Next up: Denver Broncos

[jazz1988]

It's kinda scary to knowing it's possible The Ravens will be going to Denver with just four health cornerbacks.

[January J]

I think since Melvin is doubtful there's a good chance we pull up Asa from the ps for cb depth. They still haven't stated who will be the kick returner on Sunday, and I actually think Asa may end up doing it after all, with camp returning punts. Not sure how I would feel about that.

Edited September 11, 2015 by January J

[Purple_City39]

Pees doesn't assign coverage techniques on a play. He gives his players the freedom to play to their comfort level. If you go back and watch Ravens Wired from the Pats game you see Spagz on the sidelines asking his DBs are they sacred of the Pats WRs because they werw playing so far off. He said if they don't get up on the WRs Pees would be forced to play zone all night.

I'm glad someone pointed this out.  Most DC's don't say "play 10 yards off the LoS".  They assign plays.  The CB on that play knows if he has over the top help, inside help, etc and plays the coverage how they choose presnap (ie off man, press).  Jimmy plays up on the line a lot, because that's what he likes but he also plays off by choice on certain plays, especially if he has no over the top help.

 

Y'all gotta stop blaming everything on Pees.  He's not aggressive but everything isn't on him. 

[BmoreBird22]

Yep I 100% agree with you.  I'm surprised that they got rid of John Fox when their offense was on fire for every year that Peyton has been on the team, but I think they assume Manning will retire next year and wanted some continuity with Kubiak already over there.

 

This isn't saying that a Kubiak scheme w/ Manning under center isn't going to work, just that the Broncos are looking to the future with Kubiak as their HC with a backup QB on the roster that is a far better fit for running a full on Kubes west coast scheme.

I think the timing just really aligned perfectly with all the Peyton retiring/trade rumors.

I'm sure John Fox will be a welcome addition to the Bears staff at the very least

[rmcjacket23]

He's 39 and showed significant signs of decline with his arm toward the end of last season. He had a bum hamstring last season, can't feel his fingers, and had major neck surgery a few years ago that is likely taking its toll on his strength. I can't even imagine why they'd think he would have retired last season.

Well, from the other side...

 

1. A bum hamstring they'd expect to heal

2. He hasn't felt his fingers since the surgery, and has averaged about 5,000 yards and 44 TDs a season without feeling his fingers. I don't think they feel that's a big production issue at this point.

 

To put it simply, either he retires when he wants to, or he's probably going to have a much, much, much larger decline in production to warrant the Broncos thinking he is going to leave.

[Static]

No Perrimen or Lorenzo.

 

Our offense is currently depleted. 

[Sami84]

with jernigan doubtful i'm very very concerned..

 

i don't think we will get to manning and our dbs will play off 8 yards and he will just toy with us

[Purple_City39]

No Perrimen or Lorenzo.

 

Our offense is currently depleted. 

I don't think not having a rookie WR or a backup RB depletes our entire offense.

[wizard1]

It's kinda scary to knowing it's possible The Ravens will be going to Denver with just four health cornerbacks.

 

Be afraid be very afraid.

 

Better be equally concerned on the other side of the ball.

[Cillmatic]

Madden apparently predicted us to win this game.

[Ravensfan23]

I'm glad someone pointed this out.  Most DC's don't say "play 10 yards off the LoS".  They assign plays.  The CB on that play knows if he has over the top help, inside help, etc and plays the coverage how they choose presnap (ie off man, press).  Jimmy plays up on the line a lot, because that's what he likes but he also plays off by choice on certain plays, especially if he has no over the top help.

 

Y'all gotta stop blaming everything on Pees.  He's not aggressive but everything isn't on him.

Yea it's just easy to blame Pees for every fault of the defense. More often theb not Pees has his defense in position to beat every offense we've played. Even if you go back to the Pats game last season or the Denver game in 2013, in both gamea Pees' defense gave those offenses fits on the first half. The issue became not having the talent to finish the deal in the 2nd half. Imo

[ravensdfan]

I'm glad someone pointed this out.  Most DC's don't say "play 10 yards off the LoS".  They assign plays.  The CB on that play knows if he has over the top help, inside help, etc and plays the coverage how they choose presnap (ie off man, press).  Jimmy plays up on the line a lot, because that's what he likes but he also plays off by choice on certain plays, especially if he has no over the top help.

 

Y'all gotta stop blaming everything on Pees.  He's not aggressive but everything isn't on him. 

No they don't say play 10 yds off but the aggressive or non-aggressive nature comes through to the players. Besides, when it is ALL of them I don't buy that Pees has nothing to do with it. When it goes on all game and does not change, I do not buy that Pees has nothing to do with it. If that is the case and he can't say "hey, tighten up that coverage some" and be listened to then why is he even here?  That tells me that communication is not happening.

