Lamar versus the blitz

[mmi16]

That's basically what teams are doing against lamar this year. I saw a tweet a few weeks ago which showed that teams were playing more zone coverage than they normally do when they play the ravens.

If Lamar and the Ravens could only pass that might be effective, however it totally discounts the other side of the Raven O - Run the ball down their throats.

You sell out on one aspect of the O and the other aspect puts the dagger in you.

[BcRaven]

We were due. We suffered enough stale, mediocre years under Flacco

Browns fans are still waiting for their "We were due" year... Bc

[Paintballguy]

If Lamar and the Ravens could only pass that might be effective, however it totally discounts the other side of the Raven O - Run the ball down their throats.

You sell out on one aspect of the O and the other aspect puts the dagger in you.

Thats why the Ravens are averaging over 34 points a game. It's really hard to defend them.

[HotInHere]

I don't think blitzing is the way to stop Lamar. As others noted, if he doesn't find the open guy (he usually will), then there's a good chance he makes the blitzer miss. If that happens he's going to have an open running lane, and usually the DBs will be in man coverage. So, he's going to pick up a big gain on the ground.

I think the best way to play him is to play zone defense, and hope that you can generate pressure with just 4 rushers. Zone defense keeps everyone looking his direction, and ready to make a play. The hard part is being able to consistently get pressure with only 4 guys though, especially when he's so good at keeping plays alive.

That's certainly what Houston tried to do, and it didn't work out so well.

The problem with rushing 4 versus Lamar is that everybody has to maintain control of two gaps. So half your 1-v-1 pass rush moves are gone. You can't use them. You spin inside the tackle, Lamar is taking off to the outside and you're not catching him, etc.

That means you have to rush in the "Star Wars Trash Compactor" style, as Filmstudy likes to call it, just slowly compress the pocket while not giving Lamar any way to escape. And that gives him shitloads of time like he had vs Houston to find holes in that zone.

Contrast that with the way Wink went after Watson. By the time Watson evaded one rusher he had another one in his face. He probably had some open receivers some times, but he was too busy avoiding the rush to find them. That would be my goal against Lamar.

I would definitely mix in a lot of blitzes and try to get quick pressure on Lamar. Granted he might still escape, but I think Sunday's game showed what will happen to you if you just try a controlled rush with four guys. You can't give any QB that much time in the pocket.

[lobachevsky]

Browns fans are still waiting for their "We were due" year... Bc

Well, they've already had their "We were doo-doo" year - after year - after year - after....

[GreatWhiteNorthRaven]

Well, they've already had their "We were doo-doo" year - after year - after year - after....

hahaha dead

[lobachevsky]

Thats why the Ravens are averaging over 34 points a game. It's really hard to defend them.

Heck, I'll defend them up one wall, across the ceiling & down the other. But you're right, it's really hard to defend against them.

(Prepositions are tough in most every European language. Except for Hungarian*, which doesn't have them. As an agglutinative rather than inflected tongue, it has postpositions instead, & they're tough too. Along with everything else therein. I fondly recall the day in Szentharomsag ter atop Castle Hill in Budapest when in a flash of insight I realized it was at Holy Trinity Square...)

BTW I give you props for not using "defense" as a verb.

* Likely Finnish & Estonian as well - IIRC all 3 are agglutinative Finno-Ugric rather than inflected Indo-European.

[BcRaven]

I love ya man (to loba), never change... hahaha

I feel the same way, only sometimes my eyes hurt after reading his posts, then I head for the Funk and Wagnalls... Bc

[Paintballguy]

Heck, I'll defend them up one wall, across the ceiling & down the other. But you're right, it's really hard to defend against them.

(Prepositions are tough in most every European language. Except for Hungarian*, which doesn't have them. As an agglutinative rather than inflected tongue, it has postpositions instead, & they're tough too. Along with everything else therein. I fondly recall the day in Szentharomsag ter atop Castle Hill in Budapest when in a flash of insight I realized it was at Holy Trinity Square...)

BTW I give you props for not using "defense" as a verb.

* Likely Finnish & Estonian as well - IIRC all 3 are agglutinative Finno-Ugric rather than inflected Indo-European.

Kudos to you sir. I am normally a stickler for grammar, but I often will let myself slip on forums.

[moose10101]

Browns fans are still waiting for their "We were due" year... Bc

Browns fans can eat a bag of dicks.

[tnsmith90]

That's certainly what Houston tried to do, and it didn't work out so well.

The problem with rushing 4 versus Lamar is that everybody has to maintain control of two gaps. So half your 1-v-1 pass rush moves are gone. You can't use them. You spin inside the tackle, Lamar is taking off to the outside and you're not catching him, etc.

That means you have to rush in the "Star Wars Trash Compactor" style, as Filmstudy likes to call it, just slowly compress the pocket while not giving Lamar any way to escape. And that gives him shitloads of time like he had vs Houston to find holes in that zone.

Contrast that with the way Wink went after Watson. By the time Watson evaded one rusher he had another one in his face. He probably had some open receivers some times, but he was too busy avoiding the rush to find them. That would be my goal against Lamar.

I would definitely mix in a lot of blitzes and try to get quick pressure on Lamar. Granted he might still escape, but I think Sunday's game showed what will happen to you if you just try a controlled rush with four guys. You can't give any QB that much time in the pocket.

Interesting viewpoint. I can definitely see where you're coming from. He's definitely a conundrum for defensive coordinators to solve. Thank goodness he's on our side!

[Paintballguy]

Lamar vs the blitz against the Rams

5/8 47 yards 3 tds 0 ints 118.2 qb rating with 2 drops and 1 throwaway