Next up: Denver Broncos

[Sami84]

I'll be very disappointed if no one in the secondary has the guts to jump the DINK and Dunk route. Its infuriating and I'm tried of the lack of playmakers in our secondary.

 

We know whats coming..time to get picks

[JoeyFlex5]

I'll be very disappointed if no one in the secondary has the guts to jump the DINK and Dunk route. Its infuriating and I'm tried of the lack of playmakers in our secondary.

 

We know whats coming..time to get picks

for once i agree with you. if they cant run the ball on us, then that leaves them with 1 option to beat us, dink and dunk, were not facing the patriots who have gronk and brady who can still throw it deep, were facing DT, owen daniels, and some no-names who probably wont run a route deeper than 10 yards unless as a decoy, we cant let cj anderson run wild on screens, and we need to jump those 10 yarders. 

 

our top 3 corners are wiley veterans, the kind of guys who should absolutely know what routes are coming once they get settled in. will hill needs to make his presence felt and keep peyton shook up the way ed reed kept brady shook up. i wanna see will hill mixing it up on every throw within a 10 yard radius, let peyton know that no matter where he throws it he has a good cb and an elite safety covering it. 

 

what worries me the most is if the run game gets going, or if they spread it out and we are forced to use guys that shouldnt see the field, after our top 3 cb's the dropoff in talent is pretty absurd. hopefully kubiaks new playbook keeps a TE, 2WRs, and a RB on the field so we can play with a base defense.

[757RavensFan]

Interesting perspective on how the Ravens are going to deal with the altitude changes. Harbs stated that they've done a lot of studies and it best to play within 24 hrs after arriving in Denver. Your body deals better within that first 24 hrs and that's why they're traveling tomorrow and not today.

[JoeyFlex5]

so, now that perriman is officially ruled out... 

 

is maxx williams back? will campanaro be 100% or close to it? 

 

assuming everyone but perriman plays for us, who is our offense gonna lean on? potential breakout players? x factors? etc.. 

 

i was rather impressed with marlon brown in his preseason return, but he is a 3 year vet in the 4th preseason game, so thats not telling, however, as someone who has talked negatively about brown this offseason, he did show some growth even though it was against practice squad caliber guys. i would love to see him working the seam against a tj wardless broncos secondary and using that big body to roll down the middle of the field and impose the will. 

 

i expect our TE's and 3rd WR to be the star of this game if we want to win,with chris harris and aqib talib out there, its tough to say our top 2 guys will do much, im sure smitty will get his, but if aiken is squared up against either of those guys i think he becomes a non factor, so the question of the day becomes, who can exploit the middle of the field most effectively, and what kind of playbook will we use to exploit it, 2TE sets? a slot receiver? designed dumpoffs?

 

also i wanna make a bold statement here.. i think buck allen looks like a NFL caliber runningback in this game after a disappointing preseason, maybe he shakes off some jitters and has a productive 2nd half.

[JoeyFlex5]

Interesting perspective on how the Ravens are going to deal with the altitude changes. Harbs stated that they've done a lot of studies and it best to play within 24 hrs after arriving in Denver. Your body deals better within that first 24 hrs and that's why they're traveling tomorrow and not today.

i believe we did this in the playoffs as well and it worked 100%

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

My prediction: The game will be high scoring and close. Ravens fans will complain about the lack of pressure despite the fact that Peyton gets the ball out quicker than any QB in the NFL. However, the running game of denver will not be a major factor sans for maybe one large run of 20 yards. While Lewis is a mediocre saftey, he and Will Hill will make it a little harder for Peyton than it has been for him vs us in years past. Suggs and Doom will be able to retain adaquate pressure, and our coverage backers will do a more than adaquate job on Owen Daniels.

As for the offense, Miller, Jackson, and Ware pose a problem pass rushing wise, but three men(unless you somehow have three JJ Watts) cannot shut down an entire team's running offense. Forsett is going to get a lot of touches this game. We will not go deep. We might send SSR deep on a play action play or two, but overall our passing offense will consist of us going over the middle with Crockett, checkdowns to Forsette, slants to SSR, and maybe a few things here or there with Juice. We will not be a sexy offense. But we should be able to move the ball.

42-38 Ravens. Very close game.

[MTRavensFan]

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

And wasn't that restructure really just a way of forcing Peyton to taken pay cut?

I believe Elway was trying to force Manning out at that point, and the intention all along was to implement Kubiak's system for Osweiler. Manning forced their hand and now they're stuck trying to run a hybrid. Should get real interesting as the season wears on.