[Ravensfan23]

I'm glad someone pointed this out.  Most DC's don't say "play 10 yards off the LoS".  They assign plays.  The CB on that play knows if he has over the top help, inside help, etc and plays the coverage how they choose presnap (ie off man, press).  Jimmy plays up on the line a lot, because that's what he likes but he also plays off by choice on certain plays, especially if he has no over the top help.

 

Y'all gotta stop blaming everything on Pees.  He's not aggressive but everything isn't on him.

Yea it's just easy to blame Pees for every fault of the defense. More often theb not Pees has his defense in position to beat every offense we've played. Even if you go back to the Pats game last season or the Denver game in 2013, in both gamea Pees' defense gave those offenses fits on the first half. The issue became not having the talent to finish the deal in the 2nd half. Imo

[jazz1988]

with jernigan doubtful i'm very very concerned..

 

i don't think we will get to manning and our dbs will play off 8 yards and he will just toy with us

 

I like Jernigan and all but since when has he  become a game changer? I'm not sure if he has established him self as one just yet. 

[jazz1988]

Be afraid be very afraid.

 

Better be equally concerned on the other side of the ball.

 

I'm not that afraid but  just concerned a little since our starting corners have trouble staying healthy. I honestly think our secondary will play fine but we shall see.

[Cillmatic]

I like Jernigan and all but since when has he become a game changer? I'm not sure if he has established him self as one just yet.

He was a beast whenever he played last season. Was rated a top 5 DE according to PFF. He provides inside pass pressure that we so desperately need in this game.

[The Raven]

Pees doesn't assign coverage techniques on a play. He gives his players the freedom to play to their comfort level. If you go back and watch Ravens Wired from the Pats game you see Spagz on the sidelines asking his DBs are they sacred of the Pats WRs because they werw playing so far off. He said if they don't get up on the WRs Pees would be forced to play zone all night.

 

Hell, maybe that's the problem. Maybe he needs to tell them what to do.

[Cillmatic]

Hearing what the teams saying about Webb makes a little happy. It SOUNDS like he's good to go. Hope he knows how to press.

[Ravensfan23]

Hell, maybe that's the problem. Maybe he needs to tell them what to do.

Maybe...but a guy playing press who doesn't have the confidence to play press or even man is useless. He'll get beat all day. The good news is, both Jimmy and Kyle play with a ton of confidence and Melvin appears to be playing with a lot more confidence this year. If Webb can mentally get over his injuries and trust his body he should be able to stick with guys this year as well.

[Ravensfan23]

Hearing what the teams saying about Webb makes a little happy. It SOUNDS like he's good to go. Hope he knows how to press.

Why? Webb isn't a press CB. He's more of a finesse guy who wants to use quickness and technique while play tight and off man. If Webb is trying to jam at the LOS he's actually putting himself at a disadvantage.

[Cillmatic]

Why? Webb isn't a press CB. He's more of a finesse guy who wants to use quickness and technique while play tight and off man. If Webb is trying to jam at the LOS he's actually putting himself at a disadvantage.

Because without pressing we'll probably lose the game. The Broncos game plan is gonna be Short-medium ranged throws. Best way to defend a short pass is by pressing. Chances of stopping s 7 yards pass is pretty hard when you're playing 20 yards back.

[Purple_City39]

Because without pressing we'll probably lose the game. The Broncos game plan is gonna be Short-medium ranged throws. Best way to defend a short pass is by pressing. Chances of stopping s 7 yards pass is pretty hard when you're playing 20 yards back.

Nah, Webb is actually best against those short passes without pressing.  He can use his speed and quickness, when healthy, along with understanding of a play to jump routes to defend passes, or make immediate tackles to stop yac.  Webb is not big enough physical enough to be a press corner and, sadly, I don't think he possess good enough recovery at this stage of his career should a press fail.

[Purple_City39]

No they don't say play 10 yds off but the aggressive or non-aggressive nature comes through to the players. Besides, when it is ALL of them I don't buy that Pees has nothing to do with it. When it goes on all game and does not change, I do not buy that Pees has nothing to do with it. If that is the case and he can't say "hey, tighten up that coverage some" and be listened to then why is he even here?  That tells me that communication is not happening.

I still disagree.  CBs are going to play how they are most comfortable.  Under Rex, Samari Rolle played 4-5 yards more often than not and played press as often as he played 7-10 yards back.  But outside of that Panthers game against Smitty (that he was incorrectly blamed for), he never really got beat because he was good at how he played.

 

In 2011 with Pagano, Webb rarely played 7-10 yards back but he played between 3-5 yards more than anything and only really played up on the line on short yardage situations or when he slid to the slot receiver, yet he covered at a high level so there were no complaints.  Rewatch a few games last season and see how many times Jimmy played back from the line.  He still wasn't getting beat so everyone loved him.  

 

We see what we focus on.  If you're focusing on the belief that the CBs play off all the time, you'll "see" that but won't see when they don't.  On another NFL board, the Steelers fans were talking about this same thing, saying they played 10 yards back all night on Gronk.  Meanwhile, reality shows that when they actually covered him, they had people on the line often and still got beat.

