Sproles

[BuckWilds]

Is anyone concerned Sproles might get the start vs. our Ravens D? I'd rather face Peyton manning than these pinball backs.

[PIG 20]

Not really. From the line of scrimmage, we should be fine containing the run game. The main thing I worry about are screen passes from Rivers to Sproles.

I just don't see them coming straight at us with a conventional running game.

[Ravnet]

I think that Sproles will gash us significantly as he poses the only real threat.

Think back to our playoff game last year against Tennessee; quick guys like Johnson and Sproles are lethal against our D.

Maybe Mattison's packages are better suited to combat these guys, but we've historically had problems against elusive backs/receivers/returners.

[PuRock]

I'm worried about Sproles against ours special teams. We can't let him set up short fields for the San Diego Chargers. They will make us pay. He's the only reason why the Chargers were able to win that game last night.

From the scrimmage line, I'm not too worried Sproles. We have big guys to take up space, line backers that jump the holes and corners who can close quickly on the outside.

He is my #1 concern. LT will be cooked if he goes in against us, especially since he's behind what is now a banged-up line.

[BuckWilds]

[quote name='Ravnet' date='15 September 2009 - 10:20 AM' timestamp='1253024415' post='235296']
I think that Sproles will gash us significantly as he poses the only real threat.

Think back to our playoff game last year against Tennessee; quick guys like Johnson and Sproles are lethal against our D.

Maybe Mattison's packages are better suited to combat these guys, but we've historically had problems against elusive backs/receivers/returners.
[/quote]

Maybe the base defense will be more effective against the slash attacks.

[PuRock]

[quote name='Ravnet' date='15 September 2009 - 10:20 AM' timestamp='1253024415' post='235296']
Maybe Mattison's packages are better suited to combat these guys, but we've historically had problems against elusive backs/receivers/returners.
[/quote]

I do think we are better equipped this year with the elusive players since we've started Gooden and gotten faster corners.

I think this year we are less equipped for big physical receivers. (i.e. Jackson, Gates)

But I'm thinking Koch better perfect kicking deep balls out of bounds. I don't want Sproles to be fielding punt returns.

[Ravnet]

[quote name='Zhamtao' date='15 September 2009 - 10:21 AM' timestamp='1253024502' post='235298']
Maybe the base defense will be more effective against the slash attacks.
[/quote]

Possibly, but I think the problem is our LBs over-pursuing more than anything else, and that isn't necessarily corrected by a switch in schemes.

We get some extra help this as Landry can tackle much better than Leonhard ever could, but Reed is pretty useless against RBs at this stage in his career, and Fabian in the open field should be illegal.

[Ravnet]

[quote name='PuRock' date='15 September 2009 - 10:24 AM' timestamp='1253024694' post='235302']
I do think we are better equipped this year with the elusive players since we've started Gooden and gotten faster corners. [/quote]

Gooden is very fast to be sure, but he could easily fall into the same trap of over-pursuing, especially because Sproles loves to cut-back and slash; he is like a quicker, more elusive McGahee.
[quote]
But I'm thinking Koch better perfect kicking deep balls out of bounds. I don't want Sproles to be fielding punt returns. [/quote]

Oh man, I didn't even consider that yet; our special teams was underwhelming in almost every aspect last year, and Sproles could do some serious, serious damage in that aspect of the game.

[PuRock]

[quote name='Ravnet' date='15 September 2009 - 10:25 AM' timestamp='1253024747' post='235304']
Gooden is very fast to be sure, but he could easily fall into the same trap of over-pursuing, especially because Sproles loves to cut-back and slash; he is like a quicker, more elusive McGahee.
[/quote]

That has always been the negative part of Gooden's scouting report, over-pursuing.

Well I guess being better equipped doesn't necessarily mean being more effective.

[JEEPercreepermd]

Let's not forget that Sproles is what 5'6? It doesn't take a huge guy to take him down. The only real challenge is dealing with his speed, and hit him HARD! Oakland laid some serious wood on him a few times last night, and by the end of the game he was bobbling the ball all over the place. If we can get penetration by our front 4, our lb's will be all over Sproles, remember that Oakland's LB's were playing like 10 yds deep I doubt you will see Ray &Co give them that much respect

[Wacco4Flacco]

Ed Reed will have his eye on him.

