Week 1: The good the bad and the ugly vs Buffalo

[Filmstudy]

2 hours ago, rmw10 said:

Yeah I wouldn't say it was bad.  I think we need more consistency than anything.  There were quite a few occasions where there was simply too much time in the pocket.  Whenever you play someone like Tyrod, Russell, Cam, etc., you have to expect that they'll be able to extend a few plays with their legs.

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.

[rmw10]

1 minute ago, Filmstudy said:

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.

That was my biggest concern really.  Pressure is certainly nice of course, but there is a part of the pass rush that's actually converting and making the play.

[Filmstudy]

10 hours ago, redlobster said:

Did correa even play?

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/

 

[rlh445]

I think our boys did just fine.  It would have been so embarrassing losing to Tyrod.  By the way, where ARE all those Tyrod huggers at?  Their day of reckoning is at hand.

[ravensdfan]

2 hours ago, berad said:

The gameplan was obviously to pass... and pass a lot. Only having 2 RBs active made that pretty clear. Still, against a tough Bills defense they limited mistakes enough to carve out a win.

The worst play was Zuttah's boneheaded snap followed by Flacco's almost-INT that would have been backbreaking. The great plays were Wallace's deep route, Perriman's first catch, and Pitta and Flacco's 4th-quarter play. The running game looked bad on paper but they made enough plays to help us. The final drive was perfect and we basically had to make the last first down twice, thanks to a shoddy spot by the officials.

I agree and I think the gameplan got tweaked a bit when the O line wasn't holding up. I believe the plan was to take way more downfield shots with Wallace & Perriman. Difficult to do with no time in the pocket.

[rossihunter2]

2 hours ago, Davesta said:

The good: Steve smith's post game interview in the locker room. That reporter.. Lol! Ice up, son. 

was that mink who he iced?

[OUravensfan]

27 minutes ago, rossihunter2 said:

was that mink who he iced?

No way was it? I had assumed it was not a local guy? Id feel bad if it was, I like Ryan, Sarah and Garett, I remember one poster was mocking Mink for making a spelling mistake in one of his articles and Mink actually posted a reply on these boards, so we know they read the marieral and care to make content relevant to our discussions.

 

That really comes out in their articles and I've always liked that.

[berad]

50 minutes ago, ravensdfan said:

I agree and I think the gameplan got tweaked a bit when the O line wasn't holding up. I believe the plan was to take way more downfield shots with Wallace & Perriman. Difficult to do with no time in the pocket.

I think you're right, we saw that early. Once Joe started getting killed more often, it was hard to stick with it

[-Truth-]

19 hours ago, Cillmatic said:

Why did Perriman basically vanish after his catch?

It could have partly been due to the workload. He was on the field for roughly 25% of the offensive pass plays, 10 to 39. I wouldn't be surprised if we continue easing him into the line up with Smith Sr., Aiken and Wallace available.

[rmw10]

27 minutes ago, -Truth- said:

It could have partly been due to the workload. He was on the field for roughly 25% of the offensive pass plays, 10 to 39. I wouldn't be surprised if we continue easing him into the line up with Smith Sr., Aiken and Wallace available.

Think I saw this on Twitter last night, too.  The plan all along has been to ease Perriman into action.

[flynismo]

11 hours ago, redrum52 said:

What about that toss to Pittake?  Let not sleep on the  Bills defense either.  Teams are still feeling each other out and they have a pretty good secondary.  I'm more worried about our interior line still, but hopefully the chemistry grows.  This really had an old school Ravens feel to it.

Yes! It was one of my very first thoughts as well. Actually, I thought it felt like our 2010 - 2012 offenses, with our late 2000s defenses...and certainly agree regarding the Bills D. The quality of their defense (and the crap job by our OC -- another all to familiar feeling) are the reasons I am very satisfied with what I saw yesterday despite only 13 points.

Edited September 12, 2016 by flynismo

[flynismo]

1 hour ago, berad said:

I think you're right, we saw that early. Once Joe started getting killed more often, it was hard to stick with it

I agree with this, but I think Trestman did a poor job changing things up on the fly. When you're getting beat that bad, that consistently with pressure up the middle, obviously that isn't desirable, but there are plenty of options still available. Use the middle of the field ("throw it where they aint"), bootleg, etc etc. Seemed like Trestman rarely chose any of the more viable options. 

[ellicottraven]

23 minutes ago, flynismo said:

I agree with this, but I think Trestman did a poor job changing things up on the fly. When you're getting beat that bad, that consistently with pressure up the middle, obviously that isn't desirable, but there are plenty of options still available. Use the middle of the field ("throw it where they aint"), bootleg, etc etc. Seemed like Trestman rarely chose any of the more viable options. 

I thought he failed to make adjustments to what the Bills were doing on defense in the second half. 

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

We need to come out swinging vs their defense. Tramon Williams looked like he lost a step last year. And Perriman should be the one to take him on. Get his confidence going on the deep ball and have him pull a Torrey Smith vs. Champ Bailey.