[omar586]

for once i agree with you. if they cant run the ball on us, then that leaves them with 1 option to beat us, dink and dunk, were not facing the patriots who have gronk and brady who can still throw it deep, were facing DT, owen daniels, and some no-names who probably wont run a route deeper than 10 yards unless as a decoy, we cant let cj anderson run wild on screens, and we need to jump those 10 yarders. 

 

our top 3 corners are wiley veterans, the kind of guys who should absolutely know what routes are coming once they get settled in. will hill needs to make his presence felt and keep peyton shook up the way ed reed kept brady shook up. i wanna see will hill mixing it up on every throw within a 10 yard radius, let peyton know that no matter where he throws it he has a good cb and an elite safety covering it. 

 

what worries me the most is if the run game gets going, or if they spread it out and we are forced to use guys that shouldnt see the field, after our top 3 cb's the dropoff in talent is pretty absurd. hopefully kubiaks new playbook keeps a TE, 2WRs, and a RB on the field so we can play with a base defense.

i wouldn't underestimate the broncos, dont forget they have sanders too, so,...

[gooftroop]

so, now that perriman is officially ruled out... 

 

is maxx williams back? will campanaro be 100% or close to it? 

 

assuming everyone but perriman plays for us, who is our offense gonna lean on? potential breakout players? x factors? etc.. 

 

i was rather impressed with marlon brown in his preseason return, but he is a 3 year vet in the 4th preseason game, so thats not telling, however, as someone who has talked negatively about brown this offseason, he did show some growth even though it was against practice squad caliber guys. i would love to see him working the seam against a tj wardless broncos secondary and using that big body to roll down the middle of the field and impose the will. 

 

i expect our TE's and 3rd WR to be the star of this game if we want to win,with chris harris and aqib talib out there, its tough to say our top 2 guys will do much, im sure smitty will get his, but if aiken is squared up against either of those guys i think he becomes a non factor, so the question of the day becomes, who can exploit the middle of the field most effectively, and what kind of playbook will we use to exploit it, 2TE sets? a slot receiver? designed dumpoffs?

 

also i wanna make a bold statement here.. i think buck allen looks like a NFL caliber runningback in this game after a disappointing preseason, maybe he shakes off some jitters and has a productive 2nd half.

I hope we don't stop throwing deep. I don't think we can match the Broncos 14-play drive for 14-play drive...

[JoeyFlex5]

i wouldn't underestimate the broncos, dont forget they have sanders too, so,...

sanders lives deep, i mean he is certainly capable of making plays in the short and intermediate range, but without the threat of a deep ball he suddenly because a lot less concerning.

[Cillmatic]

Darren Waller might be useful in this game, his 4.46 speed and 6'6 size would be great against Denver CB's. I hope they give him a shot, we'll need all we can get. Also hoping for classic Marlon Brown to return.

[Guest]

sanders lives deep, i mean he is certainly capable of making plays in the short and intermediate range, but without the threat of a deep ball he suddenly because a lot less concerning.

 

Well, hes not an Antonio Brown....but he makes plenty of intermediate grabs that go for mega yards. Frankly I'm scared to death of him.

 

That said, I believe Manning is on his very last leg.  We need to bull rush him.   "The quarterback must go down and he must go down hard.".......name the source!

[Guest]

My prediction: The game will be high scoring and close. Ravens fans will complain about the lack of pressure despite the fact that Peyton gets the ball out quicker than any QB in the NFL. However, the running game of denver will not be a major factor sans for maybe one large run of 20 yards. While Lewis is a mediocre saftey, he and Will Hill will make it a little harder for Peyton than it has been for him vs us in years past. Suggs and Doom will be able to retain adaquate pressure, and our coverage backers will do a more than adaquate job on Owen Daniels.

As for the offense, Miller, Jackson, and Ware pose a problem pass rushing wise, but three men(unless you somehow have three JJ Watts) cannot shut down an entire team's running offense. Forsett is going to get a lot of touches this game. We will not go deep. We might send SSR deep on a play action play or two, but overall our passing offense will consist of us going over the middle with Crockett, checkdowns to Forsette, slants to SSR, and maybe a few things here or there with Juice. We will not be a sexy offense. But we should be able to move the ball.

42-38 Ravens. Very close game.

 

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't believe we have 42 points in us for this game.  We will need 28 to win.

