
| Scouting report: Baltimore Ravens | |
Chargers’ next opponent Baltimore Ravens (10-3) 5:20 p.m., Sunday, Qualcomm Stadium The Ravens have lost only three games. Each time, they were on the road. For all their success, the Ravens are no better than 16-14 in away games under head coach John Harbaugh. So, ahem, there’s that. About the last thing the Chargers needed to come along at this particular point – the virtual point of no return in terms of postseason contention – was a game with the smash-mouth Ravens. Baltimore’s a good opponent to have when it’s early in the season and you’re trying to measure yourself against the league’s better franchises – especially if you’re wondering about your own toughness — but not when you’re under .500 in mid-December and possibly one loss from elimination. Baltimore’s not without a sense of urgency, either, despite a sweep of the arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers and unbeaten record within the AFC North. The Ravens are one of four AFC teams at 10-3 and all too aware of the importance of home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Those two wins over the Steelers won’t mean much, either, if Pittsburgh finishes with a better record than Baltimore. When last the Chargers faced the Ravens two years ago – see Series History below – Baltimore was built around (now) 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker Ray Lewis. He’s missed four games – all Baltimore wins — with turf toe. The Ravens are the NFL’s best defense against the pass and second-best against the rush, allowing an average of 15.5 points per game and an opponents’ third-down percentage of just 28.7. If anything, this year’s ravenous Ravens seem even more on the offensive when on defense. Baltimore’s 8-5 in prime-time games during Harbaugh’s tenure, 4-1 in “Sunday Night Football’ affairs. Three players to watch Terrell Suggs, LB: You can toss a dart at the Ravens’ defensive lineup and hit somebody you want to avoid in your game plan, but even with Ed Reed at safety and Haloti Ngata at nose, the first force to be reckoned with is Suggs on the pass rush. Three times this season, he’s recorded three sacks in a game, putting him within two quarterback drops of the team record of 15. In addition to three picks Sunday, he also forced three Indianapolis Colts fumbles. He’ll be dancing with a former Ravens teammate Sunday night in Jared Gaither, now the Chargers’ starting left offensive tackle. Joe Flacco, QB: Of the top 26 quarterbacks in the NFL in completion percentage, 25 are doing better than Flacco, who’s hit just 56.6 percent of his passes. He’s no higher than 21st in passer rating at 79.9. But there’ll only be two quarterbacks in the Super Bowl, and nobody would be surprised if Flacco is one of them. Why worry so much about passing stats, too, when your primary job is getting the ball to … Ray Rice, RB: This not a height joke, but the 5-foot-8 Rice actually had been running well below the radar until most recently breaking off consecutive 100-yard games – incredibly, the first time he’s done that in his career. Rice leads the NFL with 1,622 total yards from scrimmage, including 10 rushing scores and two TD receptions. He’s now working behind one of the league’s premier fullbacks, Vonta Leach. If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top. Posted in 1, baltimore-ravens, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata, Indianapolis Colts, Jared Gaither, Joe Flacco, John Harbaugh, Pittsburgh Steelers, Ray Lewis, Ray Rice | Comments Off
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| Bernard Pollard raves on with Ravens | |
Bernard Pollard knows one style of play, and it’s not always a popular one. But it’s one that makes him a perfect fit with the Baltimore Ravens. He calls it old school. Wide receivers call it a prelude to pain killers. “I’m an old-school football player,” Pollard said in a phone interview. “I’ll hit you when you’re going out of bounds. I’ll hit you when you come down field. If you’re in the way, you’re going to get hit. I’m just an old-school type football player. The league can try to change rules and everything else, but you can’t call this smash-mouth football if you’re worried about a penalty.” That quote is Pollard in a nutshell: Aggressive, straight-forward and fully comfortable in his style. The Fort Wayne South Side High School alumnus needed four games to crash – and that is the best word – the Ravens’ starting lineup. Now he’s a tandem with the Ravens great safety Ed Reed, and loving it, as the Ravens (9-3) play the Indianapolis Colts (0-12) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Baltimore. Pollard spent three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and two years with the Houston Texans and felt like he fit in with both teams, but if ever his attitude fit with a defensive personality, it’s with the Ravens. Baltimore’s success has been defined by its defense, led by linebacker Ray Lewis and a number of great players over the years. “One of the things I’ve always known about this team is they’re going to play ball,” Pollard said. “I love that they put their defensive players in position to go play. They want bullies They want to go out and do what they can to be the dominant team on the field. …They have 11 dogs on defense and they don’t have any kind of leash.” Pollard calls Reed “the greatest safety to play this game” and says their connection has been strong from the start. They discuss film, text regularly awayy from the field and joke with each other constantly. On