Week 6 Balt Ravens coaches film analysis thread

It's always a bit better watching the film after a win than a loss - a lot less frustration over what could've been.

There were a lot of good things to take-away, some things that definitely need improving, saw some things I'd never seen before - which is fun.

Offense:
Good - Bruce Miller: I said it last week that I thought we needed Miller in the game more instead of our 2 and 3 TE sets and it was proved right this week; as he came up with several big pass receptions. The fact is, the defense respects the run fakes much more when Miller is in the game and he's much sneakier coming out of the backfield on our slide concepts than Celek or McD is.

CK - he did a pretty good job, dropped a couple passes right on a dime. There were a few times where he missed some open receivers - but so did Flacco.

TS - he pulled a couple really good moves on Wright in the game - the big TD was a double move and Wright wasn't able to hold him(not for lack of trying lol).

O-line, I thought they held up well in pass pro(they'll also get a negative in the run game though). the rotation of Devey/Tiller worked well. The only two I thought did a poor job in pass pro were Boone and Pears. Pears does get a pass on one sack he did allow in the game though, I believe there was a defensive offsides call that got missed. The OLB on his side guessed the snap count and was already jumping right when the ball was snapped. So, he didn't have much of a chance.

bad - surprise, surprise, Marcus Martin gets another poor grade this week. One thing he is absolutely terrible at are stretch runs to the left, where he has to help first, then move to the 2nd level. He almost never actually helps on a "0" tech on those stretch runs. He's leaving his RG out to dry and they get penetration almost every time and blow up our run plays. I mean, it's bad.....like...really bad.....

When we tried to run some power run plays, the timing just wasn't quite right. The thing about power run is that your timing has to be spot on, we weren't and got much less on them than we should've.

Defense:
Good - I thought our base defense did well against the run.

I also thought Mangini's calls in the game were better and looked more like the niners we're used to seeing(not a ton, but a little bit). There were at least a handful of plays where we ran pattern match just like Fangio did, there were other times it was a near clone copy of Saban's defensive looks. He also did take note of how we lost the game last week and changed up his 2 minute defense. Instead of playing cover 2-man, we were playing cover 4 zone.

Overall, I thought our coverage was good, we usually had the first 2-3 seconds covered well, the problem was we had no pass rush - so, speaking of....

bad - pass rush, or lack thereof. One problem we have is that our pass rushing D-lineman(Harold, AA, TC) are obviously not good in run support because our coaching staff was only putting them in the game in very obvious passing situations. If it wasn't a very obvious passing situation(3rd and 9+) they weren't in the game, no matter what the offensive personnel. So, that left us, often times, in our Nickel package with Dorsey and Williams as our interior rushers - which even calling them an interior rusher is a bit of a stretch.

One the few occasions where we got a decent rush, we usually ended up with an incompletion - or in Acker's INT, an turnover. We saw it last week against NY, that if we could get some sort of rush to make the opposing QB uncomfortable, our coverage would look a lot better. Acker's INT was a direct result of pass rush, I have no idea why Flacco put that ball up - one of the worst throws I've ever seen a QB make.

Quinton Dial also had an average to poor game, IMO. He was inconsistent, at the least. There were a few good plays he had, but he doesn't do near the job eating up double teams that J. Smith did. The LB on his side isn't staying near as clean as they did before. That is one huge difference in our defense. It makes our run defense softer and therefore, makes our LB's slower in pass coverage. He got no pass rush on passing plays and, like I said, often times failed to occupy more than one blocker(sometimes, not even 1 blocker).

That's the OP for this week, stay tuned for some breakdowns. Probably won't happen at too quick of a pace today, as I've got more work on my plate today than a normal Tuesday.

Cheers!

By far my favorite play of the game, was Miller on the wheel. I loved the call of a post-wheel combo from 22 personnel. Usually when you go with a post-wheel the hope is that someone will pop open. I loved it from the 22 personnel because with a FB running the wheel you have a higher probability that usual of that FB busting loose. Defenses tend to ignore the FBs in this league. Kudos to Geep for an outstanding call given down and distance. Big chunk play.

