Ravens Week

[SdBacker80]

We have some astute football minds in this forum.  What’s the plan for Lamar Jackson and this Ravens Offense?

They look a little scarier this year.  WR group improved and added JK Dobbins.  Maybe they play with an edge this year after getting whacked in the playoffs?

Ive witnessed teams stay true to their form and philosophy and get embarrassed by this offense- so what do we do to stop and contain this Ravens O?

[CLEVELANDwantsPLAYOFFS]

Keep them off the field. Feed the Chubb. Control the clock.

[Unsympathetic]

Break out the 46 defense - or in our case, 42 is Karl Joseph's number.   Fun fact: Doug Plank(#46) went to Ohio State

[Dutch Oven]

What worked against the Ravens last year probably will be the way to beat them this year - jump out to a decent lead on them, make Lamar and their offense one-dimensional. 

[SdBacker80]

In somewhat related news...

JC tretter is back at practice making ball control smash mouth football hopefully easier 

[tiamat63]

Don't panic on the early down runs.   They're going to get 3, 4 and 5 yards here and there.  Just don't allow the chunk stuff which sets up play action.

Lamar shows inaccuracy throwing to the far side of the field on odd breaking routes.    Stem from the top down and overplay the inside concepts.   Stay over top of Andrews because you know they would love to press the TE's on the seams and vertical.      If you rush 4, send the 4th delayed and the other 3 screaming like their hair is on fire.    LJ's accuracy becomes even more sporadic when he has to slide his feet and reset in the pocket.    Vice versa for sending 5 and 6.      Force Lamar on the keep when you get schemed on a read.   More hits over time = more damage to his passing ability.    Remember, the north runs through Baltimore.  Even if you don't win week 1, do enough damage to make them remember you.   I still have my doubts that Lamar will consistently hold up for full schedules as his career matures.

[Orion]

1 hour ago, SdBacker80 said:

What’s the plan for Lamar Jackson .....?

Tackle him asap. 

[cambridgeho]

Their wrs are not scary. The running game is. We have a pretty decent team as well. I bet they are wondering how the hell are we gonna stop chubb and hunt. Also, look for myles to be dominate this game. 

[Orion]

It's game week.  Who'd a thunk it?

Against Balt., I'm just hoping we don't get anyone hurt.  I'm quite concerned about the ability of our OL to play as a unit.  Tretter is probably gimpy and has not been involved in TC until now.  Our college RT 1st round pick is making his first NFL start at LT.  The new wide zone scheme.   -  The OL has a major affect on an offense.  And we would need our offense to keep the defense off the field and fresh.

I wouldn't be surprised if we struggle through game #1.

[calfoxwc]

3 hours ago, tiamat63 said:

Don't panic on the early down runs.   They're going to get 3, 4 and 5 yards here and there.  Just don't allow the chunk stuff which sets up play action.

Lamar shows inaccuracy throwing to the far side of the field on odd breaking routes.    Stem from the top down and overplay the inside concepts.   Stay over top of Andrews because you know they would love to press the TE's on the seams and vertical.      If you rush 4, send the 4th delayed and the other 3 screaming like their hair is on fire.    LJ's accuracy becomes even more sporadic when he has to slide his feet and reset in the pocket.    Vice versa for sending 5 and 6.      Force Lamar on the keep when you get schemed on a read.   More hits over time = more damage to his passing ability.    Remember, the north runs through Baltimore.  Even if you don't win week 1, do enough damage to make them remember you.   I still have my doubts that Lamar will consistently hold up for full schedules as his career matures.

This is good stuff. I admit I don't understand all of it though. lol

My dumb opinions -

1. dominate the middle of the los. Forcing Lamar to move laterally will get him rattled.

2. Cover Andrews. I wish Wilson was healthy - he can run with them. All the time.

3. Watch for the run with Nick Boyle in the game. He's 270 - a mean blocker.

4. The ratbirds have upgraded their wrs like crazy.

5. Confuse Lamar. Get in his head - which is helped by #1. He will press. The Titans beat them with that. Lamar threw 3? INTS.