[JoeyFlex5]

Darren Waller might be useful in this game, his 4.46 speed and 6'6 size would be great against Denver CB's. I hope they give him a shot, we'll need all we can get. Also hoping for classic Marlon Brown to return.

this may sound absolutely insane but i wouldnt mind seeing this happen...

 

get waller in the slot, not to be a possession receiver(what a waste) but to fly down the seam early and often, test the hell out of their backup safety, waller may struggle with press coverage but if he sees your average nickel corner(which he likely will in this formation) then he shouldnt have to worry about much about press coverage as he can bullrush his way through those little guys. and if denver decides to slide talib or harris inside to deal with him, that leaves one of our outside guys to either find a soft spot in the zone, or on a island with nickel db in the exterior. i like our chances in that scenario. 

 

i think the gameplan this week in terms of passing, is all about manipulating formations to get the best matchup, against a defense like denvers you really need to force subs and keep them changing assignments, you cant let harris and talib settle in and focus on one guy for the whole game, bring out some headscratching formations, put a TE on the exterior, run a wishbone backfield, put a burner in the slot, run bootleg keepers, designed "broken" plays(like the steelers used to do so effectively) etc. i dont think we will stand a chance calling a vanilla offense, we need tons of variety to create favorable matchups for guys like sss and crockett

[ravensdfan]

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.

I wasn't referencing that game. I did not know we were talking specifics at that point. Pick a game: Chargers perhaps? Once we go to that soft coverage - if we weren't there in the beginning - we stay there. It isn't one guy because that is how he is comfortable - it is all of them.

 

Say what you like but if you watch both Pats games back to back (yes I did so) the coverage was NOT the same.

 

We play soft coverage all game we will get annihilated.

[ravensdfan]

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.

Again you are proving what I said pretty much. I said I don't buy it because it isn't just one guy  - it is all of them. Then you go on to reference what this one guy did and that one guy did. It wasn't the entire DB corps. I know there is a risk of playing press and I don't expect that to be a "thing" we do all the time. But if you want soft coverage in the back end then you'd better be more aggressive with your pass rush. You can't be soft on both and many times (yes, not all) that is what we get with Pees.

[TXRavensFan]

Well, if you're going to use the argument of September Joe vs January Joe (therefore using past history) then also look into week 1 Joe.  Joe has been pretty good in season openers since his rookie season (minus the Jets 2010 game).  Since 09, he's 11 TDs to 5 INTs which of course includes the 0 TD/1 INT Jets game mentioned.  If we're going to focus on Peyton's past and Joe's past let's properly do so.

 

Also, mentioning how Peyton played doesn't take age into consideration.  Doesn't take into consideration that he's never had a problem feeling his fingers.  Doesn't take into consideration that past OCs let me have more control that Kubiak seems to be letting him have this year.

 

 

I know I'm a bit late to this thread, but to back up your argument a bit, since 2008, the Ravens are 17-7 in September games under Flacco; Peyton Manning's teams are 14-6 during the same period.

[Ravensfan23]

I wasn't referencing that game. I did not know we were talking specifics at that point. Pick a game: Chargers perhaps? Once we go to that soft coverage - if we weren't there in the beginning - we stay there. It isn't one guy because that is how he is comfortable - it is all of them.

 

Say what you like but if you watch both Pats games back to back (yes I did so) the coverage was NOT the same.

 

We play soft coverage all game we will get annihilated.

Who were the CBs for the Chargers game again? Jimmy Smith doesn't change the way he covers, Webb doesn't change the way he covers. You watch those guys play and you see the difference in the way they are playing opposed to the guy on the other side of them? However when you have guys like Danny Gorrer, Cason and Melvin who are thrust into the starting lineup within weeks of joining the team you are gonna have guys playing off so they don't get beat at times. Call me crazy but that's to be expected when you have guys who weren't even good enough to make your or anyone elses roster.

Jimmy Smith, Kyle Arrington and Webb have no issue with playing up in man or off man so you'll see them play their man according to what they're comfortable with. Again going back to the AFCCG, the coverage calls from Pees were the same. The difference came in the talent and familiarity in the back end. Instead of having safeties and young players covering the Pats WRs you had, Corey Graham who was with the team all year and comfortable, you had Cary Williams with the team all season, you had Pollard and Reed on the back end and who was the guy playing the most off coverage? Chykie Brown. Those other guys were vets and comfortable in comfortable in their roles, last year you had a bunch of Chykie Brown caliber players who got exposed at times during the season.

