For the second week in a row I’m not going to spend any time on the Ravens offense. Through ten games the only team that has stopped the Ravens offense is the Ravens. I’m eager to see whether Lamar can finally exorcise his Steelers demons. But the Ravens defensive problems just continue to roll on. The risk that these problems are unfixable is growing. Below, I try to characterize my concerns, take a quick look at what is going wrong, and point to a few dim glimmers of hope.
Zach Orr and the (In)ability to Adapt
Through ten weeks it’s fair enough to consider whether Orr has adapted, or can adapt, his favored defensive approaches to the players in his defensive room. To state the obvious, the problem is absolutely throughout the entire pass defense schemes and players. The run defense is more than adequate to own the line of scrimmage. Travis Jones is the essential player for its success. When he’s healthy he’s an elite run stuffer who also pressures the pocket. Get his ankle back to full strength, and teams won’t attack the middle of the defensive front too often.
Defensive Front Rotation
Permit an additional commentary regarding the defensive front, which is predominantly a group of four lineman on the field. Orr incorporates a very heavy reliance on personnel rotation among the front group. There are numerous occasions during the course of the game where Orr inserts four second line players all at the same time. For old ACC basketball fans, it’s a “Carolina Blue” approach, where Dean Smith brought five backups in together.
I’m not a fan of Orr’s approach. Having all of your second tier players in the game at the same time weakens the entire defense. Linebackers have to be more concerned with the front group breaking down on running plays. This further exposes the Ravens back end at the same time. This is a bad idea and Orr should drop it. When teams elect to throw against the backup group, the Ravens wind up with Tavious Robinson and David Ojabo as their edge rushers. This isn’t just a bad idea; it’s a very bad idea.
Let me add one more thought. Admittedly, players along the front need some rest during the game. But the way Orr utilizes the rotation is independent of the game situation. For example, it seems to matter little whether the opposing team is inside the Ravens ten yard line. If it’s rotation time, the backups will be in, and Jones, Nnamdi Madubuike, Odafe Oweh, and Kyle Van Noy are on the pines. Absent player exhaustion, this just doesn’t make sense. The coach should adapt inside the red zone.
Defensive Problems: The Schemes are Too Complicated For This Group of Players
I’ve tried to point out this season that the players are not able to execute Orr’s variety of zone schemes. If I didn’t say it clear enough, let me try here: as a group, these players are incapable of executing many of the concepts that Orr runs. And don’t expect that to change. In that scenario, the coach must adapt, put aside his preferred approach, and deploy concepts that his group of players are capable of executing.
Defensive Problems: Mistake After Mistake
Game after game my film study notes are loaded with “mistake” notations. There were so many against the Bengals that I selected just a few of these lowlights. At the 5:21 mark of the first quarter Marlon Humphrey lined up as an outside linebacker over the tight end. At the snap, he backpedaled to the safety position. Roquan Smith, lined up as a middle linebacker, should have been responsible for taking the running back if he left the backfield; instead, he picked up the tight end just in Smith’s immediate zone. This left the running back, who leaked out, with 13 yards between him and the closest Ravens defender.
At the same time, Trenton Simpson on the other side dropped too deep down the field. The tight end crossed through Smith’s zone into the open area created by Simpson’s deep drop, allowing for an easy eight yard gain. The Ravens fooled no one with all of this disguise, which left two receivers wide open.
The Seventy Yard Touchdown
On the 70 yard catch and run touchdown by Ja’Marr Chase, the Ravens showed Joe Burrow a Cover-2 look pre-snap. However, at the snap one of the safeties (Ar’darius Washington) raced up to cover the inside slot receiver (a tight end) who took off on a go route. Arthur Maulet, who was over the middle slot receiver on the same side simply released him, and he also exploded on a parallel go route. Both of these receivers were immediately wide open.
At that moment poor Marcus Williams (who deserves all of the criticism heaped on him) had to choose to cover one of these go routes. He obviously can’t cover both. Brandon Stephens released the outside receiver on that same side of the field – Chase – as Chase crossed to the inside, with Stephens attempting to get to the second of the go routes. Williams elected to get to the tight end go route and turned his back to run in order to recover to that route. Chase, meanwhile, as he crossed the field, easily got behind Washington, with Roquan Smith clumsily retreating to that field middle. Chase ran right by the bumbling Smith. Burrow got Chase the ball and poor Marcus flattened out his angle way too much, and way too slow, as Chase blew by him for a touchdown.
Why did Washington race up to cover a receiver releasing on a go route? Why did Arthur Maulet release his player on a deep route at the same time. Yes, Marcus Williams was physically over matched trying to save this play. Marcus just can’t run. But when you see on tape what I’m trying to describe, everyone was in the wrong place. The players simply did not know what to do.
The Final Bengals Touchdown
Nate Wiggins lined up over Chase playing a zone underneath coverage. Wiggins released Chase to the next level defender as Chase crossed into the end zone before the ball was thrown. At the same time, Trenton Simpson moved up into Wiggins’ area of coverage in order to account for a running back leaking into the flat. This zeroed out Wiggins’ coverage, i.e., Wiggins had no one left to cover. Releasing that, he retreated into the end zone but too late, as Burrow lofted a beauty over Wiggins and Washington for the score.
