9's are Wild

[Filmstudy]

Rams and Ravens Play 5 Stud, 9’s are Wild

I think it’s worth a minute to review the 3 Torrey Smith scores, because each was something special in terms of both athletic effort and design, but this was a game that virtually every Ravens receiver was targeted on a 9 route.

Torrey Smith’s 3 TDs:

• (Q1, 12:30): Stewart lined up as the single high safety on the left hash. Mikel covered Dickson in the slot. King had press coverage on Smith outside right. Rice picked up the blitzing Laurinaitis, but was driven backwards to Flacco. Joe released off his back foot as perfectly as had he stepped into the throw. Smith pulled away from the lunging King to haul in the ball at the 46 and outraced Stewart for the TD.

• (Q1, 3:49): Stewart was again the single high safety, but this time on the right hash. King was again in press coverage on Smith on the right. The Rams’ corner got his hands on Smith, but Torrey got inside position and easily outraced both him and Stewart to the post. The entire line faked a run left while Leach was Flacco’s only blocker. Vonta slowed down Long just enough for Flacco to step into an artillery shell to Smith. Torrey collected the ball with his fingertips 5 yards behind Stewart in the end zone for a 41-yard TD. It was a good throw with an even better catch.

• (Q1, 1:53): The Ravens lined up Smith wide left in another 2-back, single-tight-end set. The unfortunate King again found himself in press coverage on Torrey. Who drew the other coverage? We don’t need no other stinking receivers. Dickson blocked on the left side, Leach blocked on the right side, Rice faked a run middle, and Boldin stepped 2 or 3 yards past the line of scrimmage before throwing a block. Smith ran the only pattern to the left side of the end zone as Flacco released the ball on a 3-step drop off his back foot in the face of the untouched blitzer Poppinga (how do the Rams have a free runner with 4 receivers blocking?). Both safeties were much too close to the line of scrimmage to affect coverage, but the ball was perfectly placed out of the reach of the flailing King and into the hands of the fading Smith.

This was at times a difficult game to score offensive linemen or even count pass rushers because of the Ravens propensity to fake a run to one side while Flacco rolled in the opposite direction to make time for a slow-developing route. There were 4 such plays:

• (Q1, 4:27): Fake run left, roll right. Leach blocked Sims to give Flacco time to throw just beyond the outstretched arms of Smith in the back of the end zone.
• (Q1, 3:49): Fake run left, roll right. TD Smith, see above.
• (Q2, 4:04): Fake run left, naked roll right. Flacco threw complete to Dickson for 6 yards as he was pressured.
• (Q4, 11:22): Fake run right, naked roll left. Flacco was knocked down by Quinn as he threw to Smith for 8 yards by the left sideline.

I think it’s fair to say Rams Defensive Coordinator Ken Flajole did not display an impressive ability to adapt.

The Ravens had 74 offensive snaps, excluding 2 kneels:

McKinnie: Bryant was party to 5 separate negative events Sunday with his most significant the QH by 1st round pick Robert Quinn (Q2, 1:15). I charged him with 1/3 of another QH by Long (Q2, 0:10) when he again beaten outside by Quinn to contract the pocket. Among his other negative plays was one tough one, a PD by Bannan split with Gurode (Q3, 14:27). I score him as missing only 1 run block (aside from the penetration), but McKinnie’s pass blocking appears vulnerable to speed rushers. Against a team with better coverage, or in a game with more pass-blocking breakdowns inside, some of these plays might have resulted in hits on Flacco. He had 2 pancakes and 2 blocks in level 2. I have not noticed him attempt a cut block in 3 games. Scoring: 68 blocks, 1 missed, 1 pressure, ½ PD allowed, ½ penetration, 1 and 1/3 QHs, 60 points (.81 per play).

Gurode: Andre had no real answer for Justin Bannan. He had an assortment of missed blocks (6 total) including consecutive pancakings by Bannan (beginning Q2, 5:00). The Ravens would net 73 yards on these 2 plays nonetheless. I charged him with the QH by Laurinaitus (Q3, 10:44) when it appeared he blocked the wrong man. He missed a cut block on Bannan (Q1, 10:27) to allow Rice to be taken down for a loss of 1. His other shared QH was with Birk on Bannan (Q4, 9:54). I’m sure if I were a Rams fan I’d be lauding Bannan for a career game, but the truth is probably as simple as Bannan played well and Gurode had a sub-par outing. Andre did not attempt any pulls. To pick out something positive, Gurode registered 3 blocks in level 2 and 7 pancakes as I scored it. I can’t recall ever recording more pancakes, but zone blocking creates more such opportunities. Scoring: 63 blocks, 6 missed, 1.5 penetrations, ½ PD, 1.5 QHs, 54.5 points (.74 per play). If asked to convert that to a letter grade at guard, it would be a D. However, he’s not a fish out of water (like Levoir) at the position and I think it’s reasonable to expect improvement.