[sflegend89]

Darren Waller might be useful in this game, his 4.46 speed and 6'6 size would be great against Denver CB's. I hope they give him a shot, we'll need all we can get. Also hoping for classic Marlon Brown to return.

 

I hope he get's some burn in this game, obviously he will be a situational receiver but I think it's important to get him involved early this year. The Steelers had a lot of success fast tracking Martavis Bryant's development by throwing him into the fire and letting him figure it out. I want to see use use Waller in a similar fashion, don't baby him, let him go out there and show us what he can do and get some growing pains over with. Let him deal with getting jammed by a guy like Talib, let him fight for balls down the field, let him earn Joe's trust. If Waller can be a factor late in the year that is a huge boost to our offense, especially in the redzone.

 

Our buddies in Pittsburgh gave us the blueprint last year with Bryant, give him plenty of reps and don't try to make him into a full route tree type of WR his rookie year. Let him do the things he's good at like running streaks/deep posts and let him win jump balls in the red zone when he's isolated on the outside 1 on 1. Even if you treat him like a bit of a one trick pony he will get pretty damn good at that one trick and it's effective. Once he get's the easy stuff down using his height/jumping he can refine his route tree more going forward.

Edited September 12, 2015 by sflegend89

[ravensdfan]

Who were the CBs for the Chargers game again? Jimmy Smith doesn't change the way he covers, Webb doesn't change the way he covers. You watch those guys play and you see the difference in the way they are playing opposed to the guy on the other side of them? However when you have guys like Danny Gorrer, Cason and Melvin who are thrust into the starting lineup within weeks of joining the team you are gonna have guys playing off so they don't get beat at times. Call me crazy but that's to be expected when you have guys who weren't even good enough to make your or anyone elses roster.

Jimmy Smith, Kyle Arrington and Webb have no issue with playing up in man or off man so you'll see them play their man according to what they're comfortable with. Again going back to the AFCCG, the coverage calls from Pees were the same. The difference came in the talent and familiarity in the back end. Instead of having safeties and young players covering the Pats WRs you had, Corey Graham who was with the team all year and comfortable, you had Cary Williams with the team all season, you had Pollard and Reed on the back end and who was the guy playing the most off coverage? Chykie Brown. Those other guys were vets and comfortable in comfortable in their roles, last year you had a bunch of Chykie Brown caliber players who got exposed at times during the season.

I have no issue with off man coverage, it is the amount of cushion given that becomes a problem. With a team like Denver, they will kill you with it.

Everyone wants the same thing - we won't get it if we are giving up a 6-10 yd cushion every play. Especially if we are not more aggressive with pass rush - you cannot have soft coverage on the back end and be passive in the rush as well. It is something we see from Pees at times.

[ratedr]

After Serena lost I need a Ravens win to comfort me. But with no Perriman and no Jernigan I'm preparing myself for more disappointment this weekend. Though I haven't seen much of the Broncos, so I don't know what to expect. But on paper this is a Broncos blowout, they have the advantage nearly everywhere. We'll see. Would be great to steal a win, @OAK and vs CIN are tough follow ups.

Edited September 12, 2015 by ratedr

[Guest]

After Serena lost I need a Ravens win to comfort me. But with no Perriman and no Jernigan I'm preparing myself for more disappointment this weekend. Though I haven't seen much of the Broncos, so I don't know what to expect. But on paper this is a Broncos blowout, they have the advantage nearly everywhere. We'll see. Would be great to steal a win, @OAK and vs CIN are tough follow ups.

 

There's several key variables.   Defensively we must get enough pressure to move Manning in the pocket, he can't deliver a ball any longer without good balance and weight shift.  Move him, make him adjust a throw and we're nearly home.

 

Secondly, like Br*dy he loves the Dink Game. We need to cover tight. Laying 10 yards off is suicide. Fortunately it sounds like Melvin is out.  Our Safeties will also have to rise to the occasion if we press.

 

Offensively, we will need a couple of big plays. Not sure who is going to contribute them, but I have my favorites.

 

That's my recipe, we'll see what our coaches decide.

[Cillmatic]

Steve's likely to be shutdown for most of the game. Apparently Brandon Marshall is one of the best cover linebacker in the league and we won't be able to run outside the tackles without being being DESTROYED. I don't like our odds.

Wonder how different things would be if we traded with the Bears for Brandon Marshal the receiver.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Cillmatic

[3-4ravdef509]

Well, it was a nice relaxing offseason for me, spent just watching all of you guys from afar. Now with 1 day left before kickoff, I shall once again enter the fray! 

