After a win such as the Ravens drubbing of Seattle, there’s often little to criticize. This was a defensive blitzkrieg, and it’s time to take a deeper dive into what Mike Macdonald is achieving and how he does it. But I’d be remiss (and an empty vessel) if I let readers march happily into the night without showing them a goblin or two. I’ll start there, and then move into the sunlight.
It’s Not Getting Better – Ronnie Stanley is a Major Problem
I know Halloween is behind us, but it’s scary watching Stanley in pass protect. He’s going to get Lamar killed. I’m not saying we are full Alejandro Villanueva yet, but Stanley’s a lot closer to that than he is to Jonathan Ogden. There’s no need to fully rehash Ronnie’s lower body instability. It’s not getting better, nor should we expect it to at this point.
Early in last week’s contest Stanley was beaten badly by a simple speed rush. He couldn’t plant his left leg. Only Lamar’s elite scrambling ability saved the sack. Two plays later it was worse, as Stanley once again couldn’t plant that left leg, yielding a strip sack. Later in the game Boye Mafe simply swiped across Stanley’s outside shoulder, knocking Stanley off balance. Mafe then ran right around Stanley, who seemed almost frozen in his tracks. What’s it going to look like this week against Myles Garrett?
The Ravens haven’t been forced to come from behind in the last several weeks (nor, really, for much of the season). But one has to wonder how bad it will be when the world knows Lamar must drop back to pass. I’ll put it this way. Stanley is going to need help – a lot of it.
All Hail Mike Macdonald! – A Deeper Dive
The Ravens have one of the most fluid defenses I’ve seen. Mike Macdonald has melded the athleticism of his players with designs that make his defense difficult to contain. His players consistently exhibit both high football IQs and discipline to stick to their assigned tasks. There were very few mistakes last week. For now, I really want to focus on what Macdonald is doing with his front seven.
Macdonald is using disguise just like many of his peers. Sure, there are defensive fronts where, for example, both inside linebackers line up in the A and B gaps creating the uncertainty of which or both players are blitzing. But Macdonald is doing much more than that. So much of what I see is what fans call stunts. But they are complex stunts, often dependent on the athletic ability of his players. And he is also using odd alignments, where players line up far away from their typical positioning and are tasked with executing different assignments.
Some Complex Stunt Actions
I’m not technologically savvy enough to insert clips of plays into this blog, so I’m begging for indulgence. Numerous pass rush plays mirror what I saw during the first half last week. On one play, Broderick Washington at nose tackle, instead of executing an attack at either the A gap or the B gap, immediately engaged the offensive tackle, attacking the inside shoulder. Washington’s plunge created a clean line for the looping Kyle Van Noy, who came around the tackle and guard for an easy sack. But there was even more going on in this play. On the opposite side of the Ravens front, Macdonald had his players simultaneously execute a different stunt. Here, Jadaveon Clowney on the edge engaged both the tackle and the guard, and Travis Jones looped outside of Clowney, attacking towards the quarterback.
This dual design creates a tremendous amount of pressure on an offensive line. Blockers must make mental adjustments, in unison, on the fly to protect against all of the new angles of attack generated by Macdonald’s scheme. At the same time Macdonald’s players each must generate the necessary footwork, balance, and strength to execute their respective attack points. He is blessed with some very good athletes here in Justin Madubuike, Jadaveon Clowney, Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith, among the leaders.
On the ensuing defensive series Macdonald called the following more difficult stunt. Here, Odafe Oweh was the only Ravens defender aligned to the left of the center. The Ravens structured an overloaded front to the right of the center, aligning (left-to-right) Justin Madubuike, then Michael Pierce, and then Kyle Van Noy at the edge. At the snap Van Noy, launching from the far right of the formation, ran all the way around behind both Madubuike and Pierce, generating a clean pressure of the quarterback. Madubuike was perfection on this play, engaging and controlling two blockers to allow Van Noy to win.
Stunts, And More Blitzes, With Patrick Queen
Who’s the fastest player on the Ravens front seven? Patrick Queen. I loved Macdonald’s unconventional blitz packages with Queen last week. On one beautiful stunt Queen lined up inside of edge rusher Odafe Oweh, appearing to threaten the B gap (between the guard and tackle). Instead, at the snap Queen immediately slid around Oweh’s outside shoulder for a clean pressure to the quarterback as the offensive line failed to adjust. Queen’s timing was outstanding.
Even more exciting (for me, at least) was the more than one occasion where Queen was aligned in the slot area where we frequently see Kyle Hamilton. Typically, when Hamilton is positioned there pre-snap he presents as stationary (flat footed). With the faster and quicker Queen, however, he is drifting, on his toes, and aligned a bit further away from the offensive tackle than we see with Hamilton. This positioning creates more of a challenge for the offense, as Queen appears to be a potential edge attacker but could easily be expected to slide back towards his inside position. On this occasion Queen exploded forward at the snap on his blitz and completely disrupted the play.
After Macdonald ran this structure, he subsequently called two variations with Queen. On the next call Queen again aligned outside of the edge linebacker. But instead of taking a direct path to the quarterback, this time he ran behind his edge backer and attacked to the quarterback. A play or two later Queen was sliding outside to mirror an in-motion running back, but at the snap Queen abandoned the mirror and blitzed directly towards the quarterback. Talk about disguise! These were things of beauty; and unpredictability.