Birk: Matt had another solid outing. He again avoided mistakes with the exception of the QH by Bannan shared with Gurode (see above). I scored him with 3 blocks in level 2 with the visual highlight (I’m distinguishing it from blocking technique, because he was actually pushed by Ray) his screen block for Rice (Q2, 1:15) which caused 3 Rams to come crashing down. Scoring: 72 blocks, 1 missed, ½ QH, 70.5 points (.95 per play).

Yanda: He was again outstanding, but Marshal had his first difficulties as a pass blocker against the Rams. He was party to 2 QHs. I charged him with half of Sims’ QH with Oher (Q3, 2:37) when he gave ground to flush Flacco from the pocket. I also charged 1/3 of Long’s QH (Q2, 0:10) to Marshal when he blocked inside to aid Birk and Oher blocked inside to block what appeared to be Yanda’s assignment. It could certainly be argued that Yanda did not deserve the debit for either of those hits on Flacco, but he was beaten by a spin move from Fred Robbins (Q1, 10:34) that was nullified by Oher’s holding penalty. He had 2 pancakes, 5 blocks in level 2, and went 2 for 2 when pulling. Scoring: 71 blocks, 1 missed, 5/6 QH, 68.5 points (.93 per play). By score, he’s averaged .95 per game and this is a case where my subjective grade would be just as high.

Oher: Michael was again penalized twice. He held Long as Robbins beat Yanda for a QH (Q1, 10:34) and put his right hand on the mask of Long (Q1, 0:13). I scored him as partially responsible for 2 QHs mentioned previously, but I didn’t score him for Chamberlain’s sack (Q4, 5:47). On that play, he blocked the Rams LB around the pocket, but Dahl came unblocked from the opposite side, missed Flacco and undercut Oher leaving Chamberlain free to run down Flacco for the slow-developing sack/FF. It was an odd set of circumstances, but not Oher’s mess. Long’s sack on the previous play (Q4, 6:24) was split between Williams and Leach. Oher’s highlight was the seal on Long to spring Rice for his 17-yard run right (Q1, 0:09). Scoring: 63 blocks, 6 missed, 5/6 (1/2 + 1/3) QH, 1 holding, 1 illegal use of hands, 48.5 points (.69 per play). I had not spent any time previously watching Chris Long as a pass rusher, but he looks like the real deal to me and I’d be shocked if he suddenly fails to be disruptive based on the quickness and technique he displayed in this game coupled with the arrival of Quinn.

Reid: Jah entered for the final series and didn’t play well in his first action. He was flagged for a false start and missed 2 of his 3 other blocks. He was shed by Robbins once and whiffed on Poppinga. He may well be a good tackle as early as next year, but this series was a little more evidence that the McKinnie signing was a good one. Scoring: 1 block, 2 missed, 1 false start, -2 points (-.67 per play).

Ngata: Haloti entered for one goal line snap (Q2, 3:11). He went out for a pass to the left corner of the end zone as Vonta Leach ran the “underneath” route to the 3-yard line. Ngata drew the coverage initially, but Flacco was pressured by Mikel and threw incomplete for Leach. Scoring: None

[Filmstudy]

Other Offensive Notes:
• The Ravens played all but one snap (see Ngata) with 5 offensive linemen in a balanced formation.

• I scored Flacco with ample time and space (ATS) on just 19 of 50 drop backs (38%). He beat 6 and 7-man pressure for his 1st and 3rd TD passes, respectively. With ATS, Flacco completed 10 of 19 throws for 133 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT (7.0 YPP). While that works out to a pretty good passer rating (92.7), it’s a poor result for what should be the best opportunities.

• Without ATS Joe was 17 of 29 for 256 yards (247 net including 2 sacks for -9, 8.0 YPP) with 2 TD and 0 INT. He fumbled once and it was recovered by the Rams. That’s a terrific result that is heavily skewed by the first TD pass to Smith which Flacco threw off his back foot as Rice was being pushed backwards into him.

• The last time I can recall Flacco having an “inverted” game like this with better results when under pressure was 10/18/09 at Minnesota when the Vikings were credited with 9 QHs including 3 sacks and Flacco led a furious, if unsuccessful, comeback while he was getting clobbered.

• Rice had an outstanding game with a limited number of touches, but I want to focus on his receptions. He caught 5 balls for 83 yards with receptions that occurred -4, -5, 2, -5, and 3 yards from the line of scrimmage. Rice had YAC of 15, 19, 18, 21, and 19 on those receptions.

• Boldin effectively outmuscled defenders for the football. The best examples I can give (Q1, 10:57 and Q1, 2:59) might not be as impressive as his catch just out of bounds at the goal line (Q3, 10:52). I watched the ball that went through his hands in the end zone (Q3, 10:40) several times and can’t tell whether or not Al Harris actually got a piece of the ball. In either case, I think he’d say he should have made the catch. He had several terrific downfield blocks.

