After beating the New York Jets, the Ravens will face a good group Sunday of their dwelling opener in opposition to the Miami Dolphins.
The Ravens performed properly within the second half of their 24-9 season-opening victory, however the win was considerably tainted as a result of it got here in opposition to the no-good, god-awful, basement-dwelling Jets.
Miami might be a step up in high quality, particularly after it convincingly beat the New England Patriots, 20-7, in Week 1. There is explicit curiosity on this matchup as a result of the Dolphins blitzed the Ravens closely and pressed their receivers in a 22-10 victory final season, revealing a blueprint different groups copied in slowing down quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The highlight can be on the Ravens’ protection after it performed properly final week regardless of permitting 378 yards of complete offense. Two issues that stood out Sunday had been the Ravens’ group pace and the way properly they may combine and match coverages.
But once more, that was in opposition to the Jets, a group Baltimore powerhouse St. Frances Academy would give a troublesome recreation. The Dolphins and their revamped offense below first-year coach Mike McDaniel might be extra of a problem.
The West Coast offense is nothing new within the NFL, however pace continues to be a serious staple of any scheme, and Miami has loads of it.
“Offensively, to your point, it’s the San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan, kind of grew out of the old Gary Kubiak offense, and now Sean McVay, all those guys are kind of in the same family, and that’s what this is,” Harbaugh stated of the Miami offense. “It’s in the identical tree that we noticed final week, when it comes to what they do, how they function, plenty of the phrases they use are the identical, the scheme is basically the identical, however they’ve modified it.
“They’ve done a good job down there, and Coach McDaniel has done a great job of tailoring it to their players, tailoring it to their quarterback [Tua Tagovailoa]. He’s done a good job, gets the ball out quick. A lot of RPOs, because he’s good at that, a lot of movement passes.”
Miami has two standout receivers, together with Tyreek Hill, who is perhaps the quickest participant within the NFL. In three video games in opposition to Baltimore when he performed for the Kansas City Chiefs, Hill had 16 catches for 230 yards and one landing.
Hill was traded to Miami on March 23 in alternate for 5 draft picks, and that paired him with one other speedster in Jaylen Waddle, who caught 104 passes for 1,015 yards and 6 touchdowns as a rookie final season.
In Miami’s win in opposition to the Ravens final 12 months, Waddle caught 4 passes for 61 yards and repeatedly burned cornerback Marlon Humphrey on the surface. Humphrey has been typically thought to be one of many league’s high corners, however the Ravens have hassle defending quick receivers on the surface even with Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Peters on the sphere. Peters’ standing for Sunday continues to be unsure as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered earlier than the beginning of final season.
“They have two of the fastest receivers in football playing for them,” Harbaugh stated, “and two running backs who run that scheme extremely well, and what I mean by that is the wide-zone-type scheme. So, that’s kind of how they’re built on offense.”
Against the Jets, the Ravens got here up with a number of totally different coverages, together with taking part in cornerbacks Kyle Fuller and Brandon Stephens on the surface with Humphrey lining up inside. They used Marcus Williams and Chuck Clark at security, however generally had Williams in the course of the sphere to deal with the deep third alone.
The Ravens have two speedy cornerbacks in rookies Jalyn Armour-Davis and Damarion “Pepe” Williams, nevertheless it’s unlikely they’ll match up in opposition to Hill one-on-one. They would possibly get extra taking part in time, although, with Fuller out for the season after tearing his ACL late within the second half in opposition to the Jets and Stephens coping with a quadriceps damage.
One factor you received’t have to fret about: defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald received’t depart his cornerbacks in as many weak one-on-one conditions as predecessor Don “Wink” Martindale as a result of he doesn’t blitz as a lot. Speedsters like Hill and Waddle can change the complexion of a recreation in seconds, and so they had been introduced in to assist Tagovailoa in getting extra yards after the catch.
A 12 months in the past, Miami had a small-ball passing recreation, one which consisted of shorts routes. Now, the Dolphins use a little bit little bit of every part, together with run-pass choices, crossing routes, comeback routes and bootlegs. Loads of it’s predicated off play motion.
There are nonetheless issues about Tagovailoa’s arm energy, however McDaniel is predicted to name extra downfield passes than the earlier teaching regime. The Dolphins get the ball to Hill as some ways as doable with jet sweeps, bubble screens, slants, tosses and reverses. That must be one other concern for the Ravens.
Miami additionally has excellent pace to the sting in working again Raheem Mostert. Sometimes the Dolphins simply toss the ball to the previous monitor star to get him exterior the tackles shortly.
“Any time you face people like that, it’s a tough challenge, and you’ve just got to give respect where it’s due,” Ravens inside linebacker Patrick Queen stated. “So, the biggest thing for us is just to come out there, take good angles to the football with everybody running to the ball at the stack and just try to get these guys on the ground — get shots on them.”
The Ravens’ entrance seven was extraordinarily lively in opposition to the Jets. They pursued the ball shortly as a result of they didn’t get knocked off their toes. It’s one factor to get beat bodily on the line of scrimmage, however pursuit is about need. Queen, exterior linebacker Justin Houston and defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Justin Madubuike dogged Jets quarterback Joe Flacco all day.
Even nostril deal with Michael Pierce was making tackles to the far aspect of the sphere. Safeties Williams and Clark performed agency run assist.
The Ravens’ line of defense has the benefit in opposition to Miami’s offensive line. Both Dolphins tackles, Terron Armstead (toe) and Austin Jackson (ankle), are coping with accidents, and heart Connor Williams is inconsistent snapping the ball.
The huge query is can the Ravens play that properly once more on protection for a second straight week?
Tagovailoa will definitely be extra cell than Flacco. How will Macdonald maintain up in opposition to McDaniel, a revered play caller all through the league?
Is Miami’s pace an excessive amount of to deal with?
The solely factor we all know for positive is that this: The Dolphins are higher than the Jets, no less than on paper.
Week 2
DOLPHINS@RAVENS
Sunday, 1 p.m.
TV: Chs. 13, 9
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Ravens by 3 1/2
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Source: www.bostonherald.com