[redrum52]

5 hours ago, rmcjacket23 said:

Mostly agree. I thought our kick coverage was generally pretty good, but our return game wasn't.

Although, this game was one of the biggest supporters of my argument for ST... you don't have to be great at it, but you can't suck at it.

The Bills completely sucked at it yesterday. Four ST penalties and a missed FG. 

Easily one of the biggest differences in the game.

I was just talking to someone about this.   You don't have to be great, but if your ST is bad it's one of the biggest factors and can easily contribute to a loss.

 

[RavensPunkXVX]

Was looking at the Bills forum, just reading. Found a thread that said, "did we lost to a playoff team, yes or no?" It only took me a page or so to find that one reasonable individual lol ;

"Baltimore had 22 players on IR last year. The year before they went 11-5. Get your heads out of your asses people. Let me repeat that, 22 players on IR including their QB after 10 games. 22 players on IR. One more time, 22 players on IR.

They looked like the 2nd best team in the AFC North yesterday and could potentially be the best depending on how the steelers defense does tonight. BTW 22 players on IR last year."

Also, credit to the mods here. These forums are the best I've seen of any NFL team.

[JEEPercreepermd]

7 hours ago, Davesta said:

The good: Steve smith's post game interview in the locker room. That reporter.. Lol! Ice up, son. 

"Sounds like you fishing with nothing on your line" rofl

[January J]

The good:

-Obviously shareece wright.

-Weddle was literally everywhere in on every play. He plays like a raven. 

-although it was just a few plays- seeing perriman , suggs , and pitta all make plays was really refreshing and awesome. Really got the crowd going.

- Joe spreading the ball around. He made completions to 10 different receivers. Once we get going we will be hard to stop.

- the defense getting off the feild on third down. Something we haven't been able to do for quite some time. 

- contained tyrod and didn't let him beat us with his feet.

- Wallace. This guy has got a huge chip on his shoulder and he's proving he's still got it. I'm glad Joe checked out of that run. Soon as I saw him tap his head I knew he was going deep and I knew we had a TD.

 

the bad-

-yanda had an uncharacteristic first half. Couple penalties and missed assignments. Nothin to be concerned about though.

-no turnovers

-zuttahs early snap. Could have cost us if not for the defense.

- not a whole lot of rhythm on offense- but I see this getting better as the season progresses. We've got alot of weapons we've got to figure out how to utilize properly. 

the ugly- 

the bills. Rex and Rob Ryan's face.

[Militant X 1]

9 hours ago, rlh445 said:

I think our boys did just fine.  It would have been so embarrassing losing to Tyrod.  By the way, where ARE all those Tyrod huggers at?  Their day of reckoning is at hand.

Tyrod huggers?  LOL!!

I like Tyrod!  Always have and always will and I want him to do well in his career....just not against us!  And that's what happened yesterday.  I actually predicted that the Bills would win the game and I thought Tyrod would do a little better in the passing area against us than he did but chalk that up to Pees calling a great game as Suggs said and our defense beasting!  It was great to see!  So, give credit to where it is due!

[FlocksGottaFeed]

1 hour ago, Militant X 1 said:

Tyrod huggers?  LOL!!

I like Tyrod!  Always have and always will and I want him to do well in his career....just not against us!  And that's what happened yesterday.  I actually predicted that the Bills would win the game and I thought Tyrod would do a little better in the passing area against us than he did but chalk that up to Pees calling a great game as Suggs said and our defense beasting!  It was great to see!  So, give credit to where it is due!

Agreed. Tyrod has been nothing but '1st class' as a Raven and 1st class since he left. Some of the biggest 'Tyrod huggers' were his ex-Raven teammates after the game. Only wishing him great success like every other ex-Raven playing, but again...not against us.

[The Raven]

20 hours ago, Maryland said:

It's still a zone-blocking scheme--that was actually an area of continuity between Kub and Trestman's offenses (Trestman ran ZBS in Chicago) 

Not really. Trestman ran a lot of gap scheme in Chicago and has increasingly used it here. It's a blend -- we still use a lot of zone blocking -- but Trestman has used gap scheme runs more and more.

And that's exactly my concern. Zuttah and Wagner are zone-blocking-only players, to be honest. I wouldn't trust either to move a guy vertically. 

Edited September 13, 2016 by The Raven

[Inqui]

9 minutes ago, The Raven said:

Not really. Trestman ran a lot of gap scheme in Chicago and has increasingly used it here. It's a blend -- we still use a lot of zone blocking -- but Trestman has used gap scheme runs more and more.

And that's exactly my concern. Zuttah and Wagner are zone-blocking-only players, to be honest. I wouldn't trust either to move a guy vertically. 