Always get excited to read your OP!

A few things to keep in mind off the top of my head for context (and you all can correct me if wrong):

• Ravens have an enormous OL and DL and I think that showed in this game; these fatties were going to win some battles for sure
• Forsett was coming in off a 120 yard performance and 50 yards receiving (another very good back basically, shut down)
• Flacco, may still be the best deep-ball thrower in the game (just ask Acker...TD and INT)
• The Ravens secondary was decimated with injuries (and lost another during the game)
• Ravens fans want Ozzie fired esp. after watching what Boldin and Smith did to them

Originally posted by Niners816:
By far my favorite play of the game, was Miller on the wheel. I loved the call of a post-wheel combo from 22 personnel. Usually when you go with a post-wheel the hope is that someone will pop open. I loved it from the 22 personnel because with a FB running the wheel you have a higher probability that usual of that FB busting loose. Defenses tend to ignore the FBs in this league. Kudos to Geep for an outstanding call given down and distance. Big chunk play.

Agreed....had Miller had ANY speed at all, he scores there...CK even had Smith open as well.

Wasn't it 3rd and 1?

Here's one of the early plays in the game. I wish Kaep had gotten the ball out a fraction sooner and with more zip on it, Boldin coulda had a big gain. 13:34 1st QTR


Here, we're going to run a slide concept(I forgot to highlight the route combo here, but, it's a slide concept) we ran a LOT of slide concept in this game. On this one, we're going to come out in a twin left formation and motion Boldin across the field. This gives CK a distinct look at man-coverage and also, Boldin isn't just motioning, he's running, this makes life really hard on the defender in man coverage because he's going to have to trail Boldin, on a dead run, through all the other defenders.


for the slide concept, we run the PA fake on way and come back with a our routes back across the opposite direction. Note how the yellow defender has to fight through these guys to get to Boldin.


The defender nearly runs into his own guy, still has to go around him; which opens up Boldin out on the wide side of the field.


You see how much separation the play has created, if CK had been able to get the ball out just a split second sooner...(btw, where the still is would've been really hard for CK to get the ball out quite that quick, he starts his throwing motion about .1 seconds after this still).


He throws the ball.


The ball arrives just a little late to Boldin who also has to reach back for it(granted, if it'd been out in front, it would've led him OB, which he kinda does anyway). You see if he'd been able to catch the ball just a little sooner, how much room he had to run. Either way, though, it's still a 6 yard gain for a first down.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Always get excited to read your OP!

A few things to keep in mind off the top of my head for context (and you all can correct me if wrong):

• Ravens have an enormous OL and DL and I think that showed in this game; these fatties were going to win some battles for sure
• Forsett was coming in off a 120 yard performance and 50 yards receiving (another very good back basically, shut down)
• Flacco, may still be the best deep-ball thrower in the game (just ask Acker...TD and INT)
• The Ravens secondary was decimated with injuries (and lost another during the game)
• Ravens fans want Ozzie fired esp. after watching what Boldin and Smith did to them

For sure, I've been saying it for a couple years - Flacco's deep ball is one of the prettiest I've ever seen.

The TD throw was just flat impressive. I can't put any blame on anyone on our D for that TD. We pressured Flacco and he threw the thing off his back foot, nearly 50 yards downfield from where he thew it and put it on an absolute dime. It was one of the best throws I've seen this year from any QB.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Niners816:
By far my favorite play of the game, was Miller on the wheel. I loved the call of a post-wheel combo from 22 personnel. Usually when you go with a post-wheel the hope is that someone will pop open. I loved it from the 22 personnel because with a FB running the wheel you have a higher probability that usual of that FB busting loose. Defenses tend to ignore the FBs in this league. Kudos to Geep for an outstanding call given down and distance. Big chunk play.

Agreed....had Miller had ANY speed at all, he scores there...CK even had Smith open as well.

Wasn't it 3rd and 1?

yes, I'll show the play in a little bit - It was 3rd and short and Balt came with no safety and there was a busted coverage somewhere. It actually wasn't even a wheel route combo, it was more of a fade/deep post with the fade coming from the FB. He never actually goes out, he sorta took a step to his right at the snap and then ran a fade. Just a flat, busted coverage.

