"The Bengals, ranked 17th in run defense DVOA (football outsider’s efficiency metric) before they played the Ravens, managed to hold the vaunted Ravens offense to only 20 points (Patrick Queen scored a defensive TD on a 53-yard fumble return), which is even more impressive considering the Bengals offense turned the ball over three times.
“(The Bengals) did do something completely different. They were in a true college 4-3 type of look,” head coach John Harbaugh said after the game. “They were playing quarters with the safeties low. They played it in the past but they hadn’t played it yet this year.”
Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo kept his base personnel on the field with three linebackers.
Cincinnati’s linebackers used what’s commonly referred to as “lever, spill, lever” fits to defend the Ravens run game. In the image above, Ricard lined up to the left and led in that direction so all three linebackers flowed that way. The play-side linebacker (farthest left) was the lever player and his job was to get outside and contain the play. The middle linebacker is the “spill” player and his job is to try to get the ball to bounce outside and pursue inside to outside. The backside linebacker (furthest right) is the last “lever” player and his job is to scrape across the formation.
MOFO = Middle OF Field Open as opposed to MOFC = Middle Of Field Closed
