Defensive Notes 11/16/08 vs. Giants

[Filmstudy]

Defensive Notes 11/16/08 vs. Giants

Ask yourself if you are upset by the magnitude of Sunday’s loss and you’ll learn a lot about your expectations about this team. I’m very frustrated by the additional injuries on the offensive line, but I’m not honestly bothered by the game itself. The team that likely will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl beat the Ravens 30-10 in their building. It was a one-sided ass-kicking, but I don’t think the loss itself says a lot about how the Ravens will deal with the Eagles, Redskins, or Steelers. If you’re really upset about Sunday’s loss, you believe(d) the Ravens are a very likely playoff team and jockeying for the division title/possible bye.

As usual, all the stats exclude kneels:

Overall: 55 plays, 356 yards, 6.5 YPPA
Best: McKinney 16/46, 2.9 YPPA, Douglas 26/154, 5.9 YPPA. Now that’s bad for the team…Douglas was on the field for the 77-yard run and still had the best YPPA of all Ravens with 20+ plays.
Worst: No one stands out. All starters were in the 6.5-7.2 range.

Vs. the Run: 31 carries, 210 yards, 6.8 YPC
Best: McKinney 11/21, 1.9 YPC. For the year McKinney is 36/69, 1.9 YPC. Some of that is goal line, but he’s been stout against the run and I think he should spell Ngata more.
Worst: 4 starters were over 7.0 YPC, Rolle, Washington, Leonhard, Bannan, and Ngata.

Vs. the Pass: 24 pass plays, 146 net yards, 6.1 YPP
Best: Douglas 8/23, 2.9 YPP
Worst: Pryce 16/123, 7.7 YPP

By number of Pass Rushers:
3 or fewer: 3/36, 12.0 YPP, 1 TO
4: 8/30, 3.8 YPP, 1 Sack
5: 9/68, 7.6 YPP
6: 4/12, 3.0 YPP
7: None for the 3rd straight game. The Ravens have rushed 7+ only twice in the last 5 games.

By number of Defensive Backs:
3: 12 plays, 15 yards, 1.3 YPPA, (6 goal line plays plus 6 other 443 alignments)
4: 30 plays, 264 yards, 8.8 YPPA, 1 sack
5: 12 plays, 77 yards, 6.4 YPPA, 1 TO
6: 1 play, 0 yards, 0.0 YPPA
7: None for the 2nd straight game

