Offensive Line Model and Notes 9/27/09

[Filmstudy]

Offensive Line Scoring and Notes 9/27/09 vs. Browns

A fan could get used to this offense.

The 479 net yards are tied for 2nd in franchise history behind only the week 1 dismantling of the Chiefs. The 28 1st downs are tied for 3rd in franchise history behind only a 1996 game and the Chiefs game. The Ravens gained 7.3 yards per offensive play and had another 29 plays of 6+ yards on 66 offensive snaps. For the year, 41% of their plays that have gone for 6+ yards.

The Ravens allowed 1 more sack, 2 other QHs, 3 penetrations, and were flagged once for holding.

If you are interested to see how my scoring system works, please check out the following link:

http://www.profootball24x7.com/colum...8&view=archive

All of the Ravens’ 66 offensive snaps are included for scoring purposes.

Individual Notes:

Gaither: As a run blocker, Jared got outstanding push and finished his blocks well. He committed a thoroughly unnecessary holding penalty (Q4, 10:23) when he slipped in level 2. Gaither had position and Rice would still have collected most, if not all, of the 9 yards he got. As a pass rusher, he was beaten by Wimbley for a sack and allowed a pass deflection at the LoS by Corey Williams (Q2, 8:53) when he gave too much ground in the pocket. He had 3 pancakes and 2 level 2 blocks. One play struck me as unusual and special. With 1st and 10 at the Cleveland 43 (Q2, 1:28), Gaither faced a dilemma when Ben Grubbs blocked inside on Rogers (double with Birk), and Gaither was faced with 2 men to block on the blind side. Most linemen would simply block inside and hope for the best, but Gaither hit Williams, then blocked Hank Poteat who rushed from press coverage on the slot receiver. Williams recovered to hit Flacco just after he released, but the pass was complete to Mason for 13 yards and the Ravens would score 3 plays later. I charged Grubbs with the QH on that play. Both of McGahee’s TDs went left. And he wasn’t touched on either (7 and 15 yards). Scoring: 60 blocks, 3 missed, 1 sack, 1.5 penetrations, 1 holding penalty, 45 points (.68 per play). It was a lousy score and far from a great game, but my system fails to reflect the quality of his run blocking.

Grubbs: It was one of the best mobility games Grubbs has registered as a pro. He pulled successfully on 4 of 4 attempts and registered 10 level 2 blocks. I’d have to review all past scoring, but I can’t recall a higher total. He had 1 pancake and got good run push despite having Rogers as his assignment on a fair number of plays. In addition to the QH mentioned above, I charged him for a half a penetration when Rogers forced Lawrence very wide on a 2-yard loss in garbage time (Q4, 5:52). He can be seen with a fine singling of Rogers (Q3, 14:16) which gave Flacco ample time to complete a 19-yard pass to Washington. There is another rather comical play (Q2, 10:18) that illustrated the non-physical nature of the game. On that play, Grubbs pinned and moved to level 2 where Hall (#51) backpedaled to avoid contact. Scoring: 59 blocks, 5 missed, .5 penetration, 1 QH, 55 points (.83 per play).

Birk: Birk played his 3rd straight game without a significant error (no sacks or QHs allowed, no penetrations, and no penalties) and was relieved for the last 6 plays by Hale. He faced Rogers for much of the game and won the vast majority of those battles. He administered 2 pancakes and 6 level 2 blocks. His highlight of the day was probably his pancake of Williams on McGahee’s 2nd TD (Q2, 1:01). Scoring: 56 blocks (60 plays), 4 missed, 56 points (.93 per play). He’s now averaged .96 in his first 3 games.

Chester: Chester continued to play well in 60 snaps and Yanda struggled in a short relief stint (6 snaps). Chester missed 5 blocks, but made 5 of 6 pulls, registered a pancake and had 5 blocks in level 2. One of his only plays I didn’t like (Q2, 2:52), Chester gave significant ground in the pocket to Coleman. Getting pushed around had been a problem for Chester prior to 2009, but that play made me realize that we have seen less of it this season. The play was completed to Heap for 20 yards despite the dent in the pocket. Scoring: 55 blocks, 5 missed, 55 points (.92 per play).