 

As is with all offseason banter (which is why I don't participate), predicting the result of this game is pretty much a shot in the dark because we've yet to see either team play meaningful football. 

 

To me, this game falls to our receiving core and our ability to stop the run on defense. Do we have enough firepower on offense for Joe to move the ball? And without Ngata, will our run defense hold up to a Kubiak led rushing attack? Our familiarity with Kubiak vs. His familiarity with us is kind of a wash.

 

I feel like we're going to be a late blooming team this year. I think we make the playoffs and possible win the division. But I don't see us winning this game. Not that we can't, or that I won't be rooting my hardest. I'm excited to see the youth in this team step up to the plate. But my head tells me that Denver is the pick as far as winning this one game is concerned.

 

Denver 27, Ravens 20

[Ravensfan23]

I have no issue with off man coverage, it is the amount of cushion given that becomes a problem. With a team like Denver, they will kill you with it.

Everyone wants the same thing - we won't get it if we are giving up a 6-10 yd cushion every play. Especially if we are not more aggressive with pass rush - you cannot have soft coverage on the back end and be passive in the rush as well. It is something we see from Pees at times.

Again we see it from Pees because of the personnel he's forced to use in his defense. Is it an attack, attack attack defense? No there's a lot of bend but don't break. But when you have guys like Smith, Webb and Arrington all healthy you'll see the defense run at it's best. Pees gives his DBs the freedom to play to their comfort level be it starter or backup. You will rarely see backup guys who aren't as familiar with the defense playing as aggressive nor as fast because they don't wanna make the big mistake. However i don't expect to see that this game. All of these guys have faced Peyton, DT, Sanders and that system before. Those guys should play more comfortable and aggressive then the guys we got off the street last year. There may be some miscommunication with Lewis and Arrington being new but for the most part these guys should be comfortable with each other and those stunts and blitz that Pees like to call should have a highers success rate because none of our DBs should have a fear of getting beat.

[January J]

Madden apparently predicted us to win this game.

so did the real "swami "- like any of that actually matters. Edited September 12, 2015 by January J

[January J]

Anybody know why Daryl smith and Chris canty were listed on the injury report? Saw something that said NIR which I'm assuming means non injury related but it said their status is "probable"...

Still torn on whether we should let Timmy go- I guess id leave it up to him, although sometimes players let their competitiveness get in the way of their brain.

[January J]

Also the fact that Lorenzo was practicing yesterday is a good sign he may actually be ready for week 2- which I don't think many of us expected.

[RavensPunkXVX]

I just hope the receivers can get separation. It's hard to watch when the protection is there, but there's nobody to throw to.

Manning will for sure hit those 5-6 yard passes all day. I think it'll be a close game. Manning won't drop 7 touchdowns again.

[January J]

this may sound absolutely insane but i wouldnt mind seeing this happen...

get waller in the slot, not to be a possession receiver(what a waste) but to fly down the seam early and often, test the hell out of their backup safety, waller may struggle with press coverage but if he sees your average nickel corner(which he likely will in this formation) then he shouldnt have to worry about much about press coverage as he can bullrush his way through those little guys. and if denver decides to slide talib or harris inside to deal with him, that leaves one of our outside guys to either find a soft spot in the zone, or on a island with nickel db in the exterior. i like our chances in that scenario.

i think the gameplan this week in terms of passing, is all about manipulating formations to get the best matchup, against a defense like denvers you really need to force subs and keep them changing assignments, you cant let harris and talib settle in and focus on one guy for the whole game, bring out some headscratching formations, put a TE on the exterior, run a wishbone backfield, put a burner in the slot, run bootleg keepers, designed "broken" plays(like the steelers used to do so effectively) etc. i dont think we will stand a chance calling a vanilla offense, we need tons of variety to create favorable matchups for guys like sss and crockett

definitely like the idea of sneakin Waller into the slot and to fly down the seam. I could see that working really well. I also don't think Denver will expect us to really go deep without perriman but I think we should send Waller out there routinely to keep them honest. Even if we don't go to him but once or twice. Hopefully he will be active tommorow and the coaches find a way to utilize him. I agree that we shouldn't baby him , just throw him in there and let him do his thing. I guess Denver week 1 may not be the best place to throw him into the fire- but I fully expect them to do it next week in Oakland so he can get some valuable experience.