[flynismo]

[quote name='JEEPercreepermd' date='15 September 2009 - 10:40 AM' timestamp='1253025639' post='235320']
Let's not forget that Sproles is what 5'6? It doesn't take a huge guy to take him down. The only real challenge is dealing with his speed, and hit him HARD! Oakland laid some serious wood on him a few times last night, and by the end of the game he was bobbling the ball all over the place. If we can get penetration by our front 4, our lb's will be all over Sproles, remember that Oakland's LB's were playing like 10 yds deep I doubt you will see Ray &Co give them that much respect
[/quote]


Yeah, you beat me to it. We can very well squash this little lightning bug like we have the rest.
I don't know where everyone gets this idea that quick backs eat us up, that is simply not true. We crush Pretty Quick Willie Parker on a regular basis, and we shut down guys like Portis and Westbrook last year. Just because Chris Johnson got lucky on us after we played 17 consecutive weeks and we didn't even have Gregg, Landry and C-Mac doesn't mean diddly. Heck when has Tomlinson, much less Sproles, had any success against us? He wasn't quite as fast as Sproles when he was in his prime, but he was definitely lightning fast and immensely more gifted than Sproles, yet he was never that effective either.
Not trying to overlook SD, but I remember a while back I made a thread about the top 5 Ravens myths, and this should have been on that list.

[die_hard_raven]

I don't think he will hurt us much. He very athletic & elusive but they don't always put him in the best situations. He's not great running between the tackles but he's very good in open space and he does well on special teams.

As long as we don't over persue we will be fine.. That said the D Line should pummell their front line. SD didn't look all that great last night and the injuries with no O-Line dept is going to hurt them badly.

[Ravnet]

[quote name='Wacco4Flacco' date='15 September 2009 - 11:43 AM' timestamp='1253029411' post='235351']
Ed Reed will have his eye on him.
[/quote]

Ed Reed can't tackle anymore, and that isn't even his role anyway.

[wbirkhead]

Yeah, everyone seems to be freaking out that we can't stop quick backs because of 1 game where Chris Johnson torched us. Even in the first game against us last season Johnson carried 18 times for 44 yards. Let's settle down on all this talk about our D struggling against quick backs.

[Guest Moderator8]

[quote name='Ravnet' date='15 September 2009 - 12:27 PM' timestamp='1253032069' post='235379']
Ed Reed can't tackle anymore, and that isn't even his role anyway.
[/quote]

What??? Did I miss something?

[Ravnet]

[quote name='Moderator8' date='15 September 2009 - 01:02 PM' timestamp='1253034141' post='235390']
What??? Did I miss something?
[/quote]

Reed almost gave up a touchdown last week on that long reception by KC; he just can't throw himself at people anymore.

I don't mean to say that Ed is a sub-par tackler, but he isn't used as a RB spy anymore.

[McBurks]

This quick lightning bug will save Rivers and the Chargers' heads in games,we just can't have him running RIGHT UP THE MIDDLE NOT COVERED on pass plays like the Raiders did.They gave him a good 5-7 yards every time their LB's dropped 10 yard's back to stop Gates.

[Steelerkillers]

[quote name='flynismo' date='15 September 2009 - 11:54 AM' timestamp='1253030047' post='235356']
Yeah, you beat me to it. We can very well squash this little lightning bug like we have the rest.
I don't know where everyone gets this idea that quick backs eat us up, that is simply not true. We crush Pretty Quick Willie Parker on a regular basis, and we shut down guys like Portis and Westbrook last year. Just because Chris Johnson got lucky on us after we played 17 consecutive weeks and we didn't even have Gregg, Landry and C-Mac doesn't mean diddly. Heck when has Tomlinson, much less Sproles, had any success against us? He wasn't quite as fast as Sproles when he was in his prime, but he was definitely lightning fast and immensely more gifted than Sproles, yet he was never that effective either.
Not trying to overlook SD, but I remember a while back I made a thread about the top 5 Ravens myths, and this should have been on that list.
[/quote]
Good post bro! I knew someone would expose the truth. Backs are always the least of my concern.

[Slim]

[quote name='Ravnet' date='15 September 2009 - 07:10 PM' timestamp='1253034607' post='235396']
Reed almost gave up a touchdown last week on that long reception by KC; he just can't throw himself at people anymore.

I don't mean to say that Ed is a sub-par tackler, but he isn't used as a RB spy anymore.
[/quote]

In my opinion, Reed is a sure tackler, there are times when u have to stay on ur feet instead of trying to deliver a blow and missing it, and Ed really makes the difference that's why he never misses his big hits and when he's late he stays on his feet and his only goal is to put his opposing player down ! i think he does that pretty well, by not throwing himself on every man but just securing the tackle... there are times to deliver the big hit which he reconizes perfectly and times to secure the tackle, when u try to deliver the hit and u're late u usually finish face on the ground or just get trucked when u're a safety like Reed ! i give credit to Reed for his intelligence and he keeps himself in shape for the rest of the game! There are so many defensive backs in this league that always try to deliver the big blow but they can't help but missing some key tackles that's a risk to take and Ed doesn't take that risk (anymore ?)