the field, it’s all business. “We connect in so many different ways,” Pollard said. “It’s so much fun, knowing the safety next to me is accountable to this defense. He brings his ‘A’ game every single Sunday.” Reed went to the University of Miami, where he was a friend and teammate with Colts receiver Reggie Wayne. Pollard earned a bit of infamy cursing at the Colts receiver after Wayne caught a ball and stepped out of bounds last season. Trash talk goes on every game, but Pollard’s rant was caught on an open microphone and went over the air. Pollard said he talked about that incident with Reed the other day. “Tempers flare and everything else,” Pollard said. “At the end of the day, I respect that man (Wayne) for everything he’s done. He’s a great guy, a Hall of Fame receiver. I’m excited to play him again. I just get frustrated when he goes down before I can hit him.” Pollard knows the Ravens will be heavily favored against this version of the Colts, but he says Baltimore cannot afford to enter the game with any sort of overconfidence. “As much flack as they’re taking, they’re still a really good team,” Pollard said. “You look at that receiving corps. Reggie Wayne is one of the best receivers in the game, still. Pierre Garcon, that dude is playing the game. Austin Collie is one of the best slot receivers in the game.” Of course, Pollard and the Ravens will be facing a different quarterback, with Peyton Manning still out after neck surgery and journeyman Dan Orlovsky behind center. Orlovsky and Pollard were teammates with the Texans. “It is weird to watch film on them and not see 18 with the ball,” Pollard said. “Dan’s doing a great job. He put up 24 points on New England. …They are capable of beating us. We have to go play ball, I don’t care how many losses you have. Nobody comes in on Sunday and just rolls over.” Pollard certainly plays with only one style, regardless of the opponent. His approach dates back to his formative days in Fort Wayne. “My father was a big-time football fan, a big-time football player,” Pollard said. “Me and my brother would sit there and watch and see the (Steve) Atwaters, the Ronnie Lotts, the Night Trains (Lane) come through and slap that dude. “That’s how football’s supposed to be played,” Pollard said. “I thought, ‘This is how I have to hit.’ When I hit that way, the biggest thing is I’m going to have a bruise. Just go hit. That’s something I picked up, and I ran with it.”
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| Ravens relishing chance at decimated Colts | |
The Indianapolis Colts have been a thorn in the side of the Involved in a tight race atop the AFC North, Baltimore will look to take The Ravens have won all six of their home outings in 2011 and have taken 16 of A win over the Colts would also place the Ravens back into a first-place tie The Ravens used their ground game to keep the Browns in check, attempting a “I have to give it all to my offensive line,” Rice said about his performance. Baltimore’s fifth victory in six games was also big from a mental standpoint, “We know we control our own destiny,” Rice said. “Regardless of who we play, Baltimore is aiming to reach 10-3 for just the second time in franchise The Colts would normally be a big test for the Ravens, but they haven’t given Indianapolis was a huge underdog last weekend versus New England and trailed by Orlovsky threw a pair of touchdown passes, but the Colts still fell to 0-6 on “He played pretty well,” Indianapolis head coach Jim Caldwell said about SERIES HISTORY The Colts own a 7-2 advantage in their overall regular-season series with the Indianapolis has also defeated the Ravens twice in postseason play, including Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is winless in three lifetime matchups with the WHEN THE COLTS HAVE THE BALL Orlovsky (475 passing yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) is the third quarterback given the Orlovsky was sacked twice a week ago and figures to be under fire again this WHEN THE RAVENS HAVE THE BALL The Ravens have been using a balanced attack this season to rank sixth in the The Colts rank dead last in the NFL with an average of 29.8 points allowed per KEYS TO THE GAME The Colts didn’t catch a break by having to travel to Baltimore, where the One thing that helped the Colts catch up to the Patriots was their ability to Baltimore, in part because of the weather, really rode its ground game last OVERALL ANALYSIS With a playoff berth almost nearly assured, the Ravens still need to finish Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Ravens 27, Colts 13 ©2011 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. If you like reading our blog, remember to bookmark it. Posted in 1, Anquan Boldin, baltimore-ravens, Dennis Pitta, Ed Dickson, Ed Reed, Indianapolis Colts, Joe Flacco, John Harbaugh, Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis, Ray Rice, Tom Brady | Comments Off
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| Baltimore Ravens A.M. Links: Ravens want to put… | |
Peyton Hillis has an impressive game the first time he met the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 26, 2010. All Hillis did was rush for 144 yards and a touchdown. Edward Lee of The Baltimore Sun writes how at least one player said the defense has buried the memory of that performance.
More Ravens The Browns continue to prepare for Ray Lewis (Baltimore Sun). Ed Reed says the rivalry between the Ravens and Browns speaks for itself (Baltimore Sun). Old college coach helped Suggs in the pros (Baltimore Sun).
