Filmstudy

There was a cool "coming out" party for Pierce on the Browns final drive. He played the first 2 snaps, which is very ususual for 2 reasons: 1. You virtually never would see a NT inserted in such a situation, because pass rush contribution is paramount. 2. Those were the first NFL snaps he has ever played without Brandon Williams lined up next to him. Other options to maintain 4-man front included BWill himself, a rested Brent Urban, Guy (who did play the last 4 snaps), or any of the OLBs moved inside. pees chose Pierce. That is statement usage.

This. I just did a piece on Young: http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/09/22/filmstudy/tavon-young-vs-browns/ It's got the results in tabular form which make it really easy to follow with Game Pass (<15 min).

There are reasons to replace Zuttah now, but I don't think it's imminent. He scored as failing (high F) for me vs the Bills, but recovered to a C versus a tough opponent, Danny Shelton in week 2. Based on Urschel's play last year at center I definitely wouldn't see a reason to switch Urschel in at C right now. Jensen might be a better option against bigger opponents, but again, I think we're weeks away. As to Lewis, you're watching a different game than me if you really think he's played poorly. He's been challenged, but graded a C both weeks and I think it's clear he has earned extended leash by his play. Do you folks remember who this team has had as replacements at guard in past years: Gurode, Reid, Harewood, Shipley. THOSE were bad guards. Even Jensen, who showed flashes vs. Pitt last season, played worse at guard last year than Lewis has this year, and it's not close. My articles on RSR are specific about scoring for blocking, but I also started doing a podcast this season on OL grading which you can find here. It's at a 1,000 foot level and the segment on Alex Lewis is between 12:30 and 15:00 and has a significant component related to his mobility. https://audioboom.com/boos/5073794-locked-on-ravens-9-20-16-ken-mckusick-offensive-grades?t=0

This. But I do like the fact that Williams/Pierce/Guy have got the Ravens to 3rd down. And the issue on 3rd down can be addressed (don't read this as "fixed") with a healthy Dumervil and commitment to the dime.

0 targets on 32 snaps in 2 games per the Gamebook snap count methodology. TEs have 196 snaps on 146 plays (same basis), or 1.34 TE snaps per play. That excludes Juice. The TEs should be fresh, because there is serious competition for snaps. Pitta's 9 receptions on Sunday came on just 45 snaps.

He's the centerpiece of the pass rush who they frequently use as the only down lineman in a 6-man front on obvious passing downs. By feel, I'd say Jernigan has been greenlit most of the pass snaps. Versus the Bills, the Ravens used extremely disciplined rush lanes on the inside, almost 2-gapping into the pocket. to contain Taylor. That created slower compression, but was effective nonetheless, because Tyrod was uncomfortable with the containment. Versus the Browns, the Ravens didn't concern themselves with McCown running and left Pierce, Jernigan, and the edge rushers free to rush without constraint that I can see. With what happened to McCown, I think this is a reasonable blueprint against pocket passers. The Browns OL isn't bad and the Ravens beat their starting QB to a pulp with pressure. If I were an OC trying to protect a pocket passer with a mediocre line, I know I'd game plan to reduce the number of knockdowns, even if I had to give up some big plays to do so.

Pierce was indeed dominant. Here is what I wrote in my defensive article: I scored Michael Pierce (18 snaps) for 3 pressure events. He overpowered Joel Bitonio to the outside for his first career sack (Q4, 9:33). He had the first hit on McCown (Q1, 12:30) when he beat Cam Erving and rolled McCown over traffic behind him for one of the hardest QHs you’ll ever see. I was amazed McCown got up from it, but he would endure 7 more knockdowns, most of which were almost as punishing. In a game where the Ravens allowed 6.6 yards per snap as a team, they allowed just 1.7 YPP with Pierce in the game and 8.7 YPP without him. An illuminating coming-of-age moment came on the final drive when Pierce was inserted for the first 2 plays. In that situation, you expect someone who can make a pass rush contribution to be in, which is not normally a NT. In addition, to that point Pierce had never played a snap without Brandon Williams lined up next to him.

I'm not worried about Correa in a Brownian sense just yet. Brown was inactive for 12 of 16 games in 2014 and was active for only 34 of 48 RS games during his tenure. Correa is active and playing ST snaps. He's played reasonably well in PS, but had the misfortune to be outplayed by another rookie OLB, Matt Judon. Kamalei's first chance will probably come due to injury, but I expect he'll have a significantly more impactful defensive career that Arthur Brown.

