How serious are the Ravens? problems on the defensive line?
I think this game was a case where the Ravens thought they could get away with 1 fewer active lineman than they needed. This may actually have been a function of the desire to have a strong special teams unit to contain Josh Cribbs. The team played with 3 extra corners, an extra safety, and 4 extra linebackers, but just 2 extra defensive linemen (McKinney and Pryce). McKinney ended up playing 23 snaps which was 1 less than his previous career high in the 2008 finale vs. Jacksonville. I?m not sure if Pryce was completely healthy in the 2nd half, but he played just 5 snaps.
Usually I like to focus on the positive, but since few expected the Browns to run effectively, let?s look at the 4 longest runs against the Ravens:
? (Q1, 8:52) Hillis ran right for 12 yards: The Browns used 1 TE and 2 RBs vs. a Ravens 4-3. Newly acquired Sam Aiken blocked Lewis effectively with help from Vickers. Steinbach took out McClain. Watson effectively sealed Redding. Hillis cut back inside between Lewis and McClain to avoid JJ, who was the Ravens only unblocked player on the ORS. Landry took Hillis down at the knees.
? (Q2, 4:06) Hillis ran right for 25 yards: The Browns had 1 TE and 1 RB versus the Ravens? nickel with JJ, Pryce, Redding, and Suggs down (from ORS to OLS). Womack and Moll doubled Pryce to open the gap. Mack pulled right and took Ellerbe out of the play. Watson effectively blocked JJ outside on the right. Wilson made a diving attempt, barely touching Hillis before he lowered his shoulder into Landry, driving him for 9 yards after contact.
? (Q3, 1:38) Hillis ran left for 48 yards: 1 TE and 2 RB vs. a standard 4-3 (55, 97, 91, 92 from ORS to OLS). Mack moved to level 2 and blocked Ray Lewis. Thomas blocked Ngata, McClain was initially caught in the wash, pursued, and was blocked off by Cribbs. Cribbs also flattened Washington. Zbikowski made initial contact after approximately 20 yards, but took another 28 yards to coax him to the sidelines and threw him down for unnecessary roughness, so the Ravens surrendered what was essentially 43 yards after contact.
? (Q3, 1:22) Cribbs ran left end for 19: Cribbs took the direct snap with 4 WR and 1 RB vs. the Ravens? nickel (95, 90, 92, 55 down from ORS to OLS). Massaquoi bolted back to slow Lewis. Royal effectively sealed 55. Thomas pulled and effectively slowed Ngata. Vickers steamrolled Washington. Cribbs ran untouched until knocked out of bounds by Zbikowski.
What did those 4 plays have in common? For starters, they were not cases where missed tackles led to big yardage although the secondary had trouble bringing down Hillis. Moreover, it was a case that the Browns blocked the plays exactly as they would have wanted. They accounted for the linebackers on each play, pulled linemen effectively, and got key blocks from eligible receivers. Particularly with the runs late in Q3, the Browns were operating against an overworked defensive line which looked tired. What else was missing for the Ravens? ?Disruption? would be one possible answer. If you don?t respect Wallace, why not run blitz more?
The Browns did not have any excluded plays (spikes, kneels) among 55 snaps:
Overall:
Vs. the Run: 29 plays, 173 yards, 6.0 YPC
Vs. the Pass: 26 plays, 131 yards, 5.0 YPP
Overall: 55 plays, 304 yards, 5.5 YPPA
By number of defensive backs
Goal Line (3 DBs): 2 plays, 2 yards, 1.0 YPPA, 2 TDs
Standard (4 DBs): 37/168, 4.5 YPPA
Nickel (5 DBs): 13/118, 9.1 YPPA, 1 sack
Dime (6 DBs): 3/-1, -0.3 YPPA, 1 sack
By number of pass rushers
3: 6 plays, 40 yards, 6.7 YPP
4: 15/74, 4.9 YPPA, 2 sacks
5: 2/16, 8.0 YPPA
6: 2/0, 0.0 YPPA
7+: 1/1, 1.0 YPPA. This was a 9-man run blitz on the goal line which was completed to Watson for the TD.
Individual Notes:
? The Ravens lacked a significant presence in the middle of the defensive line with 3 of their 8 defensive linemen (Cody, Jones, Kruger) inactive. That got worse when Redding suffered a concussion and did not return after (Q2, 1:27). Kelly Gregg, Brandon McKinney, and Haloti Ngata were forced to play the bulk of the snaps as Pryce continued to be used only in obvious passing situations (5 total 2nd half snaps).
? Assuming Redding is inactive against the Steelers, I would not be surprised to see Cody plus another defensive lineman activated.
? Where the shortage of healthy linemen showed up most was in goal line defense. Each team has their own standard in these cases, but the Ravens typically use 4 DTs, 2 DEs, 2 LBs, and 3 safeties. The Ravens found themselves a big body short there. In the past when that has happened, Ben Grubbs has entered (3 goal line snaps in 2008). For whatever reason, the Ravens did not choose to employ Ben there, even though time was called after each of the 2 plays that preceeded the Hillis? TD run.
? The game reminded me a lot of the 2009 home opener against the Chiefs. That was a game the Ravens played a bad team, but it was surprisingly close late, won on a long blitz-beating TD pass by Flacco (31 yards to Clayton) in the 4th quarter. In each case, an opposing bottom-tier QB (Brady Croyle) compiled a QB rating of 116 (Seneca Wallace, 103) which was not reflective of his effectiveness.
? The Ravens were content to play coverage rushing 5 or more just 5 times in 26 drop backs. Among those 5 plays was the goal line run blitz where the Ravens rushed 9, but Wallace threw on target to Watson for the TD. The 4-man pass rush produced 2 sacks in 15 plays. For the season, that?s now 5 sacks in 49 4-man rushes, which is terrific. Unfortunately, when rushing 5+ the Ravens are 0 for 22. Aside from Suggs 0-yard sack, the Ravens did not have a single QH on Wallace (he ran OOB chased by Landry for the other sack).
? It?s difficult not to be concerned about the turnovers. Ngata had a juicy tip and Fabian had a difficult interception opportunity, but the Browns were generally careful with the football. With the lack of pressure, the Ravens didn?t have an opportunity for a sack/strip, nor was Wallace made to force any throws.
? The defensive backfield again showed multiple alignments. Wilson (11 plays) and Webb (6 plays) each got some snaps as the 3rd cornerback on the outside while Carr moved to cover the slot in the nickel. Since the Ravens opened the game with 5 DBs, that meant Wilson got the start. Wilson helped his cause with a fine tackle on Davis (Q3, 12:52). Webb was penalized for illegal contact (Q3, 7:12) which allowed the Browns to convert on 3rd and 2. With Wallace being pressured right, he lost Josh Cribbs (Q2, 14:23) on the sideline for a 20-yard completion.
? Nakamura followed up a pair of good games with just 5 snaps against the Browns. Those 5 plays included both 1-yard TDs as well as 3 dimes on 3rd down.
? Cary Williams returned, but saw action only on special teams. The pass defense was again very solid as they held the Browns to 5.0 yards per pass play. The Ravens depth at corner should be a valuable down the stretch.
? The Browns scored on the first play of the 4th quarter, but would snap the ball just 6 more times the remainder of the game. Of those 6 snaps, the Ravens continued to play 4 defensive backs for all but the last (Wilson as 5th DB). You couldn?t have more clearly broadcast the message ?We don?t respect Seneca Wallace? if you wrote it on a blimp.
142smilie..that`s a classic)