[jazz1988]

He was a beast whenever he played last season. Was rated a top 5 DE according to PFF. He provides inside pass pressure that we so desperately need in this game.

 

I'm not saying  the guy isn't a good player but he's just in his second season. PFF consider him as sleeper player this year and you don't call a player that's made a name for himself a sleeper in my opinion. If any thing  The Broncos offensive tackles seem like the weakness part of their offensive line.

[Ravensfan23]

Because without pressing we'll probably lose the game. The Broncos game plan is gonna be Short-medium ranged throws. Best way to defend a short pass is by pressing. Chances of stopping s 7 yards pass is pretty hard when you're playing 20 yards back.

You can play close to a WR without pressing. If Webb who isn't a press CB overextends him trying to jam a guy at the LOS then he'll open himself up to be beat at the LOS and it won't matter if its a short pass or not.

Some of you guys act as if the playoff game was the first time these players and this team have seen a quick passing offense. The defense has traditionally had success with both Brady and Peyton using those quick strikes and press coverage wasn't and still isn't the fix all. Before the playoff game that seems to stick in everyone's mind, Brady sucked vs the Ravens and it's not because all the CBs pressed. In fact the Pats needed to pull out trick plays(named after the Ravens) to finally get the offense going.

Playing press isn't always the answer, especially for a guy who isn't comfortable pressing. In fact playing off man with about a 5 yard cushion while trying to get quick pressure is usually the way to contain Peyton, not press. This isn't Madden football where press coverage stops all short passes. If the defense does a good job of keeping things in front of them, driving on quick routes and making the TACKLE, they will be fine.

[Gordo52]

I wish you guys the best this season Raven fans. Hope you have a good year

You too.... We're a popular matchup this season. Jordy going down breaks my heart. Edited September 11, 2015 by Gordo52

[Gordo52]

Ravens: 28

Broncos: 23

Joe, Forsett, Gilmore, Jimmy, Doom & Williams all have big games. Gut feeling we win in both trenches.

[Papa-pwn]

Thats all fanfiction.

Peyton Manning has a no-trade clause in his contract. Elway knows it, the whole FO knows it. It was part of his terms when signed.

That clause was added when he restructured his contract this offseason. Prior to that he was tradable and Denver wisely explored that option.

[Ravensfan23]

No they don't say play 10 yds off but the aggressive or non-aggressive nature comes through to the players. Besides, when it is ALL of them I don't buy that Pees has nothing to do with it. When it goes on all game and does not change, I do not buy that Pees has nothing to do with it. If that is the case and he can't say "hey, tighten up that coverage some" and be listened to then why is he even here? That tells me that communication is not happening.

Can we please stop with the talk of the CBs played too far off in that game. First of all it's just not true, secondly it makes it sound like you didn't even watch the game, you just saw guys making catches in space and assume the guys are playing off all game.

The Ravens defense played coverage no different in that game then they did the previous year against the Pats. The difference in this game was a guy in Melvin who shouldn't have been starting, a banged up secondary that had Safeties playing CB when they should have been and no answer for Gronk, which nobody does. That's it. Yes there were times when Melvin and couple other guys played too soft in coverage but not an unusal amount of time. Pees called an effective game, execution and being taken advantage of with trick plays on a patch work defense were the bigger issues.

The defense will need to tackle well, execute the defense and take advantage of the 1 or 2 mistakes Peyton usually makes against the Ravens. If they can do that, they'll be fine.

[BmoreBird22]

Well, from the other side...

1. A bum hamstring they'd expect to heal

2. He hasn't felt his fingers since the surgery, and has averaged about 5,000 yards and 44 TDs a season without feeling his fingers. I don't think they feel that's a big production issue at this point.

To put it simply, either he retires when he wants to, or he's probably going to have a much, much, much larger decline in production to warrant the Broncos thinking he is going to leave.

Look at the final seven weeks of the season including the playoff game to see how much he dropped off in comparison to 2012 or 2013. He looked very pedestrian after a very hot start. And not even just the stats, but Manning just looked worn out and his arm was shot. I'd say that's a pretty big decline.

So much in fact that Archie Manning told the media that he wasn't sure whether Peyton would return for another year and he was really grappling with it. John Elway also declined to comment on his status in February.

I also assume it's a huge coincidence that Kubiak happened to get hired in February, around the time that Manning was going to retire. Why fire the old regime that had a pretty good track record with Manning to start over fresh with Manning for possibly one year?

I wasn't saying that the hamstring, which was apparently a quad injury, would linger. I was pointing out that he'll likely face more injuries like that in the future and it's going to take its toll. The feeling in his fingers stems from the neck surgery and he won't ever have feeling in his fingers again, but that could get worse if Manning were to be hit in the head/neck region or to take a shot the wrong way.

But, hey, who doesn't want a 40 year old Peyton Manning who throws lame ducks and can't move well in space?