More Odd Formations and Stunts
One defensive front really caught my eye. On this play Travis Jones lined up, in a standing position, outside of Odafe Oweh on the right side of the defensive front. Oweh was also in a standing position. Both players were aligned on either shoulder of the tackle. At the snap Oweh charged all the way around the far left of the formation, turned the corner and had a clear attack to the quarterback. This is very creative stuff, and I underscore that the design only works if the players execute it. In this case, Odafe Oweh must have the speed to get there; and he does.
A Deeper Dive on Mitchell – You’re Blogger Takes a Bow
Man I’d like to think I’m humble, but allow me this one bow. For weeks I’ve been claiming that Keaton Mitchell would bring a whole other dimension to the Ravens’ attack. This comes from film study back before the NFL draft. I couldn’t understand how Mitchell went undrafted, and believed the Ravens stole a gem in Mitchell. Well, he’s a hidden gem no more. And there should be much more to come. Mitchell has very good hands, just wait until he’s isolated on a linebacker.
But let’s take a moment to review Mitchell’s skillset. On his first run from scrimmage Mitchell took a simple draw, broke two tackles with his low center of gravity and surprising strength, and had a strong gain. On his next run Mitchell showed great vision, finding and hitting a very small crease and exploding through it. With his third attempt Mitchell broke an attempted tackle in the backfield and turned the play into a good gain. On his fourth carry, he again displayed outstanding vision as he cut back into another crease and exploded through it. We all saw on his 60 yard jaunt several broken tackles. And his touchdown burst showed elite top-end speed as defenders were left in the dust.
The question for the Ravens is how much to put on Mitchell. His use last week felt about right to me. Adding in a few pass routes makes sense. I have some concerns with Mitchell’s ability to handle blitzes, but he was very willing last week (he didn’t dip and surrender). And Mitchell’s apparent soft tissue challenges this season makes one wonder how he’ll handle heavier burdens. But as a dynamic change of pace to Gus Edwards, in a mix with Justice Hill, there’s a lot to be excited about here.
This Week’s Potpourri
Time to touch on a few more idle observations from the couch.
Odafe Oweh’s Continued Progression
More watering of the roots mixed with a bunch of sun generates real growth. Oweh showed two excellent spin moves last week. On the first one he led with and showed the left tackled his outside shoulder, and as the tackle committed, Oweh immediately spun back to the inside and sacked the quarterback. On another occasion much later in the game Oweh executed a similar move, though the offensive tackle received help on the play preventing Oweh from penetrating. But it was still a win as Oweh commanded the double team.
Oweh is a player who is continuing to progress, albeit not always in a straight line. But he’s still getting better. And he’s generally presented a stout edge in run defense. There’s good reason to believe that the best is yet to come for Oweh.
John Simpson
I thought this was Simpson’s best game as a Raven. Particularly in run blocking, Simpson was extremely effective, finishing blocks way down the field and helping create numerous large opportunities for his running backs. His block on the first touchdown was a thing of beauty. He executed another perfect block on Mitchell’s touchdown run. He and Tyler Linderbaum combined on a block that created the big hole for Gus Edwards’ long run. Just a big day for Simpson. And Simpson played with great fire too, which I love to see in an interior offensive lineman.
The Bubble Screens
The Ravens just can’t get these plays right. This week we saw what I call a naked bubble to Nelson Agholor in the slot as he ran wide, with just Rashod Bateman as a lead blocker. The play went nowhere, leaving two defenders free to attack Agholor.
Todd Monken has to make some design changes here. He continues to run these plays with wide receivers as lead blockers, and they just aren’t working. Take a look at a little tape of Kansas City. They are masters of these plays and frequently the lead blockers are tight ends. Yes, tight ends as in plural. Granted, Isaiah Likely blocks like a wet fish at this point, but at least get Mark Andrews in front here, and maybe put Patrick Ricard in motion towards the bubble where he might be able to seal off the edge.
The Run-Pass Option
Lamar was brilliant again last week as we saw at least two wonderful reads by him, catching defensive ends lunging inside toward the faked running back as Lamar pulled the ball back and took off. This play must remain a staple of the offense. But he and Justice Hill had better fix their collective ball handling problem on the RPO’s involving Hill. Yet another fumble this week, and that simply has to stop.
Rashod Bateman
This guy is really bringing it with focus. He made several excellent catches last week and the Ravens just have to get him the ball more often. Sure, there’s a lot of juicy items on Lamar’s menu. But Bateman is one of the underpriced ones here, and it sure tastes good! I continue to believe that there is much upside with Bateman remaining untapped. Ask a little more of Bateman in positions where he can run with the ball, drop in a little more with Keaton Mitchell, and the Ravens offense can get to its potential.
Isaiah Likely
I’ve written that I see no problem with the Ravens offering three and four receiver sets while excluding Isaiah Likely. But it’s a mistake to abandon two-tight end pass groupings either. It was nice to see proof this week that Todd Monken realizes that too. Combined with Mark Andrews, Likely creates advantages for the Ravens, with an ability to generate real yards after the catch. It’s good to see Likely is still in the playbook.
The Browns
Sorry to disappoint but time just didn’t permit any film study of the Browns this week. Suffice it to say it’s mostly about containing Myles Garrett and the Browns pass rush this week. Mike Macdonald is going to really challenge DeShaun Watson and it’s important for Patrick Queen to stay focused on the inside as I expect the Browns to try to probe the Ravens’ run attack and slow down some of these pass rush packages.