Individual Notes:
• Rolle played very soft most of the day, primarily in coverage of Burress. He was late arriving to several balls including the 3rd and 15 completion to Burress on the Giants 1st drive (Q1, 11:12), and the end-zone PI call (Q2, 8:48). He also was out of position for the near interception (Q2, 2:48) and almost allowed Plaxico to find the ball and make the catch.
• The secondary has real issues with tackling. Washington and Rolle lack the size to be effective tacklers. Ed Reed has been hurt the whole year and unable to play the creeping-up-to-the-line style he has in year’s past. Even his undercutting shoulder hits are weak due to the injury. I think the time has come that Ed needs to be platooned by down and distance. Zibby can be added as a hard-hitting safety and short cover guy while Leonhard moves back to be the deep safety. This will help compensate for the loss of Landry.
• Ngata was significantly overused in this game, playing 49 of 55 (89%) real snaps. On the first 3 TD drives, he was removed for just 2 plays. I am aware the Ravens need Ngata as much as ever vs. a team like the Giants, but he showed signs of reduced effectiveness.
• The Ravens had a number of streaks broken, but at least 2 continued in a non-meaningful way. As you all know, despite allowing greater than 200 rushing yards, the Ravens kept their streak of consecutive games without a single 100-yard rusher alive when Bradshaw fell 4 yards short on the Giants last non-kneel of the game. The Ravens also held the Giants to 55 offensive plays, marking the 11th straight game the Ravens have held their opponents to 58 or less.
• Whether or not you like Corey Ivy, you want to see him on the field as the NB as much as possible. By quarter and situation, here is a typical game for Ivy:
Q1: 3-4 plays perhaps on 2nd and 8+ and 3rd and 2+
Q2: 7-8 plays as in Q1 + whatever plays the opponent may have in the final 2 minutes of the half
Q3: 10+ plays if the Ravens have a decent lead. Much less playing time if the Ravens trail.
Q4: Essentially all plays if the Ravens have a lead of 14+ and a good number with any lead, but just a handful of plays if trailing.
So, if Ivy is in, it means the opponent has given up on the run and/or the Ravens have a healthy lead. He was effective again vs. the Giants and after a poor start to the season, has played well the last 5 weeks.
• One thing I had hoped to see vs. the Giants is run blitzing or preemptive gap stuffing. The Ravens really allowed the Giants to dictate direction of the play rather than trying to get penetration and first contact in the backfield. Dierdorf commented more than once on the Ravens defense lining up “a yard off the ball”. It didn’t look much different to me, but I’m sure his trained eye caught something. I have seen some less than complimentary posts about Dan in the past week, but he has broadcast some of the best games in Ravens history and done work that was both great and memorable. In particular, his color on the 2000 games vs. Jacksonville at home and the playoff at Tennessee were memorable. I have a copy of the network feed from the Tennessee game, and it’s very clear when the team is at commercial that Dierdorf is by far more in tune with the available camera angles than his partners. He sounds almost like a technical director when calling for specific replays.
• The Ravens now have 4 linebackers competing for a few snaps a game. Antwan Barnes has now been a “healthy scratch” the last 2 weeks. Jameel McClain was active, but did not play a defensive snap. Brendan Ayanbadejo played 2 snaps (he jumped offsides with Bannan on the 1st). Nick Greisen also played 6 snaps, replacing Leonhard when the Ravens played the 443. Oddly, the Ravens started the game in this alignment, which means Greisen, and not Leonhard will be credited with the start. Greisen saw 1 more snap in the 1st half, and then was inserted for 4 plays on the Giants final drive.
• The Ravens played another 5 plays with their rarely used 4-corner nickel alignment. On these plays, Ivy and Walker each covered a slot and Reed played deep while Leonhard was taken off.
• The Ravens had no right to hope Justin Bannan would have played as well as he has, but he had a bad game on Sunday.
• Suggs had 7 tackles and a QH, but was neutralized in multiple ways Sunday. He was lined up at LDE on both of the Giants long runs with both runs going the other way. Jacobs’ 36-yarder (Q1, 12:51) was a reverse of field to the left. Suggs was slowed down in traffic as he pursued the play across the field. Bradshaw ran around the left end before cutting back to the middle of the field on his 77-yard burst (Q4, 14:31). Suggs was sealed by the RT McKenzie and was only able to lunge at Bradshaw as he cut back through the middle of the field. As a pass rusher, he was most effective when used to drop into coverage as others rushed. This was how JJ’s sack (Q2, 4:04) developed.
• The Ravens 3 biggest defensive plays:
• Lewis’ interception keeps the Ravens within 17 at the half.
• Rolle’s loss of Plaxico Burress on 3rd and 15 (Q1, 11:42) on the Giants 1st drive. This led to a TD instead of a punt and the Giants never looked back. They can’t all be good plays.
• Bradshaw tackled for a 6-yard gain (Q4, 2:00) to hold him to 96 yards on the game and extend the Ravens streak of no individual 100-yard rushers. Not an important play? It must have been, because the whole starting (443) defense was on the field for that drive despite the fact that the offense had capitulated 13 minutes earlier (Q4, 14:42 when the Ravens punted on 4th and 10 at the NYG 39). I’m not sure if Ryan or Harbaugh thought it was a meaningful motivational tool (rally the defense around the streak after a bad day), but I thoroughly dislike risking injuries with tired players in garbage time.

[elland]

Good work! I think you are rigth about Reed, maybe its time for the rest..

I mean it is bad when C-Mac still is leading in turnovers and Ray is second. And turnovers.. Why is this defense so bad to create fumbles and recoveries? Same thing last year and even in 2006.

[Jeremiah W]

Fantastic read.

I think Ed Reed was the one who put the shot on the big back's knee. He seems a lot more willing to hit recently starting in the Raider game when he blew up Curry. The whole rushing streak is important to them. It may not be nearly as important to wins and losses, or rushing totals, but when pride is on the line, the intensity is a little higher.

The reason no one back has got 100 yards in a game is because they hardly ever miss tackles, and when they do someone runs you down. They will put a big hit on you in the redzone, and very well may take away the rest of your season.

