Ray Lewis a liability on D vs. Pats?

[JJDChE]

He does seem to be a liability in certain areas, but they are 7-1 with him on the field and 5-5 with him on the sideline. Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Kontradiction]

Running right at Lewis has always been the way to attack the Ravens on the ground. His strength was always chasing and beating the blocking scheme to make plays in areas of the field a MLB usually doesnt get to.
Taking on blockers and plays run right at him was never his strength.
To answer the OP, of course he is a liability.

At this stage in his career, running away from him is a higher percentage play than running right at him.

 

[Ring 6]

At this stage in his career, running away from him is a higher percentage play than running right at him.

Why? That makes no sense. He is not as stout at the point of attack as anyone else on the Raven front 7.

 

[mgcolby]

At this stage in his career, running away from him is a higher percentage play than running right at him.

That has not been true these past two games. I put a breakdown of it in a different thread. The Colts and Broncos had their best success running inside the tackles. The Broncos damn near did it on every play.

 

[Ring 6]

Lewis had a team high 17 tackles against the Broncos

Thats pretty sad since the other players around him are mostly 3 or more years younger than him.

The guy can still play,albeit a bit slower and little threat for a sack anymore

Number of tackles doesnt really say much unless you have context.
If he got 17 tackles because they ran right at him and/or completed passes to his man all day, and got 150 yards on those 17 plays that is not a good thing.

 

[mgcolby]

Here I'll post it here as well:

Ballards carries, I didn't include Lucks scrambles. Criteria off tackle = left / right in between tackles = middle:


Left: 10 Carries 31 yards Long 8 Yards
Right: 4 carries 13 yards Long 7 Yards
Middle: 9 Carries 48 yards long 24 yards




Denver only ran up the middle:


Left: 6 Carries 23 yards Long 9 yards
Right: 2 Carries 4 yards Long 5 yards
Middle: 34 Carries 110 yards Long 11 yards


In two games (not including QB scrambles):
Left: 16 Carries 54 yards 3.4 a clip
Right: 6 Carries 17 yards 2.8 a clip
middle 43 carries for 158 yards 3.7 a clip.

 

[Tunescribe]

Ray can have his 17 tackles as long as they continue to be 5 to 8 yards upfield.

 

[BradyManny]

Why not? I'd like to see a lot of 2 back sets, with either Ridley/Vereen or Woodhead/Vereen. Vereen can be moved all over the place, and he can be used like a receiver as well as as a RB.

This. So this.

And yes, Ray Lewis is a liability against the Pats. Both in the run game and pass game.

 

[RealityCheck52]

Anyone that starts a thesis with the words "Ray Lewis a liability on D.." needs their head examined..

 

[mgcolby]

Anyone that starts a thesis with the words "Ray Lewis a liability on D.." needs their head examined..

Mentally he is not a liability, but even you can't say that you haven't seen the drop off in his pass coverage. Just look at the past two games he's in the proper place, but a step behind, unable to break up the pass. Now he does make the tackle fairly quickly for the most part. But that is a liability. And the run numbers over the past two games don't lie. Teams are attacking him and having success.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I think the best bet is going to be motioning Vereen out wide, with Hernandez close in playing the traditional TE spot. Lewis isn't going to split outside to cover Vereen, so one of the other LBs will be forced to do it, leaving a much better chance that Lewis will be covering Hernandez, which would be a disaster for the Ravens.

Yup, Lewis on Hernandez would be a total mismatch. As far as coverage, Lewis does not have the wheels. But it's never been about his footspeed. Lewis has the experience and the intelligence to establish excellent position through anticipation. He also quarterbacks his defense as well as any linebacker in the league and gets his guys in the right spots as well.

Plus, the dude hits like a mack track if you get anywhere close to him, and is surprisingly effective on blitzes up the middle. The Pats are well aware of Lewis' strengths and weakenesses, and overall, this is still a guy you want to avoid except of course when working the passing routes with speedier, athletic players. I think Vereen and Hernandez will be key guys for us to attack this matchup.

 

[Ring 6]

Anyone that starts a thesis with the words "Ray Lewis a liability on D.." needs their head examined..

Or they are unbiased and objective.

 

[Deus Irae]

Anyone that starts a thesis with the words "Ray Lewis a liability on D.." needs their head examined..

In the Denver game, every pass made in his area was completed. Please explain how that is not a liability.

 

[borg]

He does seem to be a liability in certain areas, but they are 7-1 with him on the field and 5-5 with him on the sideline. Take it for what it's worth.

Please don't offer statistics to support arguments, that's frowned upon......stats like holding the Denver offense to 21 points in 6 quarters. Holding the Denver rushing game to 3.0 yds/carry.Making 10 tackles and performing several nifty dances while playing with the flue.
Lewis is not a Patriot therefore he is a fraud. Got it.

 

[Kontradiction]

Why? That makes no sense. He is not as stout at the point of attack as anyone else on the Raven front 7.

He's less stout due to injury, but running right at him is also running right at Ngata. Counters to make him chase and passing plays designed to match him up against a RB would be the best way to go.

 

[RealityCheck52]

Or they are unbiased and objective.

Ask Belicheck is Ray Lewis is a liability on D...

Liability as compared to who ?? Patrick Willis ??

 

[Ivan]

Anyone that starts a thesis with the words "Ray Lewis a liability on D.." needs their head examined..

What about those who consider a message board post a "thesis?"

 

[RealityCheck52]

What about those who consider a message board post a "thesis?"

Who says you cannot start a thesis on a message board ??

 

[mgcolby]

He's less stout due to injury, but running right at him is also running right at Ngata. Counters to make him chase and passing plays designed to match him up against a RB would be the best way to go.

Ngata hasn't been that good either. I agree with the counters because he is selling out on the misdirection. But there is a reason why Denver felt they could exploit them in the middle. And they could have if they had Mcgahee, Moreno in particular and Hillman to a lesser extent simply did not attack the lanes that were available to them right up the gut.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

just have him match up with anyone on the pats O...anyone...welker...vereen...vollmer out of the backfield...he won't catch them no matter who it is