6. Don't give up easy slants over the middle. Lamar loves those. I hate it when those happen.

7. Easy to say - but tight coverage on short to midrange passes. Lamar is not all that accurate on sideline and long throws.

8. PIck your spots to get aggressive on safety/lb blitzes.

9. Lamar is amazing... and if he starts taking off and running... not good. Safeties need to be close enough to the los to help contain him and pound on him if he takes off running, which he loves to do.

[jiggins7919]

5 hours ago, Orion said:

I wouldn't be surprised if we struggle through game #1.

Yeah...I know. I think most teams are going to struggle, ESPECIALLY the ones with new systems to install. Teams like the Ravens who have everything all together are going to be way ahead of the pack. I don't want to be "that guy" and I don't want people to think I'm hating on our beloved team before the season even starts...but we're in serious trouble. I'd rather play the Chiefs than the Ravens. 

I know just about everything about our Browns and even I had to stop and think about who our starting linebackers are this week. That's...that's not good. I'm still not sure how we failed to sign Schobert, but whatever. Our biggest weakness on defense is our lack of linebackers, and that will definitely show up against Lamar Jackson. 

If we can start fast and get some points on the board we have a chance. If we get down early, you can forget about it. 

[Orion]

40 minutes ago, jiggins7919 said:

teams are going to struggle, ESPECIALLY the ones with new systems to install. Teams like the Ravens who have everything all together are going to be way ahead

Absolutely.

[SdBacker80]

lots of great points and ideas. 

Maintain rush lanes.  Keep Lamar in the pocket. Lamars first movement has to be backward or right or left.  

Make him throw outside the hashes.   

I go zone coverage. I don’t want the secondary with their backs to Lamar. 

As vanilla as the blitz package will be the coverage should disguised/varied and dropping into zones with different guys spying Lamar. 

Their zone read scares me. They run it better than anyone. Limit the damage on the play. When Lamar keeps it Hit him Hard. Interior has to be stout and move the LOS backward 

Ward on Brown All day long.

As others have said- Ball control offense.  It is Probably one of the best defensive plays and schemes that we can draw up. 
 

I heard a stat on ESPN radio this morning.  Baker Mayfield had the best QBR in NFL on the first drive of the game. Let’s take the ball and go up 7-0 and as mentioned in here make them play from behind. 

[jiggins7919]

30 minutes ago, SdBacker80 said:

lots of great points and ideas. 

Maintain rush lanes.  Keep Lamar in the pocket. Lamars first movement has to be backward or right or left.  

Make him throw outside the hashes.   

I go zone coverage. I don’t want the secondary with their backs to Lamar. 

As vanilla as the blitz package will be the coverage should disguised/varied and dropping into zones with different guys spying Lamar. 

Their zone read scares me. They run it better than anyone. Limit the damage on the play. When Lamar keeps it Hit him Hard. Interior has to be stout and move the LOS backward 

Ward on Brown All day long.

As others have said- Ball control offense.  It is Probably one of the best defensive plays and schemes that we can draw up. 
 

I heard a stat on ESPN radio this morning.  Baker Mayfield had the best QBR in NFL on the first drive of the game. Let’s take the ball and go up 7-0 and as mentioned in here make them play from behind. 

One of the biggest factors in the game will also be tackling. We need to wrap up and severely limit the amount of post-contact yardage, and that's a tough sell considering teams don't get to practice tackling like they used to. If we tackle and take care of the ball we have a chance. We'll have to score TDs and hold them to FG's, which is yet another tall task. 

[Icecube]

10 hours ago, tiamat63 said:

Don't panic on the early down runs.   They're going to get 3, 4 and 5 yards here and there.  Just don't allow the chunk stuff which sets up play action.