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| The Tape Never Lies: The Ravens and the Fire Zone… | |
The Baltimore Ravens have long been known for consistently applying pressure regardless of who is the play caller, whether it be Greg Mattison or Rex Ryan, or the pressure player, such as Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis or Ed Reed. This year is no different, as defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano has been exceedingly aggressive in calling the defense by dialing up an abundance of blitzes. One of the blitzes that he’s used and that has been around for years in Baltimore, as well as the rest of the NFL, is the Fire Zone blitz. As Sports Illustrated writer and author Tim Layden eloquently wrote in his book, Blood, Sweat and Chalk, the Fire Zone was initially developed in the early 1970s by Miami Dolphins defensive mastermind Bill Arnsparger. Arnsparger explained, “we were able to rush five guys and cover with six. That’s what you need to run a zone blitz. We could usually drop a linebacker in that slot zone, and that gave people a lot of problems.” The Fire Zone Blitz developed by Arnsparger would change the way defense would be played forever. At the time of the development, defenses were primarily using man blitzes, which quarterbacks were used to as they would simply dump off the ball to their hot read. However, Arnsparger’s zone blitz made that more difficult because the typically vacated area left by the blitzer would be replaced by another defender unexpectedly dropping into coverage, which was often a backside defensive end or outside linebacker (3-4). If quarterbacks attempted to throw it to their “hot” receiver, it would often result in an incomplete pass or an interception.
An example of a Fire Zone Blitz with 3-3 coverage behind it. Decades later, the defensive concept is still in vogue and led by Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who made it most popular by building his 1983 Bengals defense around it. The Ravens have also mastered this over the years, as evidenced against the 49ers last week. In Baltimore, Pagano has done a marvelous job of mixing up his Fire Zone Blitzes, playing different coverages behind the five pressure players and keeping the offensive players guessing as to which player is coming after them. The Fire Zone Blitz , sometimes simply called “zone blitz,” typically has three underneath and three deep defenders splitting the field into thirds in coverage while other times having four underneath with two deep defenders splitting the field into halves. Against the 49ers, Pagano and his defense got to San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith nine (!) times, tying a franchise record for sacks in a single game. Many times, it was simply with three or four pass rushers whilst other times getting to Smith with blitzes, such as the aforementioned Fire Zone. Before the ball was put into play by Smith, the 49ers showed a run-centered package with their 12 personnel, which means 1 running back and 2 tight ends. To counter this, the Ravens came out in their 30 Nickel package, which suggests that there are three down lineman and five defensive backs.
49ers show 12 personnel against Ravens 30 Nickel package. In their Fire Zone Blitz look, the Ravens divided their responsibilities in several different ways. Below, I color coded the blitzers in white and the pass coverage defenders in red. The responsibilities are defined as the following:
Ravens prepare for takeoff. DEFENSIVE LINE: A (between C and G) — Attack the A gap in between the Center and Right Guard (62). C (outside the OT) — There are two C gap attackers on this play, with both being the defensive ends. To your right, defensive end Terrell Suggs attacked the C gap by rushing outside and widening the Right Tackle. On the other side, defensive end Haloti Ngata attacked C gap to the outside of the left tackle.
Image courtesy of Footballoutsiders.com BLITZERS: B (between G and OT) — The nickel back and the middle linebacker will both attack the B gap from their respective alignments. The nickel back will loop from the C gap outside into the B gap to attract the attention of the tailback while the middle linebacker will attack the B gap on a delayed blitz, which allows him to obliterate the pocket by coming in untouched. PASS DEFENDERS: F — The two cornerbacks are flat defenders. They are to buzz the flat in soft (5-7 yards deep) coverage. H — Hook defenders are the backside linebacker dropping in coverage on the left of the image as well as the linebacker (51). Deep 1/2 — The two safeties deep are responsible for dividing their coverage into two halves of the field. The 49ers attempted to counter the Ravens’ zone blitz by using zone protection. By doing this, the uncovered offensive linemen were required to help the playside teammate out in blocking the defender while the covered offensive linemen were asked to block the man that was in front of them. Unfortunately for the 49ers, they ran into some issues. On the left side, Ngata, who lined up in a three technique over the left guard (77), ended up long-sticking across the guard’s face and into the C gap, which forced the left guard to help out before looking elsewhere to block. Meanwhile, the center (briefly) helped out the guard to his side before releasing to the second level as the “cleanup” guy, taking out any extra blitzers. However, he missed a blitzer, which was the Ravens linebacker (53) who made a beeline for quarterback Alex Smith.
Ravens demolish 49ers zone protection with the Fire Zone Blitz. Once the blitzing inside linebacker got to Smith, it was all over, as the rest of the 49ers offensive line caved in and gave up the sack. This was one of many for the Ravens as they picked apart the 49ers offensive line with great precision.
Mission accomplished. Last but not least, the Ravens’ pressure players, led by Suggs, have done a great job over the years of getting to the quarterback. They’ve used several types of Fire Zone Blitzes to get to signal callers, and as the creator of the website Blitzology.blogspot.com explained, the Ravens used a very similar designed zone blitz last season against the Carolina Panthers. The only difference was that it ran the opposite way and out of a Dime package (six defensive backs).
Image courtesy of Blitzology.blogspot.com For more, here’s another breakdown of the Fire Zone with Cover 2 behind it (starts at the 1:10 mark).
That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow. |
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