• Leach had his best game to date as a Raven despite the lack of commitment to the run. He had a significant role in the blocking for the 2nd and 3rd TDs (see above), had a jarring lead block on Laurinaitis on Rice’s 17-yard run (Q1, 0:09), cut Mikel to the turf on Rice’s 53-yard run (Q2, 4:27), and pancaked Laurinaitis again on a 4-yard run by Rice (Q3, 4:01).

[Bl1tz]

Priceless film, I hope some one pays you for your analysis in the near future.

Just out of curiosity, how long does it take for you to breakdown the average game

[AirFlacco]

Thanks again Film. Always exciting stuff to read.

BTW, how do you think Revis will play Torrey - up tight or back off? Jets are poor vs
the run. They're 31st vs it while Ravens are 5th running @ 5.1 yds pr clip so if he comes
up Joe goes over the top again - right? A lot depends on if we
come out running. If Cam runs they will be forced to come up.

I think Cromarten isn't 100% to cover Boldin. How do you see them playing us?

Thanks in advance.

http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/201...g-for-answers/

[chicagoravensfan]

Great stuff! Conventional wisdom was that Gurode had shored up the line, but it appears the more accurate story is that Flacco did a great job of avoiding pressure behind a still shaky line.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

[Filmstudy]

Great stuff! Conventional wisdom was that Gurode had shored up the line, but it appears the more accurate story is that Flacco did a great job of avoiding pressure behind a still shaky line.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

I think that's a fair characterization.

The Ravens were partly to blame for the additional pressure since they actively tried to exploit the man matchups with lots of deep throws. Those take longer to develop (as do some of the clearouts for Rice), so one would reasonably expect more pressure.

One other comment I wanted to make, but forgot to include in the piece. Flacco has underthrown a number of deep routes over the years. Early in his career I think some of that was just adapting to the speed of the NFL. By last year, and in the Jets game in particular, he used the undetrthrown deep ball as a weapon to generate penalties against a good secondary.

On Sunday, he overthrew on his misses, but didn't have any in jeopardy of interceptions. I believe that is actually a sign of disrespect for your opponent's secondary. Here's the logic:

1. Underthrows are a fine tool in the deep passing game because they create situations where the wide receiver can generate a pass interference call in addition to a completeion.

2. Veterans and big men are even better at this for several reasons (better at concealing information from the corner, ability to distract the corner from finding a ball in the air, better ability to time their leap early so the corner will run through them when they look for the ball, better ability to win a pure jump ball, more able to turn from offense to defense as needed to prevent an interception, etc.)

3. While underthrows increase the chance the offense will make a good play, they also introduce more risk of an interception.

4. In order to throw over top of the defense you need to have some combination of faster receivers, press coverage, man coverage, a vulnerable spot based on the positioning of the safeties, and a failure of the safeties to read the play properly and adapt to in-game circumstances. Of those, speed is purely what goes out on the field (edge Ravens in Sunday's case), the next 3 are available as pre-snap reads (press, man cover, positioning of safeties), and the last probably can't be determined pre-snap, but the OC and QB get a good sense during the game of whether the defense is biting on certain fakes such as play action or misdirection (run left, roll right from Sunday, for example).

Put into words from an OC or QB, it might be summed up as:

"We're not giving them any chance for interceptions, even though we might expect a gain from the exchange, because they're not good enough to cover us consistently on the deep ball."

[NC Raven]

On the over/underthrows, I was disappointed on the deep one over the middle to Dickson (at or near the goal line), as I thought Joe should have been able to recognize the matchup there and just let Dickson make the play.

[Kyle Cactus]

Is there any way to tell if Smith's 3rd TD was called in the huddle or was called at the line? I think the fact that Smith was the only receiver on the play indicates that it was called at the line once Flacco saw tight single coverage outside with safties close to the line and towards the middle of the field. But then again, I don't really know what I'm talking about. :)

It will be interesting to see how much 'respect' the Jets give to Smith now. The Ram's paid dearly for not having a safety in position to help out on Smith on the 1st and 3rd TD's.

I thought the 2nd TD was the most impressive. As Film pointed out, great throw and great catch. This was also the only one where a safety was actually in position to help out on Smith. Plust the Ravens had thrown to Smith on the same route just a few plays earlier, but Flacco overthrew him. How did the safety let him get behind him again, on the same route, just a few plays later!?! It was too fun to watch.

[houstonravensfan]

Thanks, Film. Great stuff. Looks like our O line is still a work in progress. On Sunday I think we need to watch our for LT. He could do well vs. our LBs.

[GOTA]

Gurode has a lot of rust to shake off plus he's coming off a leg injury. I'm not worried about him at all. He was very good last season and should be able to get back there. If he doesn't then he's a solid backup for 2011.

[Beau Petard]

Film--
I can feel the knowledge seeping into my brain! :D

Question -
Do your stats this season suggest that, although Boldin is not the most frequently "passed to" receiver (or maybe he is?), he is an element that defenses must gameplan for, and thus is opening up the passing opportunities for Flacco?

Thanks...

[Raven Nurse]

I was suprised about Gurode. I hope it was because he was getting experience at a new position.