The Pittsburgh Steelers knew exactly what to anticipate from the wall of flesh and muscle coming at them.
“That is the head scratcher,” All-Pro defensive deal with Cam Heyward stated afterward, processing their defeat by blunt power.
The Ravens didn’t have their regular magician at quarterback performing his sleight of hand and foot. They had largely given up on transferring the ball by means of the air. They had been going at hand the ball to a operating again and ship him ahead behind a phalanx of eight brawny, ornery blockers.
And it labored. They overpowered their rivals in hostile Pittsburgh, operating 42 occasions for 215 yards whereas finishing simply 11 passes for 104 yards. This was soccer from a distinct age. But was it soccer that would maintain a workforce by means of a number of weeks of a playoff run in 2022?
That’s the query the Ravens and their followers are asking now that they’ve clinched a playoff berth regardless of scoring a complete of 56 factors and throwing for a complete of 584 yards over their final 4 victories.
“Yes, definitely,” operating again J.Ok. Dobbins stated when requested if they’ll string collectively postseason wins relying largely on floor energy. “I think our O-line is really good, I think we run the ball really well and us running backs run the ball pretty well. So, I think it could definitely take control of a game. I know there are some high-powered offenses out there. We can maybe neutralize them a little bit with the run game.”
It’s not simply in regards to the output; the Ravens are selecting to play this manner. In final Saturday’s 17-9 win over the Atlanta Falcons, they grew to become the primary workforce in 2022 and simply the second since 2013 to run zero snaps in 11 personnel (one operating again, one tight finish, three extensive receivers), per TruMedia. Conversely, they’ve run 32.9% of their snaps this season in 22 personnel (two operating backs, two tight ends, one extensive receiver), first within the league by a mile, with the Falcons second at 11.1%.
Offensive coordinator Greg Roman has lengthy spoken of his love for “medieval” soccer, however this can be a new frontier in brutality, even for him. From 2019 by means of 2021, the Ravens nonetheless went with 11 personnel, the dominant grouping throughout the NFL, greater than every other alignment — 44.6% of their snaps, per TruMedia. Through the primary 16 video games of this season, they’ve used 11 personnel on 12.3% of snaps.
They’re relying extra on blockers and fewer on skill-position gamers than any of their rivals.
When was the final time we noticed a Super Bowl winner that relied on environment friendly operating and heavy personnel groupings as a lot as these Ravens do? You may consider the 2015 Denver Broncos, with quarterback Peyton Manning a shadow of his prime self, however they nonetheless threw for greater than twice as many yards as they ran for. Or maybe the 2013 Seattle Seahawks? But a younger Russell Wilson handed extraordinarily effectively for that juggernaut. We have to return to the early aughts to seek out really run-dependent champions such because the 2005 Steelers and 2000 Ravens. Those groups additionally relied on smothering defenses.
The NBC Sports analysts who will assist preview and name the Ravens’ Sunday night time rematch with the Steelers provided a spread of opinions on their prospects for a deep playoff run. But they had been unanimous in saying this offense will want the big-play element offered by quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has not began since Week 13 due to a knee harm.
“They can definitely get it done with this personnel grouping and a heavy reliance on the run game,” stated Football Night in America analyst Tony Dungy, who received a Super Bowl as coach of the Indianapolis Colts. “That, coupled with stout defense can be a winning formula. … However, there will come a time when they are going to need to make some plays in the passing game. I think they need Lamar Jackson back in the lineup to at least to have the threat of the passing game.”
Sunday Night soccer sport analyst and former NFL receiver Cris Collinsworth known as the Ravens’ offense “the most unique in the NFL.”
“With the addition of Roquan Smith and a very talented secondary, the Ravens will play in close games in the playoffs,” he stated. “But, to beat the top teams in the AFC they will need big plays on offense. … Lamar Jackson has to be great. We have all seen Lamar be great. He is fully capable of winning a Super Bowl; now he just has to put together a Joe Flacco-type run in the playoffs.”
Studio analyst and former All-Pro defensive again Rodney Harrison known as Jackson’s well being the “biggest point” for the Ravens trying ahead. “Lamar Jackson has to be healthy for them to ride that along with the improvement of the defense right into the playoffs,” he stated. “It’s not about style points. It’s about finding a way to win, and that’s their formula.”
So the consultants should not ruling them out, regardless of their paltry level totals from latest weeks. NFL groups are operating the ball extra effectively and on a better proportion of snaps in 2022, ending a decades-long development towards high-volume passing. Perhaps the Ravens are merely on the entrance of a rumbling curve.
Roman stated it’s a pure response to the evolution of defenses designed to counter spread-out passing assaults.
“There’s a lot of Vic Fangio defense out there right now; a lot of split-safety, etc.,” he defined. “If you can run the ball effectively, and by effectively, I mean A: make first downs running it and B: run it when you have to run it, the value there is greater than it’s been in times past, just by the nature of how defenses are playing. Now, that’s going to change week to week, but overall, big picture, there’s more value there now for sure. I think you can see it; it’s starting to show.”
The Ravens’ heaviest units have been their handiest. They rank twenty eighth within the league in anticipated factors added per play in 11 personnel, per TruMedia, however soar to sixth in 22 personnel and seventh in 21 personnel (two operating backs, one tight finish, two extensive receivers).
Roman stated their personnel decisions are all the time tailor-made to the week — windy, bitterly chilly situations contributed to their eschewing 11 personnel towards Atlanta — and topic to alter.
“I think just the fact the players were able to get that going and really make it productive is why we stuck with it so much,” he stated. “We’ve kind of found a little niche, and it’s working, but things are cyclical. … I think a lot of different things are on the table as far as what we can or will do.”
An esprit de corps builds among the many workforce’s ball carriers and linemen when the ability sport is clicking. Center Tyler Linderbaum and proper deal with Morgan Moses each grade among the many league’s high dozen run blockers, per Pro Football Focus, so the Ravens are enjoying to their strengths after they ship Dobbins and Gus Edwards behind these human highway graders.
“Especially this time of year,” Linderbaum stated when requested if a sturdy floor sport can carry the workforce. “Being able to run the football, being capable of running the football is important. I think we’re starting to jell together and improve on some things, but the good thing is there is a lot of stuff that we can still get better at, and there are still more yards out there for us to get. So, when the time comes, and they need us to run the ball, I think we have the guys to do it.”
It doesn’t damage that Dobbins and Edwards are the healthiest they’ve been in two years after each returned from critical knee surgical procedures. They’ve averaged 7.4 yards per carry over the past three video games.
“Just the holes they see, their ability to get through holes and pick up those extra yards breaking tackles and stuff like that,” Linderbaum stated. “[They’re] making us look a little bit better than what we are.”
Week 17
Steelers at Ravens
Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
TV: Chs. 11, 4
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Ravens by 2 1/2
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Source: www.bostonherald.com