Oher: Michael has been consistently physical, drawing the ire of Rogers for unnecessary roughness when he wasn’t even blocking him on Sunday. Oher allowed a QH to Wimbley (Q3, 12:47) which was not marked in the gamebook. He pulled once successfully, had 2 pancakes, and a block in level 2. An interesting play with an apparent team blocking scheme (Q4, 13:26) included 3 single cut blocks (Gaither, Grubbs, and Oher) while Chester and Birk doubled Rogers in the middle. With the score 27-3, and the Browns linemen in injury prevention mode, each of the 3 cut-blocked players was virtually paralyzed and tiptoed around his blocker. In that time, Flacco screened right to Clayton who picked up 20 yards. Scoring: 64 blocks, 1 missed, 1 QH, 61 points (.92 per play).

Hale: Finished for Birk and made 5 blocks on 6 plays, but was charged with half a penetration (Rogers, shared with Yanda) on his very first play. Birk had no error as serious in 209 snaps. Hale would recover to pancake Rogers 3 plays later (Q4, 2:46). Scoring: 4 points on 6 plays (.67 per play)

Yanda: Marshall played just 6 end-of-game snaps and made 4 blocks. Scoring: 4 blocks, 1 missed, .5 penetration, 3 points (.50 per play).

Other Notes:
• The Ravens played just 7 unbalanced left sets (42 yards, 6.0 YPPA). They did not play a single other unbalanced or jumbo set.
• The Ravens kept relatively few eligible receivers in as blockers (21 set blockers and 4 chip blockers on 36 pays). Even with primarily 5-man blocking, I recorded Flacco as having ample time to throw on 20 of 36 drop backs. He completed 15 of the 20 for 246 yards.
• McGahee’s 34-yard run (Q3, 9:26) was one of those rare plays where the O-line had multiple opportunities to block. All but Gaither registered a level 2 block on the play and several players had multiple blocks.
• Heap held off his assignment on Flacco’s TD bomb to Mason. On the play, he fanned his man outside just long enough for Flacco to release.
• For the 2nd time I’ve noticed this year (Q2, 1:07), Kelley Washington threw a nice cut block when the snap came while he was in motion. This time, the pass was incomplete. The last was the game winning TD to Clayton in week 1.

[jonboy79]

• McGahee’s 34-yard run (Q3, 9:26) was one of those rare plays where the O-line had multiple opportunities to block. All but Gaither registered a level 2 block on the play and several players had multiple blocks.

Chester was 20+ yards downfield making a block on that play... It was impressive.

[Dade]

Overall it seems tthe O Line played excellent. We have one of the best lines in the NFL (behind the Giants IMO). Greta job as usual filmstudy.

[Lee Van Cleef]

Film, just an extra thing I wondered. Have you seen much of Clayton's blocking for the running game? I've seen a few plays now where he's looked pretty decent on the outside, keeping his guy away from the play, just wondered if this was a consistent thing or not.

[jonboy79]

Film, just an extra thing I wondered. Have you seen much of Clayton's blocking for the running game? I've seen a few plays now where he's looked pretty decent on the outside, keeping his guy away from the play, just wondered if this was a consistent thing or not.

I've watched fairly closely for a few years. He's been that good on most occasions. I used to "joke" thqat he was a better blocker then Heap. Before last year I believe it to have been true, but Heap improved a lot this past year and IMO ovvertook him, but not on a pound for pound basis. Clayton is aggressive with good leverage and solid technique.

[Jeremiah W]

I've watched fairly closely for a few years. He's been that good on most occasions. I used to "joke" thqat he was a better blocker then Heap. Before last year I believe it to have been true, but Heap improved a lot this past year and IMO ovvertook him, but not on a pound for pound basis. Clayton is aggressive with good leverage and solid technique.

He is also really smart about setting the blocks up and sticking to guys deep down feild. On almost all of the big plays last year he was in the corner of the screen sticking to a CB without holding them. I have never seen him blow up a saftey like Hines Ward or anything, but he knows what he is doing out there.

[Dave Lap]

FS, I noticed that you said that Gaither's score did not reflect the quality of his run blocking. I agree and also applaud you for knowing when to look further than the numbers.

Knowing the limitations of a grading system (and every system has them) is the sign of a very good talent evaluator. Kudos.

[Filmstudy]

Film, just an extra thing I wondered. Have you seen much of Clayton's blocking for the running game? I've seen a few plays now where he's looked pretty decent on the outside, keeping his guy away from the play, just wondered if this was a consistent thing or not.

To be honest, I had not noticed Clayton's blocking, but I looked on PFF and he's one of the top 10 graded blockers among WRs. Washington is also. I don't have a breakdown of how they came up with those grades between pass and run plays.