Lamar shows inaccuracy throwing to the far side of the field on odd breaking routes.    Stem from the top down and overplay the inside concepts.   Stay over top of Andrews because you know they would love to press the TE's on the seams and vertical.      If you rush 4, send the 4th delayed and the other 3 screaming like their hair is on fire.    LJ's accuracy becomes even more sporadic when he has to slide his feet and reset in the pocket.    Vice versa for sending 5 and 6.      Force Lamar on the keep when you get schemed on a read.   More hits over time = more damage to his passing ability.    Remember, the north runs through Baltimore.  Even if you don't win week 1, do enough damage to make them remember you.   I still have my doubts that Lamar will consistently hold up for full schedules as his career matures.

Very astute analysis. Well thought out. One thing that scares me with your game plan is Balt. ripping huge yards with the run game: Ingram, Dobbins...hitting draws as Browns rushers blow on by. 

A lot of people say "LJ won't be able to play that way down the road." Yes, sure. But that's not now. He probably has at least 3 years with his sick level of speed, stop and go, spins, etc. As everyone has said, the key is to get a lead (easier said than done). Both the Browns and TN proved how to beat them. 

[jiggins7919]

8 hours ago, Icecube said:

Very astute analysis. Well thought out. One thing that scares me with your game plan is Balt. ripping huge yards with the run game: Ingram, Dobbins...hitting draws as Browns rushers blow on by. 

A lot of people say "LJ won't be able to play that way down the road." Yes, sure. But that's not now. He probably has at least 3 years with his sick level of speed, stop and go, spins, etc. As everyone has said, the key is to get a lead (easier said than done). Both the Browns and TN proved how to beat them. 

I watched him obliterate my Seminoles in college and I told everyone who would listen that Lamar Jackson absolutely terrifies me. He can throw off his back foot, he can throw a nasty deep ball, and he's the fastest QB I've ever seen by far. That's not what makes him dangerous. What makes him deadly is his acceleration. He gets from 0 to 60 in literally one step. I've NEVER seen that before. 

It's hard to know what to expect game 1 in any season, let alone THIS year, but I have to say I thoroughly expect us to get our asses utterly stomped. The more I think about it, the worse it gets. Do you guys even know who our linebackers are going to be? Because I don't. Mack is out and BJ Goodson has missed the last SEVEN practices due to "personal reasons". I have no clue if he'll be back for Sunday, or what shape he'll be in if he does play. Think about missing 30% of practices in THIS preseason...it's a killer. Add in Greedy and Delpit....I just don't see how we stop them. 

Oh, and it's a season opener. We don't win openers. 😂 

Prove me wrong boys! I'd love a victory so much! WOOF! 

[SdBacker80]

44 minutes ago, jiggins7919 said:

I watched him obliterate my Seminoles in college and I told everyone who would listen that Lamar Jackson absolutely terrifies me. He can throw off his back foot, he can throw a nasty deep ball, and he's the fastest QB I've ever seen by far. That's not what makes him dangerous. What makes him deadly is his acceleration. He gets from 0 to 60 in literally one step. I've NEVER seen that before. 

It's hard to know what to expect game 1 in any season, let alone THIS year, but I have to say I thoroughly expect us to get our asses utterly stomped. The more I think about it, the worse it gets. Do you guys even know who our linebackers are going to be? Because I don't. Mack is out and BJ Goodson has missed the last SEVEN practices due to "personal reasons". I have no clue if he'll be back for Sunday, or what shape he'll be in if he does play. Think about missing 30% of practices in THIS preseason...it's a killer. Add in Greedy and Delpit....I just don't see how we stop them. 

Oh, and it's a season opener. We don't win openers. 😂 

Prove me wrong boys! I'd love a victory so much! WOOF! 

Let me glass half full this for you.