I wanted to tag you in the post that Maryland was replying to. I'm worried about Zuttah in particular - I've always had him around 16th-17th best starting C but that was after being targeted specifically by Gary Kubiak for his specific scheme. I'm not too sure what the difference is between Trestman's blocking and Kubiak's (which was why I wanted to ask you and @Filmstudy about the differences), but if Zuttah's that bad in Trestman's scheme then we may want a new starter by week eight so we can let the new chemistry settle by the playoffs.

And if we do need a new starter, that raises the question of who. I don't think Urschel's strong enough, but do you think Jensen's quick enough or that he's good enough at being the guy who calls the blocking? (genuine question because I don't know)

Edited September 13, 2016 by Inqui

[PurpleCity5]

17 hours ago, Sami84 said:

he played quite a few snaps at tackle when watson went out.

We just miss his strength and physicality. 

I hate to admit it but its true. Zuttah just doesn't have it as a run blocker and as far as Lewis goes, I don't think he's bad, he's solid but I don't know if he will be our guy in the long run this year. Honestly, I don't want to seem to hard on him but Zuttah wasn't that good. 

Edited September 13, 2016 by PurpleCity5

[PurpleCity5]

I watched some extra film and here's my honest take. 

Zuttah was not good and if he somehow doesn't improve he will be replaced much sooner than some will think. The only break I can give Zuttah is that Rex Ryan loves blowing up the A gap and sent a lot of pressure through there which did make life tougher for him, with K.O leaving it only made it worse. Still, Zuttah managed to get very little to no push and was being pushed around. Not only that but on some occasions he failed to pick up the blitz himself. On some blitzes guys would just run past him and he would stand there looking confused. 

Orr needs more love. Guy was fantastic whether it was blitzing, covering or defending the run. This guy looked completely in the game and in tune. Honestly, he was my defensive MVP of the game. He was getting off his blocks and took away many opportunities for Tyrod Taylor to break the pocket. Twice Taylor tried to escape the pocket for a 1st down and Orr was right there to stop him. I love the game Wright had but Orr was really everywhere. He didn't compliment Mosley, he simply took over. 

Brandon Williams was blowing up the middle all day long. So was Timmy Jernigan. They were both unstoppable. Complete Studs. 

Joe had some really really really good throws. Very impressive throws honestly that were not only very accurate but had a lot of zip. Made a few bad mistakes but QBs typically have that one pass that should have been intercepted every game. He was good.

 

[Filmstudy]

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.

[Maryland]

3 hours ago, The Raven said:

Not really. Trestman ran a lot of gap scheme in Chicago and has increasingly used it here. It's a blend -- we still use a lot of zone blocking -- but Trestman has used gap scheme runs more and more.

And that's exactly my concern. Zuttah and Wagner are zone-blocking-only players, to be honest. I wouldn't trust either to move a guy vertically. 

Could have sworn they were a zone-blocking scheme in Chicago, which is why they targeted Jermon Bushrod when Trestman took over at Chicago. Sounds like you know your stuff though. 

[sflegend89]

15 hours ago, Filmstudy said:

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/

 

If it makes you feel any better Myles Jack didn't play a snap on defense either. Pretty surprising considering he was supposed to be a top 10 pick. The huge knock on him was longevity, he was hyped as a pro-bowl caliber talent though. Was shocked to hear he didn't get a single snap on defense.

None of the 2nd round defenders really did much week 1 (Dodd, Spence, Jack, Correa, ect.). 

[allblackraven]

We better do something to sort out the middle of the O line before the Jets game. Otherwise, Wilkerson , McLendon and Williams will eat Zuttah for appetiser, then Flacco for main course. They sacked Dalton for combined 6 times and Bengals O line isn't bad.

[Maryland]

10 minutes ago, allblackraven said:

We better do something to sort out the middle of the O line before the Jets game. Otherwise, Wilkerson , McLendon and Williams will eat Zuttah for appetiser, then Flacco for main course. They sacked Dalton for combined 6 times and Bengals O line isn't bad.

At least the Jets have an awful secondary, especially since Revis Island seems to be eroding. It is true, however, that their DL would man-handle our OL if they play like they did Sunday. 

[sflegend89]

2 hours ago, allblackraven said:

We better do something to sort out the middle of the O line before the Jets game. Otherwise, Wilkerson , McLendon and Williams will eat Zuttah for appetiser, then Flacco for main course. They sacked Dalton for combined 6 times and Bengals O line isn't bad.

 

Good example of how to deal with this is the Pats, they don't have a particularly good OL so they utilize quick hits and timing routes to slow down a strong pass rush. Worked for them all of last year until the AFCC.

Flacco HAS to get the ball out quicker. Not sure if it was game rust or just super tight coverage but far too often his internal clock to get the ball out wasn't registering. The messy pocket certainly didn't help his cause. If we can get the chains moving through the air there will be so much more room in the running game.

The NFL used to be run to set up the pass but it seems the roles have reversed in the current day game.

Edited September 13, 2016 by sflegend89