Defensive Problems: Orr Continues to Assign Players into Coverages They Physically Can’t Execute
I noted five more plays last week where Orr dropped edge rushers into coverage, out of the 80 or so defensive plays. This week’s “hilarious” coverage attempt witnessed David Ojabo with a bumbling backpedal into a zone as Trenton Simpson (effectively) blitzed. Truly ridiculous. On this play Ar’darius Washington seemingly had no idea of where he was supposed to be, leading to a 17 yard pass gain to Chase.
On another occasion, Orr lined up Broderick Washington as an outside rusher with Odafe Oweh on the inside. To me, this plays to the weakest aspect of each player’s skillset. Washington is a one-dimensional rusher incapable of attacking a tackle’s outside shoulder, and Oweh’s speed and bend are compromised on the inside. Go figure.
The Coverage “Depth” Approach
It appears that Orr is comfortable exposing the middle of the field, almost up to intermediate depth. This conclusion is based on watching both Smith and Simpson dropping into deep middle zones on a fairly regular basis. It’s obviously not working. I suggest more of a middle of the field closed approach.
Man Coverage
Now one bright spot that struck me on last week’s tape was the comparative success of the Ravens’ man and press man pass defense. They didn’t run it too much, but when they did it was far more proficient than their zone schemes.
Nate Wiggins generally looked comfortable and fairly confident, handling almost every one of these assignments, including on Chase. With less to think about, Wiggins played to his natural man coverage skills. I’d give him some help over the top against George Pickens this week, given Pickens’ size, but Wiggins’ physical talent as a man defender is evident.
Marlon Humphrey remains very adept in his man coverages. With Brandon Stephens there are clearly more concerns. Given Stephens’ struggles, Orr should consider challenging him more in man assignments. I’m sure we will see some Tra’Davious White too. But I advocate for more man coverages, and less zone complexity. This week, Russell Wilson is not much of a running threat, which further augers for man coverages.
The Pass Rush and Stunting
Several of the big pressures against the Bengals involved stunting. One led to a direct sack, several others forced Burrow to scramble out of the pocket and toss throw aways. Madubuike, Van Noy, and Odafe Oweh were all effective.
Oweh brought more energy, but still has plays where he’s lethargic. His fire needs to burn every play. But he brought good bend and speed when he was very engaged. Madubuike, of course, was all over the field. Yes, his sack numbers are down, but sacks rarely tell the entire story, and he’s been effective quite a bit more than the pundits report. Coach Orr should further utilize these stunts.
Some Clear Conclusions After Ten Games
Marcus Williams has no recovery speed. He just can’t run. Roquan Smith is unable to line up in the A gap pre-snap, and retreat to his assigned position without losing contact with at least part (if not all) of the action as he retreats. Smith continues to “guess” in my view way to often, and is often not in the correct position. As a general proposition, I would show him in the A gap much less (if at all), and scheme more with slot corners as potential blitzers. Smith should line up in his traditional middle position, focus less on the quarterback’s eyes and more on the receivers lined up to threaten the middle. Again, as a general approach and a change up to what the tape reveals, a little less depth by Smith seems warranted.
It was obvious that Yannick Ngakoue brought nothing to the table, and he’s now gone. David Ojabo is bringing nothing to the pass rush either. He lacks lower body strength and power, and plays too high too often. That’s a bad combination. He should be more narrowly tasked with using his quickness and speed off the edge on passing downs, rotationally with Oweh and Van Noy. See if he can excel situationally at this point.
Arthur Maulet, who won’t play this week, looks old. He can’t run this year. Like Eddie Jackson, he’d see little if any playing time for my defense as he’s currently a liability, not an asset.
Without a new safety to put into the mix, the Ravens are in a difficult spot on the back end. Washington brings the most physical ability at this point. Hamilton needs to stay up front, if at all possible; that’s where he wreaks havoc. The deep back end will remain a problem, likely for the rest of this season.
Pittsburgh
This is the game I’ve been waiting to see. Why? Because it will confirm (or not) that Lamar has fully graduated as a quarterback for whom the game has finally slowed down. Pittsburgh will bring maximum stress. They will attack the Ravens’ run game, and, even without Alex Highsmith (break for the Ravens) they will threaten the Ravens offensive tackles as no other team has. T.J. Watt will be the ultimate challenged for Roger Rosengarten, and fans might focus on the degree to which Todd Monken gives Rosengarten help with chipping tight ends and running backs. Ronnie Stanley will miss out on the Highsmith challenge, but Nick Herbig has really come on as a speed rusher, so I think Stanley has to be on his game.
Is this the great Russell Wilson renaissance? Are we witnessing the rebirth of the Wilson from four years ago? I don’t think so. The Ravens’ edge rushers need to retain their lane discipline and keep Wilson contained in the pocket. And don’t allow Pickens to get to the deep parts of the field without two men assigned to him. The Ravens simply must take him away and force the ball to go elsewhere.
If the Ravens allow the middle of the field to remain open, then Pat Freiermuth will punish them.
I don’t think the Steelers have corners who can handle the Ravens receivers. Joey Porter is a grabber. I expect him to be grabbing Zay Flowers as much as he can get away with. But he can’t cover Flowers.
Will Keaton Mitchell figure this week? I think so. And I can’t wait to that day when Mitchell, Derrick Henry, and Lamar are in the backfield together.
For weeks I’ve claimed that the Ravens offense is unstoppable, except by the Ravens. This week, we’ll see if that’s right.
