1792 replies to this topic

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I've watched every game and I'm really not seeing anything special from this offense. I'm not saying it's been horrible and Lamar is certainly completing an amazing percentage of throws but it's far from any juggernaut that would inflict fear into opposing defenses. To me, you just hope they can be a solid offense, score 24-28 points a game and let the defense take it from there. Certainly not a bad formula, that's for sure. That said, I don't anticipate any revolutionary changes in the passing or running game. 2019 was as good as it's ever going to get for an offense in Baltimore.

Who cares about being a juggernaut. Its about winning. Be efficient. Be smart. Football games are lost more often than they are won. The obsession with Ravens fana being the reincarnacion of the '99 Rams will never end I guess.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

And Ill be the first to tell you they can be inconsistent and sometimes dont play smart football. Thats as frustrating as it can get. But I dont need a QB throwing for 400 yards. I dont need 50 points on the board. A lot of that is matchup driven and snowballing/piling on. It doesnt mean anything that you threw the extra stuff on top. People thought the Dolphins were unstopable, and theyre undoubtedly good, but all those points the first 3 weeks didnt help them yesterday.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Looking good enough to win a title for 3-4 games a year is a lot different than actually being good enough. I remain skeptical, but not like I’m not going to root like hell in the meantime.

I’ve been tracking all the advanced stuff out there and reading all the analysis - Makoman’s post earlier today, and I know Biggsy has called it out too, regarding the RedZone efficiency and the impact Monken has had there with the play calling is easily the most positive thing so far this season in terms of me buying in to being legit contenders. Big games are won in the RedZone. If that continues my confidence will definitely grow in what this teams true upside can be.

[russsnyder]

I could be wrong, however, perhaps this offense hasn't really hit it's stride yet. Despite the injuries to the Oline, Dobbins, Bateman etc., the offense was very efficient last Sunday. Maybe, I'm wrong, but wasn't Sunday, the first time the Browns' defense gave up an offensive TD this year? I have a feeling that the best is yet to come from this Ravens offense.

[BSLJamieSieck]

Who cares about being a juggernaut. Its about winning. Be efficient. Be smart. Football games are lost more often than they are won. The obsession with Ravens fana being the reincarnacion of the '99 Rams will never end I guess.

It's a week to week league and for as cliché as it is, you do what you need to do that week to finish 1-0. That scenario was on full display this past Sunday. Once the Ravens got up 21-3, against that Cleveland offense, there was no way the Browns were getting back in the game, short of us turning the ball over a few times. Combined with being down both of our starting tackles, there was absolutely no reason to do anything stupid in the 2nd half.

[BSLJamieSieck]

Looking good enough to win a title for 3-4 games a year is a lot different than actually being good enough. I remain skeptical, but not like I’m not going to root like hell in the meantime.

I’ve been tracking all the advanced stuff out there and reading all the analysis - Makoman’s post earlier today, and I know Biggsy has called it out too, regarding the RedZone efficiency and the impact Monken has had there with the play calling is easily the most positive thing so far this season in terms of me buying in to being legit contenders. Big games are won in the RedZone. If that continues my confidence will definitely grow in what this teams true upside can be.

The redzone success rate this cannot be undersold. Damn near worst in the league last year at 44% TD conversion in the redzone and then the overwhelming success so far this year. In a game where the yardage stats weren't eye popping, the offense still put up 28 points.

For all of the complexity of the NFL, there's also a ton of simplicity. Take care of the football, maximize opportunities and get off the field on 3rd down; if you do those things, you're gonna win a lot of football games.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Feels like they are worse between the 20s than in years past but obv much better in the redzone. I dont know how true this is but it feels like there is some bit of randomness or luck to scoring in the redzone. Kinda like hitting with runners in scoring position.

[BSLJamieSieck]

Feels like they are worse between the 20s than in years past but obv much better in the redzone. I dont know how true this is but it feels like there is some bit of randomness or luck to scoring in the redzone. Kinda like hitting with runners in scoring position.

Monken has been using the jet sweep action to set up Lamar's goal to go runs, amongst other things. So putting the right stuff on film to plant a seed of doubt in the defenses mind can create the environment for redzone success. To this point, Lamar has 4 TD runs so far this year.

The other factor for redzone success has been Jackson's accuracy to this point in the season. The throws into the end zone have been pretty much spot on so far in this young season.

[Mike in STL]

Jackson is 2nd in the league in completion percentage and 4th in the league in accuracy. 

 

However, he is 27th in attempts of over 20 yards with only 9 on the season (completing 4 of them). A lot of short passes, and that meets the eye test from watching the games.  29th in average depth of target. 

[You Play to Win the Game]

That ADOT isn’t going to cut it against good defenses, that’s for sure. But I think they’ve got it in them to not just be that.

[jamesdean]

I don't necessarily have a problem with the Ravens being a short to medium range passing team.  As long as they're moving the chains, running the ball effectively and continue to be productive in the redzone, they'll be fine.  Longer passes are more exciting for fans but that's no guarantee for success.  I'd rather they just win the game and if they're boring during the process, so be it. 