I’m cautiously optimistic that we play well on offense which will allow us to stay in the game on defense.

the offense is going to be simple - we are going to get wide and zone run it on them.  Chubb (one of the best in the game) has a tailor made patient (take what the defense is giving you) approach with this offense.  Much better than Dalvin Cook in this scheme.  If I’m the Ravens I don’t want to see this type of offense week 1 where my big bodies have to move sideline to sideline most of the game. These big boys aren’t in game shape yet.  I tend to think our oline is a little better off now.  I think we more often than not beat Raven defenders to the spot.   Add in the TE personnel- AFC North meet Hooper and Bryant but don’t forget OBJ Landry and Hunt slipping out and YACing you to death.  We’ve got new wrinkles that the Ravens need to account for and we walked into their building and put 40 on them last year. 
 

Granted We can’t get behind the chains with the dumb stuff (procedural penalties and holds).  This is going to be tough early on.
 

We can turn this game into slog fest, few possession game where Lamar may need to press the issue as he did last September in our game.

dont forget the game we lost- we had a clinic on how not to coach an nfl team put on by Freddie kitchen.  Right before half sequence- dear lord help us all and hope we never see coaching like this again.

 

[calfoxwc]

25 minutes ago, SdBacker80 said:

Let me glass half full this for you.

I’m cautiously optimistic that we play well on offense which will allow us to stay in the game on defense.

the offense is going to be simple - we are going to get wide and zone run it on them.  Chubb (one of the best in the game) has a tailor made patient (take what the defense is giving you) approach with this offense.  Much better than Dalvin Cook in this scheme.  If I’m the Ravens I don’t want to see this type of offense week 1 where my big bodies have to move sideline to sideline most of the game. These big boys aren’t in game shape yet.  I tend to think our oline is a little better off now.  I think we more often than not beat Raven defenders to the spot.   Add in the TE personnel- AFC North meet Hooper and Bryant but don’t forget OBJ Landry and Hunt slipping out and YACing you to death.  We’ve got new wrinkles that the Ravens need to account for and we walked into their building and put 40 on them last year. 
Granted We can’t get behind the chains with the dumb stuff (procedural penalties and holds).  This is going to be tough early on.
We can turn this game into slog fest, few possession game where Lamar may need to press the issue as he did last September in our game.

dont forget the game we lost- we had a clinic on how not to coach an nfl team put on by Freddie kitchen.  Right before half sequence- dear lord help us all and hope we never see coaching like this again.

 

I believe our offensive line is finally going to be the talk of the offense. I've always said the oline is the engine that makes the offense run. As long as Tretter is in the game - the only question is how the ROG position shakes out - that isn't bad. I think Wills will be fine - he is THAT GOOD, and has Garrett to fine tune his transition to LT. We'll see how it goes.

The Browns are set up for ball control hugely - oline fixed, Chubb AND Hunt and the addition of Byrant and Hooper... should keep the defense off the field far more than in the past. I read an article that the Titans worked to have their rb win the title over Chubb.

Conklin brought it up - https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2020/08/jack-conklin-reveals-how-nick-chubb-getting-beat-by-derrick-henry-for-the-rushing-title-in-the-final-week-was-a-high-priority-for-the-titans.html

My biggest concern is at lb - losing Mack Wilson for a while will take it's toll.

the biggest key to a winning season - is superior coaching. We finally have that. I believe we are completely DONE with wondering how stupid our HC can be. Stefanski is nobody's fool - it's going to be refreshing to watch SMART coaching now.

[jiggins7919]

41 minutes ago, SdBacker80 said:

Let me glass half full this for you.

I’m cautiously optimistic that we play well on offense which will allow us to stay in the game on defense.

the offense is going to be simple - we are going to get wide and zone run it on them.  Chubb (one of the best in the game) has a tailor made patient (take what the defense is giving you) approach with this offense.  Much better than Dalvin Cook in this scheme.  If I’m the Ravens I don’t want to see this type of offense week 1 where my big bodies have to move sideline to sideline most of the game. These big boys aren’t in game shape yet.  I tend to think our oline is a little better off now.  I think we more often than not beat Raven defenders to the spot.   Add in the TE personnel- AFC North meet Hooper and Bryant but don’t forget OBJ Landry and Hunt slipping out and YACing you to death.  We’ve got new wrinkles that the Ravens need to account for and we walked into their building and put 40 on them last year. 
 

