35 replies to this topic

[PrimeTime]

Not sure yet who Buffalo gets back, but my understanding is they're without 4-6 defensive starters. 
Ravens should get their points. 

Buffalo has trouble running the ball besides Allen. 
He had 60+ passing attempts yesterday. He's going to get his yards. Make the march the field, and tighten up in the RZ.
If you can't get pressure, then you are going to drop back and hopefully you force him into a turnover or two. 
Should be someone spying him too, and trying to limit his running. 

 

The left tackle situation will be big as usual. How severe is Mekari's ankle sprain? Is Ronnie Stanley actually close to getting on the field? If Faalele has to start, how will the protection be tailored to help him out and what might we have to sacrifice in other areas?

 

In years past, when the Ravens were matching up against a high scoring offense, it was all about what our defense could do to slow them down. We have to move past that mentality as a fan base. These aren't the Ray Lewis, Ed Reed Ravens anymore and opposing offenses are going to get theirs; at least until the defense gets a few pieces back. The defense will need to be opportunistic and capitalize on chances to take the ball away, as well as do what they can to limit the ball going over their heads.

 

With that said, the Ravens now have an offense that is one of the best in the league. So even if they can't do much to slow down Allen or Burrow, they can certainly match those guys point for point. 

 

I say this week after week, time after time, until I'm blue in the face.....more often than not, if you can take care of the football on offense and take it away on defense, you're going to win ballgames. That's another thing that made the Miami game even more bizarre and rare. Rather than look at what happened 2 Sundays ago as a harbinger, perhaps we should be looking at it as an anomaly. That is not to say that the defense is suddenly going to morph into the 2000 defense but they should and can be more effective than they have been. And given the offensive prowess so far this season, if the defense can just approach average, that should be more than enough to stack some W's.

[cprenegade]

As I posted on the Gameday Buffalo thread, the weather needs to be considered for this week's game.  Right now up to 3" of rain is projected for the Baltimore area from Saturday night through Monday because of the remnants of hurricane Ian.  That could be a big factor in the offenses, especially if it is fairly windy which it very well could be.  Buffalo's rushing game other than Josh Allen is nearly as bad as the Raven's minus Lamar.  

[Steve55]

Hard to see less than 35 getting it done but also hard to have seen Miami holding them to 19.  

 

I'm becoming less and less interested in predictions and expectations.  They shape every opinion, but there are also just so many unknowns and different permutations of how things could unfold.

 

 

What really hurt Buffalo besides the injuries was losing players to cramping from the heat.

[jamesdean]

As I posted on the Gameday Buffalo thread, the weather needs to be considered for this week's game.  Right now up to 3" of rain is projected for the Baltimore area from Saturday night through Monday because of the remnants of hurricane Ian.  That could be a big factor in the offenses, especially if it is fairly windy which it very well could be.  Buffalo's rushing game other than Josh Allen is nearly as bad as the Raven's minus Lamar.  

I just saw your post and deleted mine because I was saying the same thing. If it turns into a slopfest, that could hinder any chances of a wild shootout. This is all subject to change of course since the weather models still haven't locked in on a specific track of the system once it leaves Florida.

[cprenegade]

I just saw your post and deleted mine because I was saying the same thing. If it turns into a slopfest, that could hinder any chances of a wild shootout. This is all subject to change of course since the weather models still haven't locked in on a specific track of the system once it leaves Florida.

 

Yeah, the track of the storm and expected arrival has changed several times.   Right now it looks like it will be rain, maybe not as heavy in Baltimore as first thought, and quite a bit of wind.  Personally I think the wind is the bigger factor in the football game.  Wind will sail some passes for possible ints, and make FGs quite challenging.  Remember even Tucker missed two in the playoff game because the gusts came right as he kicked it.  