[makoman]

I think they will eventually have to push the ball a little more just to make defenses stay honest or else soon the defense will just plug in close to the box, which could hurt the run game too. Air yards seem to be 1.5 less than last year, which was already his lowest.

 

Lamar's yards per attempt are higher than any year except 2019 though, so it's working just fine for the moment. While you'd think the percentage will likely go down, completing an extra 10% of passes helps a lot--over an entire year that turns 40-50 zero yard plays into positives. If the y/att stay good I'm fine with it, but I hope they can adjust if/when they need to.

[hallas]

Lamar has the arm strength and the accuracy to nail passes in the 10-20 yard range, and he has a pretty long period of sustained excellence in this range.  Defenses cannot defend all 53 yards laterally, cover all possible target depths from 0-20 yards, and cover Lamar if he scrambles, We don't necessarily need him to hit bombs to succeed (although they're nice...) we just need to incorporate a couple more passes in this mid-range.  I don't mind the low-difficuilty short passes, and in fact I encourage them, but I think we're overdoing it on them a little bit.  If he replaced 1 of those short screens with 15 yard passes downfield per game, our ADOT would go up to 7.8, which seems much more palatable to me.

 

I think some of this is related to game state; outside the Indy game we really haven't had much need to push downfield for large parts of the game.  Though our ADOT for the Indy game was only 5.8, which is kind of weird.

[BSLJamieSieck]

Saw an interesting stat on ESPN last night...when Lamar has 5 or more designed runs in a game, the Ravens record is 40-13. However, when Jackson has fewer than 5 designed runs, their record is 12-9. Kinda quirky but intriguing nonetheless.

[Ravens2006]

Saw an interesting stat on ESPN last night...when Lamar has 5 or more designed runs in a game, the Ravens record is 40-13. However, when Jackson has fewer than 5 designed runs, their record is 12-9. Kinda quirky but intriguing nonetheless.

 

I'd say it's a byproduct of how committed to a run game they are going in to a game, or whether they stick to it once the first couple of drives each way unfold.

 

I'd also be very curious to see stats on what their "positive yardage" percentage is on offense when lined up in 0-back, 1-back, 2-back, and 3-back sets when Lamar has been under center. Gut feeling to me is that, in his time here, the more backs they put around him at the snap, the more likely they are to move the ball consistently. Might not be the big "downfield strike" that many / most seem obsessed with... but damn it feels like 2 and 3 back sets are about as close to guaranteed plus yardage as you can get.

[bmore_ken]

Jackson is 2nd in the league in completion percentage and 4th in the league in accuracy. 

 

However, he is 27th in attempts of over 20 yards with only 9 on the season (completing 4 of them). A lot of short passes, and that meets the eye test from watching the games.  29th in average depth of target. 

They're winning. That's all that matters to me

[cprenegade]

I keep reading that David Ojabo's knee injury may be a season ending injury.  Harbaugh has said it is up in the air.  It sounds like it's another one of those things like Bateman last year.  The player may opt for season ending surgery while the team would rather he try to rest it and play later this season. 

[Bmore Irish]

I have to think the lack of downfield passing also has a lot to do with injuries to the o-line. It makes sense to gameplan for that when you have multiple injuries along the line every week and are giving up some quick pressures. And you're having to use a TE or Ricard to help with the rush.

 

As the line gets healthier and the offense continues to get comfortable with a new play caller, I expect we'll see some more deep throws.

[BSLJamieSieck]

I'd say it's a byproduct of how committed to a run game they are going in to a game, or whether they stick to it once the first couple of drives each way unfold.

I'd also be very curious to see stats on what their "positive yardage" percentage is on offense when lined up in 0-back, 1-back, 2-back, and 3-back sets when Lamar has been under center. Gut feeling to me is that, in his time here, the more backs they put around him at the snap, the more likely they are to move the ball consistently. Might not be the big "downfield strike" that many / most seem obsessed with... but damn it feels like 2 and 3 back sets are about as close to guaranteed plus yardage as you can get.

Add to this the use of motion to create doubt in the defense's mind and open up running lanes.

[BSLJamieSieck]

I have to think the lack of downfield passing also has a lot to do with injuries to the o-line. It makes sense to gameplan for that when you have multiple injuries along the line every week and are giving up some quick pressures. And you're having to use a TE or Ricard to help with the rush.

As the line gets healthier and the offense continues to get comfortable with a new play caller, I expect we'll see some more deep throws.

I mentioned this the other day but ultimately, you do what's necessary to win that week's game. Taking downfield shots for the sake of having a higher YPA or AYA is absurd.

Your point about injuries is spot on. Also, OBJ and Bateman being down impact your passing game as well. Even just 4 games into his young career, Zay Flowers is starting to draw increased attention from opposing defenses, which only gets tougher with the absences at wideout.