Granted We can’t get behind the chains with the dumb stuff (procedural penalties and holds).  This is going to be tough early on.
 

We can turn this game into slog fest, few possession game where Lamar may need to press the issue as he did last September in our game.

dont forget the game we lost- we had a clinic on how not to coach an nfl team put on by Freddie kitchen.  Right before half sequence- dear lord help us all and hope we never see coaching like this again.

I love this! 

I really hope you guys don't think I'm trying to be a negative douche, but this really is a tough match up. You make a great point about being behind the chains and that's the ONE downside of the rushing attack we implemented...it's prone to holding. We definitely want to run the ball a ton, but you can't do that if you're backed up to 1st or 2nd and 20. 

I'm extremely excited to see our play-action passing game and I think we'll see a TON of these plays to our TEs and RBs. Getting Hunt the ball on a short pass is something I want to see 4-5 times a game. We're not going to see a bunch of 7 step drops from Baker Sunday, that's not what we'll be all about. It's short rhythm passing and the occasional play-action bomb to OBJ. Last year we were MISERABLE at utilizing the middle of the field, and by of that was due to Njoku's injury, and some of it was due to the scheme. Look for that to instantly change Sunday. Baker likes the middle, he likes TEs, and now we have Hooper. 

I detest the Ravens, but I also respect them. We need to find a way to get THEM behind the sticks so we can unleash Myles Garrett. We get them consistently in 3rd and long and we can win the game. Conversely, if they're in 3rd and 2 all game, we're done for. Ravens absolutely love going for it on 4th and short, and we actually stopped them last year in a giant 4th down conversion that essentially won us the game. We'll need some huge plays like that from our defense and at least 2 turnovers. 

Starting to get excited...I honestly just want a fun game. Obviously I REALLY want a victory but I just don't want to see us lay an egg. I'm so tired of the season opener blues! Let's start with a damn W one TIME! 

[D Bone]

This is the best possible time to play this game. With no pre-season, offenses all over the league are going to be out of sync, combine that with no game tape at all on the Browns new defense, and you have the possibility for anything to happen.

^ That being said, Harbaugh will make all of the in-game and half time adjustments that needs to be made, and it's just a matter of whether or not this new Browns coaching staff can also make theirs.... which if they do, will be the first time since Mr Belichick roamed the sidelines. 

[Canton Dawg]

Look at the game film on how the Titans kicked their ass in the playoffs.

One of the glaring weaknesses of the Rat’s offense is making Lamar throw outside of the numbers.

[Tour2ma]

On 9/7/2020 at 11:53 AM, SdBacker80 said:

so what do we do to stop and contain this Ravens O?

After we figure this one out then we can figure out how to move the ball against their D...

[SdBacker80]

36 minutes ago, Tour2ma said:

After we figure this one out then we can figure out how to move the ball against their D...

I think that happened most of time last year against the Rats and although we have new year in front of us.  We Have to be slightly more confident that are approach on that side of the ball is better...right???

[Unsympathetic]

Offenses lag vs defenses - early in season.

I'm not worried much about containing the ravens O.. I'm worried about our OL blocking their front 7 because Conklin and Bito can't do everything.  Tretter is out week1, Wills is still in offseason form, and Wyatt Teller is the name of an Amish carnival barker.

[BillMurray]

18 hours ago, D Bone said:

This is the best possible time to play this game. With no pre-season, offenses all over the league are going to be out of sync, combine that with no game tape at all on the Browns new defense, and you have the possibility for anything to happen.