Outstanding points, Maryland. I agree with every one. Regarding McClellan, Pees has expanded his 2-down edge setting role to a large number of 3rd downs (he played 44 of 59 snaps). Albert is a liability whether rushing the passer or dropping to coverage as he did 10 times (those were not all on 3rd down, but they were all pass plays). The big missing ingredient versus the Browns was the dime. Why practice it, have Levine play so well, then fail to use it against a team that is targeting your LBs in coverage? Levine in for Orr in the dime would have been a big benefit and if the Ravens "defensive versatility" mantra from preseason was true, Orr could stay in at OLB for McClellan. If you want to read more of my complaints about the 3rd/4th down defensive performance, my notes are here: http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/09/19/filmstudy/defensive-notes-vs-browns-week-2-2016/ A couple of highlights: The Browns ran 16 plays on 3rd down/4th down and averaged 11.3 YPP. On the 9 conversions, the average distance to go was 7.0 and the average yards gained was 19.0. The Browns did not simply manufacture a bunch of 3rd and short opportunities and convert a high percentage. These were long attempts and longer conversions. Tavon Young walked out of that 3rd-down cesspool without a mark. He was simply outstanding despite the fact the rest of the defense was awful on the 16 3rd/4th down plays (the bulk of his responsibility set). Young took Hawkins completely out of the game when covering him. I think folks generally saw how dominant Michael Pierce was, but here were my notes on him: I scored Michael Pierce (18 snaps) for 3 pressure events. He overpowered Joel Bitonio to the outside for his first career sack (Q4, 9:33). He had the first hit on McCown (Q1, 12:30) when he beat Cam Erving and rolled McCown over traffic behind him for one of the hardest QHs you’ll ever see. I was amazed McCown got up from it, but he would endure 7 more knockdowns, most of which were almost as punishing. In a game where the Ravens allowed 6.6 yards per snap as a team, they allowed just 1.7 YPP with Pierce in the game and 8.7 YPP without him. An illuminating coming-of-age moment came on the final drive when Pierce was inserted for the first 2 plays. In that situation, you expect someone who can make a pass rush contribution to be in, which is not normally a NT. In addition, to that point Pierce had never played a snap without Brandon Williams lined up next to him. Terrell Suggs blew up 2 run plays in Hall-of-Fame fashion (Q4, 15:00 and Q4, 10:09), in each case making pulling linemen look very bad.

Jensen looked bad in game 2, but recovered to play near perfect ball in the last 2 preseason games. I'm not saying that's enough of a reason for him to replace Zuttah after Jeremy's game improved to OK (a C as I score it) vs. the Browns. I am concerned with the number of missed blocks. Centers never accumulate many, which is one of the reasons why I need separate grading scales by position. He's led the team in missed blocks in each of the first 2 weeks (7 each game) and the reasons are varied (misses in L2, pushed into backfield on runs, failing to make screen blocks, failing to get to a block in time, etc.).

LOL. Now you're talking. The Ravens can't wait for Boyle to come back in week 11 or it could have been his opportunity.

I thought the holding call was ticky tack, but he was trying to hold and drew a quick flag. You can tell from his body language that he knew it, no dispute. I want to say for the record I highly endorse PFF. They have a terrific product and they have greatly shortened the amount of time it takes to recognize outstanding offensive line play with the relativity metrics they offer. I'd say 95% of the time PFF and I (broadly) agree on grading, but we have definitional differences: 1) I put more weight on pass blocking, since those plays have significantly more leverage (impact on win/loss probability). The worst score you can get for a run block is -2, but it's -6 for a sack allowed. PFF scores a -2 to +2 for each play, but keeps separate pass and run blocking scores, which is good. That breaks down when combining into a single score. 2) I divide out all events to fractional responsibility. So if there was 1 sack allowed, I can give 2 players 1/6 and 1 player 2/3, but the fractions have to sum to 1. Unless they have changed their methods in the last 2 seasons, PFF will charge 2 players with a full sack allowed on the same play. Both systems have their merits and I'll often reference that when 2 tackles on opposite sides allow their assignments to reach the QB simultaneously. 3) I charge a lineman for a batted pass by his assignment. Some of those can be avoided by keeping the opponent engaged, so I think it's the better method. PFF doesn't charge a lineman for that. 4) PFF is more lenient with proximity pressure, but I'm tight when a lineman stays square with his assignment, but gets backed up into the area the QB needs to step into his throw. Over the years, I've been in contact with the PFF folks 1-2 times per season and they are absolutely great about taking the time to respond to reasoning for scoring on plays. These proximity pressures are usually a component of differences. 5) My charges for penalties are, effectively, higher than theirs. I charge -3 for every 5 yards, which means a single holding call will drop a tackle a full grade level and a center by about 1.5 grade levels. I've been thinking about reducing the charge for penalties to -2 per 5 yards, which would mean a hold is -4 relative to -6 for a sack (seems more reasonable), but have not done so yet. Because PFF uses a cumulative scoring system, it's more difficult to see the impact of penalties and there is a quote in the "best players at each position" article that minimizes the importance of Yanda's 2 fouls Sunday. The other game I can recall where PFF and I had a big difference was Osemele's first game at guard vs. the Colts in the 2012 WC game. He had an outstanding set of run blocks in that game for which I gave extra credit and it was one of only 3 A+ grades I gave all season (requires adjusted 1.00 points/play). When I originally looked at PFF's scoring they had him scored negatively. In the case of the Ravens, I think it's both fun and useful to make your own judgments about the players on a block-by-block basis. But even if you have the time to do that, there is no substitute for the relativity framework offered by PFF for the rest of the league.