[Corvus]

Maybe I'm biased as a Ravens fan, but I see nothing from the Chargers' game last night that should truly worry us. With those two starting linemen out, Ngata, Gregg and our other DTs could possibly have a field day with collapsing that pocket. This is not to take away from Sproles because he can be absolutely electric and his presence can really jolt that offense of theirs. Perhaps it was some week 1 rust that made the Chargers seem very average, but I feel pretty good about us going into Qualcomm this Sunday.

[Jesse Conroy]

Im worried about special teams, but from the line, we should be okay.

[Ravnet]

[quote name='Slim' date='15 September 2009 - 05:09 PM' timestamp='1253048952' post='235548']
In my opinion, Reed is a sure tackler, there are times when u have to stay on ur feet instead of trying to deliver a blow and missing it, and Ed really makes the difference that's why he never misses his big hits and when he's late he stays on his feet and his only goal is to put his opposing player down ! i think he does that pretty well, by not throwing himself on every man but just securing the tackle... there are times to deliver the big hit which he reconizes perfectly and times to secure the tackle, when u try to deliver the hit and u're late u usually finish face on the ground or just get trucked when u're a safety like Reed ! i give credit to Reed for his intelligence and he keeps himself in shape for the rest of the game! There are so many defensive backs in this league that always try to deliver the big blow but they can't help but missing some key tackles that's a risk to take and Ed doesn't take that risk (anymore ?)
[/quote]

A fair point, but I'm not sure you're going to go out of your way to have a "sure tackler" going after RBs.

[macbrak]

Sproles won't have any blocking with two lineman banged up/out, the only ones to run on us last year had tremendous blocking (Giants).

[mhead66]

Even if healthy, LT wouldn't have been the defensive emphasis against the Chargers. First, you must get pressure on Rivers - he completed 67% of his passes, and 4 players had at least 5 receptions - none of them named Tomlinson.

Sproles is the second key, he won't carry the ball 25 times, but he has the ability to break any run into a long one.

Of course, both Nick Hardwick and Louis Vasquez went out with injury... so pressure shouldn't be as great a problem.

[Alexir]

Both their center and left guard are injured from last nights game. I also heard LT was pretty banged up today too. Sproles is fast and a great running back but I rather him start the game as RB against our D than have him doing KR/PR against our Special teams

[BloodRaven]

Sproles is more slippery than fast, and I would only worry about him on returns... our gunners are looking horrible at times.

[Ravnet]

[quote name='BloodRaven' date='15 September 2009 - 08:47 PM' timestamp='1253062036' post='235623']
Sproles is more slippery than fast, and I would only worry about him on returns... our gunners are looking horrible at times.
[/quote]

Our entire special teams unit has looked horrible most of the time under Harbaugh.

I love John as a coach, but the kick/punt returning was atrocious last year; the kicking was pretty damn bad, and remains so; and the gunners aren't particularly good at tracking guys down and simply benefit from Koch booming every single punt.

Koch is a monster, but I'm not prepared to give credit to John for Sam having an insane leg.

[beetus]

Yes, Sproles in the KR/PR aspect does worry me a little, but he's no way durable enough to carry the ball 15+ times, especially against the Ravens' defense, in addition to being behind a broken O-Line.

[LongtimeSDfan]

Hey Ravens Fans -

I thought I would check out your board because admittedly I don't know much about the Ravens this year (other than I look forward to them beating down the Steelers hopefully) - Anyway, I thought I would throw my 2 cents in.

MNF was ugly. Chargers looked horrible at the start (and a few times in the middle and near the end) but I will give some credit to the Raiders who came out with a lot to prove and nothing to lose. Charger fans have gotten greedy with all the success against a floundering Oakland the past several years but division wins on the road are seldom pretty. I'm willing to withhold judgment on how bad this team really is for a couple more weeks but the injuries to the line are a major concern. The RG is a rookie who was making his first start so it's not like losing a pro-bowler but Hardwick could be devastating.

To the topic of this thread, I'm guessing that it won't be Sproles or LT getting the start but Michael Bennett who was kept on the roster for this very reason. Not that you guys should worry about Bennett but he is still a serviceable back and is much more effective between the tackles than Sproles, who excels in open space. Bennett was inactive for MNF otherwise I'm sure he would have came in when LT rolled his ankle.

Sproles will see plenty of action at RB and KR/PR and you can expect to see lots of screen passes and draws with him in. He is exceptionally fast and runs tougher than he looks at 5'6 - With the game on the line against Oakland the last two plays to win it were Sproles left tackle for 5 and Sproles up the middle for 5 and the TD. That is on top of 246 all-purpose yards so I think it safe to say he can be a difference-maker in a game.

I consider the Ravens to be much, much better than the Raiders though so I expect it to be a difficult game for sure.