[Mackus]

Yeah, the track of the storm and expected arrival has changed several times.   Right now it looks like it will be rain, maybe not as heavy in Baltimore as first thought, and quite a bit of wind.  Personally I think the wind is the bigger factor in the football game.  Wind will sail some passes for possible ints, and make FGs quite challenging.  Remember even Tucker missed two in the playoff game because the gusts came right as he kicked it.  

 

Wind is the better possibility for the Ravens, IMO, as it would impact passing but not rushing.  Heavy rain impacts both and the Ravens likely need the running game to be working at lot more than the Bills do.  In a total slopfest its hard to make any predictions on what will happen as the possibility of fumbles and other weird but very impactful chaos goes up.

[BSLMikeFast]

Being 4-1 after these next two games is completely possible, as is being 2-3.

[PrimeTime]

Being 4-1 after these next two games is completely possible, as is being 2-3.

 

Bottom line, it's all about the pass defense. Between high draft picks, trades and lucrative contracts, the Ravens have poured tons of resources into the secondary and they're not seeing results. The poor performance of the pass defense got Wink Martindale "future endeavored" and already has new DC Mike Macdonald in hot water with some fans. This leads us to the chicken or egg situation between the pass defense vs the pass rush. Is the secondary simply not as good as their talent suggests or has the lack of pass rush put too much of a burden on the secondary?

[jamesdean]

Bottom line, it's all about the pass defense. Between high draft picks, trades and lucrative contracts, the Ravens have poured tons of resources into the secondary and they're not seeing results. The poor performance of the pass defense got Wink Martindale "future endeavored" and already has new DC Mike Macdonald in hot water with some fans. This leads us to the chicken or egg situation between the pass defense vs the pass rush. Is the secondary simply not as good as their talent suggests or has the lack of pass rush put too much of a burden on the secondary?

I have to go with the lack of pass rush. Receivers today are just too good and helped by current rules to be able to run routes and adjust as quarterbacks are making sandwiches in the pocket. I don't care how talented your secondary is...they don't stand much of a chance. And I'm hardly sold on our secondary being elite.

[PrimeTime]

I have to go with the lack of pass rush. Receivers today are just too good and helped by current rules to be able to run routes and adjust as quarterbacks are making sandwiches in the pocket. I don't care how talented your secondary is...they don't stand much of a chance. And I'm hardly sold on our secondary being elite.

 

Performance wise, nothing about the secondary has been elite but you can't deny the pedigree. We have 2 former All Pro, former 1st round picks at corner and then at safety, we have a top FA signing, a 3 year starter and a 1st round pick.  

[jamesdean]

Performance wise, nothing about the secondary has been elite but you can't deny the pedigree. We have 2 former All Pro, former 1st round picks at corner and then at safety, we have a top FA signing, a 3 year starter and a 1st round pick.  

Unfortunately, pedigree doesn't mean much when quarterbacks are standing back there doing crossword puzzles waiting for someone to get open.

[PrimeTime]

Unfortunately, pedigree doesn't mean much when quarterbacks are standing back there doing crossword puzzles waiting for someone to get open.

 

No lied detected here.

[cprenegade]

Bottom line, it's all about the pass defense. Between high draft picks, trades and lucrative contracts, the Ravens have poured tons of resources into the secondary and they're not seeing results. The poor performance of the pass defense got Wink Martindale "future endeavored" and already has new DC Mike Macdonald in hot water with some fans. This leads us to the chicken or egg situation between the pass defense vs the pass rush. Is the secondary simply not as good as their talent suggests or has the lack of pass rush put too much of a burden on the secondary?

 

I think you hit it.  Hard to say the secondary is not as good as their talent suggests.   The problem is that with today's rules if you don't pressure the QB, no secondary will be able to perform well in the NFL.  I read an article which claimed the Raven's are 24th in the league in pressuring the QB this year.  I think that right there is the issue with the defense.  