^ That being said, Harbaugh will make all of the in-game and half time adjustments that needs to be made, and it's just a matter of whether or not this new Browns coaching staff can also make theirs.... which if they do, will be the first time since Mr Belichick roamed the sidelines. 

It's the exact opposite. Ravens are running the same offense from 2019 with the same OC and they run the ball a ton, they aren't a timing based offense, they are a power running smashmouth team that should get out of the gates hot. They shouldn't be affected much by the lack of a preseason, Lamar runs a lot of those concepts in his sleep.

 

Us on the other hand do have a lot of kinks to work out in live game action with a new play caller. Hopefully Chubb can get going early and manufacture some rhythm to get our feet wet on offense

I expect a similar game to the week 17 2018 game. Ravens jump on us early and we come fighting back in the 2nd half after we start to gel

[Flugel]

On 9/7/2020 at 2:28 PM, Orion said:

Tackle him asap. 

Precisely!  I sure hope they've been working on tackling; and open field tackling in particular.   My coach used to say you can't tackle what you can't see when you go for those killshots with the head down.   He also added, we left a lot of easy tackles on the field today because we weren't getting under control and squaring up to make the tackles.  Lamar is a gigantic challenge but we've seen him have bad days when teams tackled and pressured him.

They have to maintain good gap integrity upfront; and keep good eye discipline.   The "do your job" within the schematic definitely applies.

Someone else mentioned we have to sustain long drives on offense; and I'll add we need to punctuate those with TDs.

[SdBacker80]

3 hours ago, Flugel said:

Precisely!  I sure hope they've been working on tackling; and open field tackling in particular.   My coach used to say you can't tackle what you can't see when you go for those killshots with the head down.   He also added, we left a lot of easy tackles on the field today because we weren't getting under control and squaring up to make the tackles.  Lamar is a gigantic challenge but we've seen him have bad days when teams tackled and pressured him.

They have to maintain good gap integrity upfront; and keep good eye discipline.   The "do your job" within the schematic definitely applies.

Someone else mentioned we have to sustain long drives on offense; and I'll add we need to punctuate those with TDs.

“Good gap integrity”. This is huge.  You can twist and stunt right into a 30 yard Lamar run.  

I hope the ravens hear the rumblings around the league about Lamar should run less.  Maybe they experiment more early on and try to make him more of a passer that’s better for us.  

the zone read when they can get the back going downhill, play action off of it and the Lamar keeps.  The skill set of the backs, Mark Andrews Getting vertical and pass catching with with Lamar’s shiftiness and speed make this formation and offense just really hard to stop. When they try other things they aren’t as good and it’s a break for us. 

[jiggins7919]

I have a random thing that needs to go our way. Teams that run option type offenses have a MUCH higher chance of putting the ball on the ground. We MUST capitalize on any fumbles and scoop them up. I'm telling you, they WILL put the ball on the ground at least once and we have to be there to get it. Turnover battle will be huge and we have to win it. 

Also, I think we're going to have to score 28+ to win, I really do. 

[ATOM]

16 hours ago, Unsympathetic said:

Offenses lag vs defenses - early in season.

I'm not worried much about containing the ravens O.. I'm worried about our OL blocking their front 7 because Conklin and Bito can't do everything.  Tretter is out week1, Wills is still in offseason form, and Wyatt Teller is the name of an Amish carnival barker.

disagree with all of this there has been limited contact little tackling players need those reps I believe you will see alot of high scoreing games OH and BTW J,C is starting

[SdBacker80]

1 hour ago, ATOM said:

disagree with all of this there has been limited contact little tackling players need those reps I believe you will see alot of high scoreing games OH and BTW J,C is starting

I see vanilla offenses and tons Procedure penalties putting teams well behind the sticks.

i think the O/U on this game is 49 points.  I’d take the under.  

I know Lamar is tough to contain but this isn’t a Ravens offense that makes you think about Too many concepts.  Do they want to go 4 or 5 wide? Rarely.
They will run And run zone read they will play action and you need to spy Lamar.