Notice on the Wallace TD freeze, the Ravens have kept in 2 eligibles to block (3 man pattern), but the Bills rushed just 3. The Bills are left with 4 covering 0 underneath. As I scored it, the Bills were able to generate pressure 5 of the 8 times they rushed only 3. It's a good thing this wasn't one of them!

I'd echo the bolded point. Joe was not well protected, but he made good decisions that were related to the situation. For example, the 2 sacks he took on the last FG drive were both good decisions where he maintained the option to throw as long as possible, because he knew the team would be in FG position. I've got some notes/analysis of his time and space in the pocket here: http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/09/13/filmstudy/offensive-line-grades-notes-buffalo/ The high points: The Bills schemed for pressure well and had a varied pass rush by numbers and organization. The Bills created a poor opportunity set for Joe's passes, and Joe exceeded expectations in terms of YPP and did so without a turnover. I'm highly encouraged by the deep balls he threw. The throw to Wallace goes on his career highlight reel, but the more I look at the throw to Perriman, I see a ball dropped in the bucket where only Perriman could make a play on it. It was a good catch, but also a great throw.

I'm results based and include time references in the article on the plays with big deductions for transparency. The penalties were the biggest part. The shared sack (Q4, 13:26) is one I'd like you to look at. I charged that half to Yanda and half Wagner. It was a difficult and deep twist handoff of Hughes and Yanda could not hold it. That play was another -3. Other than that, he had 1/3 of a QH surrendered by Lewis to Kevin Williams (1st play, 2nd drive, 2nd quarter). He also missed 4 blocks, which is higher than normal, including 2 of his 5 pulls. I'm not concerned yet, but he can and should play much better. PFF ranked him as the best RG on Sunday. They were watching a different game from me.

Very cool. Congrats on winning the roster contest.

My offensive line grades are posted on RSR if you are interested: http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/09/13/filmstudy/offensive-line-grades-notes-buffalo/ A below average day for the OL with 4 sacks and 8 QHs (+1 negated by penalty) allowed. Flacco made up for it by being outstanding under pressure.

I'm concerned about Zuttah the pass blocker as well. The entire OL looked bad with 9 QHs (1 was wiped out by RTP, but it still hurt). The eligible receivers also looked like crap as pass blockers. On one hand, the Ryans drew up a lot of blitzes for this game and did a good job of confusing them. On the other, Buffalo doesn't have a top-shelf set of edge rushers, so allowing 4 sacks/8 QHs in 38 drop backs is unacceptable. Flacco had Ample Time and Space (ATS) on just 13 of 38 drop backs. We just finished the OL charting/scoring. My article should post tomorrow.

Correa was active for special teams, which was a positive. Like many NFL players, he'll probably get his first big chance from an injury.

Pees was quoted as saying he prefers coaching from the sidelines and with Leslie Frazier in the booth, he has a colleague with experience to relay calls.

He did not play on defense, but he did play on special teams (16 snaps), and had decent rush on at least 1 punt. BTW, my notes on the defense are up now on RSR if you're interested: http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/09/12/filmstudy/ravens-defense-was-taylor-made/

I wouldn't call the pass rush bad either. I'd say it was good for that QB, because the rush lanes were disciplined and they kept him in the pocket for the most part. One could legiitmately have issues with how often the Ravens converted their successful rushes. That said, I do not believe the Ravens can win with this formula against some of the pocket passers in this league. The defense should and will open it up for a faster rush with higher turnover potential.

Good stuff. It was a very controlled pass rush, but they have to get home more (and convert) when they have that much time to rush.

Not only did they activate him, but he played 14 snaps. All of those were with Williams and the Bills gave up on running the ball in the middle of the field with them in. It's funny, Solomon Wilcotts said the McCoy touchdown was run behind Richie Incognito. It was run outside LT (away from Pierce/Williams), so it had about as much to do with Incognito as el Nino.