 

Remember all those years the Ravens and Steelers were battling for the division?  Remember the guys in the Steeler secondary?  Probably not because outside of Polamalu, they were average at best.  But their front 7 shut down the run and got after the QB on every play.  It forced mistakes from the QB, rushed their throws, and made their secondary look decent.  I believe you can live with a defense that gets constant pressure, but has an average at best secondary.  I think it is much harder to do the reverse.  The Ravens have invested largely on the back end.  

 

I don't know if it can be fixed right now.  They don't have the cap room to bring in somebody with a high salary at that position in a trade for picks.  They can scavenge the unsigned FAs, but that only leads to signings like JPP.  I won't even comment on that as I think it's just a body with no value quite honestly. 

 

Going forward Lamar is going to eat up more and more salary cap room so they will need to either get it from the draft, or free up room by cutting loose a few higher contract players at other positions.  For this year, maybe Travis Jones adds a boost.  Houston is now hurt and that can be a nagging injury.  It is what it is for now.  But it's hard to see the defense getting any better soon with little pressure and the QBs the Ravens will be facing coming up.  

[bmore_ken]

I think you hit it.  Hard to say the secondary is not as good as their talent suggests.   The problem is that with today's rules if you don't pressure the QB, no secondary will be able to perform well in the NFL.  I read an article which claimed the Raven's are 24th in the league in pressuring the QB this year.  I think that right there is the issue with the defense.  

 

Remember all those years the Ravens and Steelers were battling for the division?  Remember the guys in the Steeler secondary?  Probably not because outside of Polamalu, they were average at best.  But their front 7 shut down the run and got after the QB on every play.  It forced mistakes from the QB, rushed their throws, and made their secondary look decent.  I believe you can live with a defense that gets constant pressure, but has an average at best secondary.  I think it is much harder to do the reverse.  The Ravens have invested largely on the back end.  

 

I don't know if it can be fixed right now.  They don't have the cap room to bring in somebody with a high salary at that position in a trade for picks.  They can scavenge the unsigned FAs, but that only leads to signings like JPP.  I won't even comment on that as I think it's just a body with no value quite honestly. 

 

Going forward Lamar is going to eat up more and more salary cap room so they will need to either get it from the draft, or free up room by cutting loose a few higher contract players at other positions.  For this year, maybe Travis Jones adds a boost.  Houston is now hurt and that can be a nagging injury.  It is what it is for now.  But it's hard to see the defense getting any better soon with little pressure and the QBs the Ravens will be facing coming up.  

I mean sadly, but it seems like Lamar is going to earn every dollar he gets with his contract. I still can't believe there are people here talking about not signing him when this would probably be an 0-3 team without him. 

[hallas]

Unfortunately, pedigree doesn't mean much when quarterbacks are standing back there doing crossword puzzles waiting for someone to get open.

So, Wink's style and his strengths (initially) played really well into what the Ravens want from personnel. EDC spends a ton of resources on the secondary, Wink puts them in man, gets a ball hawk safety in single high and schemes pressure. This only failed because all our best defensive backs either went crazy (Earl Thomas) or got hurt (marlon, peters, everyone else last year.)

It looks like the Ravens are playing a lot more zone this year. Which would be fine if we had a dominant pass rusher. But we don't.

Wink struggled initially in 2019. It wasn't until we got Peters that we were a really elite defense.

[PrimeTime]

So, Wink's style and his strengths (initially) played really well into what the Ravens want from personnel. EDC spends a ton of resources on the secondary, Wink puts them in man, gets a ball hawk safety in single high and schemes pressure. This only failed because all our best defensive backs either went crazy (Earl Thomas) or got hurt (marlon, peters, everyone else last year.)

It looks like the Ravens are playing a lot more zone this year. Which would be fine if we had a dominant pass rusher. But we don't.

Wink struggled initially in 2019. It wasn't until we got Peters that we were a really elite defense.

Our zone coverage also struggles because our linebackers suck in zone. When Bowser gets back, we should improve because Tyus is one of the better backers in the league when it comes to zone.