Let me say it for everyone – so disappointing! One and done is hard to accept, especially because the Ravens were the better team last night. They had the Bengals. But the backup quarterback and the offensive coordinator had brain spasms, and the season is over. There’s plenty to talk about as the off-season is here. I’ll start here.
A Small (Hopefully Final) Partial Prop for Greg Roman
We need to look no further than Greg Roman if we want to understand why the Ravens were one and done. But first, a small bit of credit.
The Good
I’ll say this much for Roman’s overall game plan last night. It was an improvement, as far as it went. He moved Mark Andrews around, putting him out wide on numerous occasions. He got the running backs involved in the passing game, at least in a rudimentary way. Roman even called a deep ball pass, for a touchdown of all things.
Red Zone Unacceptable
But in the red zone? The Ravens should call it the utterly hopeless Roman dead zone. How’d you like that second and goal pass to Pat Ricard in the flat at the Bengals two yard line? Or how about on the last drive before halftime at the two yard line? The ingenious (was it a screen?) pass to Mark Andrews inside of the left tackle with the teeth of the Bengals defense in front of him between him and the goal line? Certainly unique. Usually, it’s a quarterback roll a bit to the right (to misdirection the defense), then hit your wide receiver with a pass outside of the left tackle. But let’s not quibble.
First Red Zone Play Calls
Let’s count the number of plays the Ravens ran in the red zone, and the number of passes actually thrown into the end zone. For the Ravens 17 play drive into the second quarter, they started their red zone appearance at the Cincinnati 11 yard line. From there we saw the following:
First Play – A scramble to the right leading to Huntley running out of bounds at the eight.
Play 2 – A Dobbins run behind the right tackle for two more yards, leaving the Ravens at third and five from the six yard line.
Play 3 – A pass play where Huntley is sacked for a one yard loss. But a Bengals penalty gives the Ravens a first down.
Fourth Play – From the three, Edwards runs left for no gain.
Play 5 – Out of the shotgun, Huntley runs to the right for a one yard gain.
Play 6 – On third and goal from the two, Huntley throws short of the goal line to Dobbins, who makes a great play to score.
Second Red Zone Calls
The second red zone appearance occurs just before halftime. The Ravens enter the red zone at the Bengals 14 with 33 seconds remaining.
Play 1 – A short pass to Justice Hill for a nine yard gain to the five yard line.
Play 2 – On second and one, Edwards runs up the middle for two yards and a first down at the two yard line. There are 23 seconds left.
Third Play – On first and goal, the infamous middle screen pass to Andrews for a loss of one yard.
Play 4 – On second and goal at the four, an incomplete pass in the right flat to Robinson as Robinson reaches the sideline, uncatchable just inside the end zone.
Play 5 – An incomplete pass in the right flat to Sammy Watkins, short of the end zone. The Ravens then settle for a field goal.
Ok, that’s 11 plays called in the red zone in the first half, and one pass (barely) thrown into the end zone at the extreme right sideline that was a throw away.
Second Half: Third Red Zone Calls
In the second half, the Ravens enter the red zone at the Bengals two yard line after Huntley’s 35 yard run down the left sideline.
Play 1 – The pass to Ricard in the left flat short of the end zone as his momentum was taking Ricard towards the sideline.
Second 2 – Edwards runs behind the right tackle for one yard to the one yard line.
Play 3 – The disastrous quarterback dive that cost the Ravens the game.
The Ravens never entered the red zone again. That’s a total of 14 plays for the game in the red zone, and one pass into the end zone, but barely at that. No tosses up high to a tight end. Not one crosser. No quick cuts. No Bengals-like trips concepts. This is Neanderthal football at its best.
I can recall at least two plays where Isaiah Likely was lined up in the slot isolated with a small cornerback on him. He was ignored both times. Huntley gets a bunch of blame there too, as he should have recognized the mismatch and either audibled to Likely, or made eye contact pre-snap and thrown Likely the ball. Maybe he doesn’t have the authority to do that, I don’t know. But this was the playoffs, and he should.
Isaiah Likely
Was Likely de-activated for this game? Last week, as the primary tight end, he caught nine balls for over 100 yards. This week, as the secondary tight end, he received zero targets. This is lug-head football. Andrews and Likely, as dual threats (not as singular threats) should have imposed a world of agony on the Bengals defense. Roman refused to exploit it at all.