The 2 long runs the Giants broke off were very makable plays for this defense. Pryce hit Jacobs 5 yards deep, but was held and tackled himself as he tried to wrap up. The backside contain, is noramll there though, and that kind of run has not happened all year. The other one, Ray was in the hole before the back was. I think the score and situation led to Ray going in for a kill shot instead of just staying in the hole and making the play like he does 999 times out of 1,000. Running the guy down and keeping him short of the endzone and the 100 yard mark shows me more than getting beat in the first place by a quality opponent with the licence to hold.

I do think the injury risk vs reward argument is hard to ignore and I tend to agree, but football is more mental than physical, and if they need stuff like the streak to motivate and pla well I guess it is worth the risk of injury in a lost cause of a game. They never stopped smashing Pittsburgh with the starting linebackers last year down 5 Tds, so I doubt they will ever come out unless they are hurt or tired.

[Lee Van Cleef]

I think Ed Reed was the one who put the shot on the big back's knee. He seems a lot more willing to hit recently starting in the Raider game when he blew up Curry. The whole rushing streak is important to them. It may not be nearly as important to wins and losses, or rushing totals, but when pride is on the line, the intensity is a little higher.

If I recall correctly on one of Jacob's runs down the sideline (probably the first big one) it was Reed that tried to jump on Jacobs' shoulders and Jacobs just shrugged him off.

[Jeremiah W]

If I recall correctly on one of Jacob's runs down the sideline (probably the first big one) it was Reed that tried to jump on Jacobs' shoulders and Jacobs just shrugged him off.

That is what he does, the guy is a horse, but Reed is at least throwing his body around again at full speed and going for the ride instead of diving on the ground pretending to tackle like early on in the year.

[RAVENOUS52]

Great job, FS... You are the guru and we are but the privileged recipients of your exhaustively comprehensive research...

[Lee Van Cleef]

That is what he does, the guy is a horse, but Reed is at least throwing his body around again at full speed and going for the ride instead of diving on the ground pretending to tackle like early on in the year.

But the problem is jumping on his shoulders and not having any contact with the ground is not going to help you stop Jacobs. If you're a small guy you need to go in low and take a shot at his knees or shins, going up high like that just ain't going to have any affect.

[HoustonRaven]

That is what he does, the guy is a horse, but Reed is at least throwing his body around again at full speed and going for the ride instead of diving on the ground pretending to tackle like early on in the year.

Reed is a seasoned pro bowl caliber Safety. He knows full and well you do not tackle a back such as Jacobs around the shoulders.

If his neck is causing him to make shoulder tackles, then he is not doing this team any good playing in his condition.

[Jeremiah W]

I heard Deion or one of the NFL.com highlight guys do a Giant game and a lot of FS seem to dive and miss at Jacobs, and they called that a good buisiness decision. Drop your head on a big back the wrong way and you wont walk out of the stadium. I also think Reed was trying to hold the guy up so a LB could clean him up and go for the ball. The Ravens are a gang tackling team.

[UKRavenStockers]

Then you just make a good form tackle keep your head up and wrap. I could care less if you end up on your back on the tackle and pull the guy over, I'd rather that than miss diving at his feet or miss as Reed did getting thrown off of the shoulder. It was another example of poor form tackling from Ed Reed, his form tackling is extremely ordinary even when he's healthy, he'd far rather throw a big hit than make a safe wrap up tackle.

[Jeremiah W]

Then you just make a good form tackle keep your head up and wrap. I could care less if you end up on your back on the tackle and pull the guy over, I'd rather that than miss diving at his feet or miss as Reed did getting thrown off of the shoulder. It was another example of poor form tackling from Ed Reed, his form tackling is extremely ordinary even when he's healthy, he'd far rather throw a big hit than make a safe wrap up tackle.

That is why his neck is fucked up. I would not be trying to form tackle Jacobs when healthy. That was what Laron Landry tried to do, and he did not get a chance to wrap him up or slow him down. He got run ova. All time highlight style. Better to be the guy diving on the ground than one on sportcenter getting trucked 25 times in a one hour show.

[UKRavenStockers]

Landry tackled him, I could give a crap if he got run over and Sportscentre showed a load of highlights of it, he tackled the guy, may have given up an extra five yards and a highlight reel on the play. But I'd far rather have my safety give up 5 extra yards and a highlight reel, than whiffed on the tackle and gave up an extra 20, far rather.

Linkage, yes he gets run over but he grabs his feet and trips him even before the other guys comes in and jumps on Jacobs' back, he's going down whatever. Extra 5 yards, but tackle made.