performs when he isn't on the field. There is no question that the D is much better when he's out there.

[Greg]

I mentioned Ray going out during the Miami game and the drop off in the defense, but it was obvious so I am sure most saw it. It might be hard to measure how good he is when he is playing, but when he went out and we were already short-handed you could see the HUGE difference.

When he went down in previous seasons and we still have AD, McAlister, Rolle, etc out there you might not notice it, but without Pryce, McAlister and Rolle you REALLY saw it.

[Filmstudy]

Ray has now played 801 of the 902 defensive snaps (non-kneel, you know the drill by now). With him in the Ravens have allowed 5.0 YPPA. With him out, they have allowed 6.0 YPPA.

festivus,

I ahd some comments about Barnes in my last column which is in my archive in the 12/16 article:

http://www.profootball24x7.com/colum...0&view=archive

To summarize:
1. Barnes has now played 23% of the team's snaps
2. With him in the Ravens have allowed 5.0 YPC and 7.4 YPP, both very poor numbers (team averages are 3.0 YPC and 6.8 YPP).
3. Barnes productivity stats are very low. He's had just 4 tackles on defense (5 others on ST) of which 2 have been sacks. He has not forced a fumble nor had an INT. He recorded his first NFL tackle in his 8th (that's right, 8th) NFL game.
4. Suggs is a complete LB who plays the run well now and is still a good pass rusher, but has suffered through a huge number of double teams this season. As a rookie, Suggs showed much more, piling up 12 sacks and forcing 6 fumbles (4 recovered). I don't see any reason to believe that Barnes can fill his shoes in 2008.

Barnes is a raw talent, and I'm not writing him off, but he will need to improve and learn how to both play the run and cover to be of value in the NFL. Sacks are a function of your teammates. Had his rookie year been 2006, I think it's entirely possible he could have had 8-10 sacks playing with that group.

Martin is clearly ahead of Pittman on the depth chart. If Rolle is released, we may well see Martin as a regular at corner next year. I don't see Pittman beating him out of the job after Martin's recent play. This year Martin has been on the field for 319 defensive snaps and Pittman just 58.

Edwards has played well the last 4 weeks. Despite the slow first step, I think he's personally looked better versus the pass and run over that period.

festivus, thanks for the thoughtful response. This is what makes these boards fun.