J.K. Dobbins
Dobbins was absolutely right to be furious after the game. It’s indisputable that Dobbins is the only true dynamic playmaker on the offense at this point. Fourteen red zone plays and two touches. And the pass thrown to him short of the end zone became a touchdown only because of Dobbins’ exceptional talent. Again, we have to have initial concepts when the Ravens are trying to score. And the premise of the attack must be to get your most dynamic players the ball. Lamar wasn’t suited up. Dobbins wasn’t even on the field for the last two red zone adventures. Think no further than the Chargers’ Austin Ekeler, who happened to lead the league in touchdowns for the past two seasons.
And Now, a Little Note for Kyle Hamilton Fans
Once again last night we saw how effective Hamilton is at the line of scrimmage, attacking forward, and in the flat. He made a beautiful hit on Hayden Hurst in the flat to force that fumble. (I don’t know about you, but Hurst was really pissing me off). However, in space, it’s still a disaster for Hamilton. I’m going to illustrate this with the video embedded at the bottom of this paragraph. Recall last week’s analysis of Roquan Smith and his magnificent play in the zone scheme against trip receivers. Smith always assumes the initial inside, and inside deep, responsibilities. And you’ll see that in this video which is hyperlinked half way down the page in the twitter feed, here. Watch it a few times as I describe what happened.
On this critical play, pre-snap, Smith lines up over Tyler Boyd as the closest inside slot receiver. Ja’Marr Chase is lined up to the outside. Tee Higgins is lined up as the middle receiver.
Hamilton With Trips Responsibilities
Now let’s focus on Hamilton. He initially lines up with zone responsibilities on top of Higgins as the middle receiver. Boyd, from his inside slot spot, immediately cuts hard into the outside flat in front of Chase. Marlon Humphrey has the outside zone responsibilities, and he correctly picks up Boyd. But this is where it gets complicated.
Higgins, as the middle receiver, drives hard directly at Hamilton. As Higgins reaches Hamilton he cuts sharply inside towards the post. Smith recognizes this so fast it seemed like he knew what was coming. His recognition is so good that you can see Smith actually turn his entire body in a box-out position towards Higgins as Higgins reaches the five yard line. This eliminates any chance of Higgins cutting all the way inside and becoming an easy target for Burrow. Smith takes and rides Higgins as Higgins reaches Hamilton’s depth and begins his slant to the inside and down into the end zone.
This is where Hamilton’s failure kills the Ravens. Chase, who began the play on the outside in front of Humphrey, ran hard inside across the face of the formation. Hamilton, who lined up at the four yard line pre-snap, drops two yards further deep in front of Higgins to the two yard line. He allows Higgins to angle him to the outside as Higgins reaches the four yard line. Hamilton is now out of position and Higgins’ route has won the play.
But it gets worse. As Higgins begins to clear to the inside towards Smith, Hamilton freezes in space. His responsibility is to the inside and to pick up Chase who is now running free down the line towards Patrick Queen on the weakside. Queen had been tasked with cutting off inside routes from the weakside. He succeeds as the Bengals’ weakside wide receiver turns away at the five yard line. Meanwhile, Hamilton never reacts. He stares out into space, with his eyes tilted towards the flat and Tyler Boyd.
Higgins cleared towards Roquan Smith. Humphrey takes Boyd in the right flat. Hamilton? He’s wearing cement shoes at the one yard, not having moved laterally – in either direction – at all. Chase runs unaccounted-for as Queen tries to rally from the weakside to get to him. But it’s too late. Hamilton’s mental (and physical) lapse costs six points.
Mike Macdonald is Asking Too Much From Hamilton
This is a prime example of how Hamilton cannot be tasked. Ideally, the Ravens would utilize a cornerback against these types of offensive formations. A true slot corner must line up over the middle receiver, not Kyle Hamilton. The Bengals have an advantage in these situations every time as long as Hamilton is lined up with these responsibilities. Know your players abilities. Don’t ask your players to do things which they can’t, absent an emergency.
One and Done – Greg Roman, This Means You!
Tuesday should be D-day for Greg Roman. Departure day. There’s really not more to say about Roman. He did his best and worked hard. It didn’t work.
A new offensive coordinator is a critical hire for the Ravens. And it will tell fans a great deal about how the Ravens are viewing Lamar. The Ravens must get more out Lamar. For a new coordinator, it’s all about how he can create a dynamic scheme that maximizes Lamar’s greatest gifts. Roman only did that in the run game. Someone else must do it in the passing game. And if the Ravens don’t hire someone who can do that, perhaps they are going in a different quarterback direction. We will see.
Ok, I’ll have some more thoughts later this week.
