I saw Lazar pointing to this yesterday.
While it is interesting stuff what always puzzles me is how coaches or even the armchair experts set everything perfectly up by explaining whats going on but then essentially leave out the final act of their own carefully made content which resolves it all: an explanation what could have been done to counter what the opponents were doing.
From that point of view.. anyone have insight into it ?
Roman is as qualified to build a run game as anyone. He's JH's running game Yoda. Used to coach TEs which is heavy all over the place. Seemingly both him & the Ravens have been building towards this for a while. All the while everyone else was focusing on stopping the pass & traditional QBs.
I mentioned the other might but Balt played at peak level. It'll be hard for anyone to stop them at that level. Again They have most unqiue running game in a long time. Multidimensional, w a lot of power. The power was easy to recognize but they can run anything. Easily the most equipped team to attack you that way. And a guy like Roman has been waiting for a guy like Jackson forever.
IOW when their on like that a lot of trail & error.
One of the reasons I brought up tite during the week was it would allow us to 1)clog up A/B gaps but essentially its takes the read away from Lamar if played correctly.
2) doesn't require a full box
Back to 1
I mentioned Balt being unqiue. They are in many ways but they dont mind going up against a stacked box bc their built around bully ball. Dont mind getting heavy & after the 1st level of defense there is no real 2nd level.
Another thing they did which they dont mind was let Lamar read/take on DL'm. It allows some of their best players to get in space immediately & do what they do best. Bully. It's similar to a RB having to make 1 guy miss before hitting his convoy. Lamar has a big advantage, has been doing this a while & again the reward is huge.
So if you play w the strict intentions on certain d & d, controlled aggression which we did at times, tite could take away at times as well. Balt feasted on tite during at least one play the other night I know that. Its certainly not perfect & we might not have the best personnel for it but we could have tried a variation of that. Its risky bc again, obviously you're conceding pass rush but against Lamar you need assassins on the edges to really beat their Ts & him so I definitely wouldn't mind trading off on some plays. Most, zone, IZ/OZ, read is to engage & get you to commit or become over aggressive.
You can also run this from a 34 look as well. Have two 3T w a shaded NT or two 4i & a shade.
I like this in theory bc we have some dogs in the secondary that dont mind getting dirty. You'll need your entire team to give a big time performance all around. Again going back to everyone playing together & on the same page.
Usually you'll have a corner/trap corner w eyes on the QB at all times for a run. We could have changed that I guess to make sure their never outside for example or always outside if you prefer. Just to give you some peace of mind if you dont have a spy or don't want one fprnwe reason.
Essentially the B gap is the most important gap when playing a team like Balt. You
have to account for it every play bc the running game always wants to go through, exploit that gap.
One other look that is risky would be an attacking 335 w 3S. You're playing man so again its risky & daring the QB to beat you but it allows us to have our best players on the field (Lbs/Dbs) & lets do what they do best. We could take off a LB & keep JJ out there as well.
One other thing that is simple been brought up here & online.
1)Pats DL'm weren't in all out fight mode. That's exactly what the Ravens do. Fight you. You HAVE to hit first & decisive. Sounds simple it is but we were just too relaxed out there.
2)I said it the other day but our Lbs had their worst game by far. Another capt obvious but they were on hold half the game. Literally froze at times. These are some of the best in the game. Just not what we're used to.
Bill is focused on this week. W an eye on next week but absolutely has **** up his sleeve for this. We did throw a ton at them from a scheme standpoint but definitely not everything.
Great learning tape for the future for sure.