Here's the 2nd big Miller catch - 4:49 1st QTR.


Here, we come out in "22" personnel(2 backs 2 TE's) and Balt. responds by an old 46 defense look, it's 3rd and 1.


We motion McD across the formation and #33 slides over to that side - however, the other safety is motioning something to him, looks like, "stay there". I think this is what causes confusion on the play. They're going to play something similar to a goal-line zone. Where you're in zone, but, the outside corner has to turn and run with his man - it's hard to tell sometimes on a busted coverage like this.


It's a deep post/fade combo, at the snap, Miller takes a step to his right, like he's blocking, and then runs a fade route. Torrey takes an inside release on a deep post.


The inside LB initially spots Miller and takes a drop on him.


He, and the outside defender, take a peak back to CK, this is where they lose Miller.


With their backs turned, they never see Miller run past them on his streak. The corner, meanwhile, is turned and running with TS. CK had either one of them, but the Miller throw is the much easier/higher % throw. So, I'm 100% ok with it.


You see nothing but green out in front of Miller.

If he wasn't an old DE he probably scores lol. But, still a great 52 yard gain.

It's not the first time Kaep was late throwing to Boldin on that play or similar plays. He's been late to Boldin for the last 2 games now as far as I know . Annoying, because he's on time, on the money with other guys, and could have given more room for Boldin to get more yards.

Originally posted by jonnydel:

yes, I'll show the play in a little bit - It was 3rd and short and Balt came with no safety and there was a busted coverage somewhere. It actually wasn't even a wheel route combo, it was more of a fade/deep post with the fade coming from the FB. He never actually goes out, he sorta took a step to his right at the snap and then ran a fade. Just a flat, busted coverage.

thl's gif

I kinda thought it was a wheel because the way Miller kinda goes to the flat and then busts up the field. I guess I just get conditioned to look for the post-wheel because Geep seems to really favor the wheel. Either way it's a similar vertical concept and I love them doing it with 22 personnel.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
For sure, I've been saying it for a couple years - Flacco's deep ball is one of the prettiest I've ever seen.

The TD throw was just flat impressive. I can't put any blame on anyone on our D for that TD. We pressured Flacco and he threw the thing off his back foot, nearly 50 yards downfield from where he thew it and put it on an absolute dime. It was one of the best throws I've seen this year from any QB.

It's just not even fair...just an absolutely perfectly timed pass and on a perfect trajectory with pin point accuracy. Many NFL QB's could put a bucket right there and not come close to hitting that mark in non-live action (no pass rush, pressure, etc.).

Just have to tip your hat...and the little clever veteran move Smith made too to get get JUST enough separation was legit too. Bethea had no shot at getting over to help in time either.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
It's not the first time Kaep was late throwing to Boldin on that play or similar plays. He's been late to Boldin for the last 2 games now as far as I know . Annoying, because he's on time, on the money with other guys, and could have given more room for Boldin to get more yards.

J talked about this as well.

I find myself yelling, "Now!" at the screen on plays like this. If he hits some of these routes earlier, they could be big time plays with lots of YAC.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
yes, I'll show the play in a little bit - It was 3rd and short and Balt came with no safety and there was a busted coverage somewhere. It actually wasn't even a wheel route combo, it was more of a fade/deep post with the fade coming from the FB. He never actually goes out, he sorta took a step to his right at the snap and then ran a fade. Just a flat, busted coverage.

Da Man!

thank you so much for these threads. it helps me understand the intricacies of the game. I don't have much to add so I don't post in here. but I do have loads of questions.

you don't normally analyse sacks but I was interested in understanding a niners 3 and 8 about 2 minutes to go in the second quarter. it appeared 2 ravens got through the OL, and sacked kap. I wanted to know what hayne should have done in this to try and stop the rush.

Hey Johnny did Vernon contribute at all. I know he didn't catch any passes but how was his blocking? Someone mentioned just his presence was enough to clear out underneath routes. True?