It didn’t take lengthy for the Ravens’ dwelling opener plans to want some revising.
Amid a wave of accidents and ongoing recoveries, the crew may welcome followers again to M&T Bank Stadium with out 4 stars who ended final season on injured reserve. Left sort out Ronnie Stanley, working again J.Ok. Dobbins, and cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters are all questionable or uncertain for Sunday’s recreation towards the Miami Dolphins (1-0).
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, nevertheless, will probably be again for his first dwelling recreation since Nov. 28, and his efficiency may very well be revealing. Jackson struggled mightily towards the Dolphins’ stress packages of their Week 10 assembly final season, a 22-10 highway loss. A powerful exhibiting Sunday may flip the web page on the offense’s struggles towards the blitz. Here’s what to observe within the groups’ Week 2 matchup.
Offense
1. After a disappointing season opener, the Ravens’ working recreation wants a bounce-back efficiency Sunday. The offense completed with 21 carries for simply 63 yards towards the New York Jets, their second fewest since 2019 and their fewest with Jackson as a full-time starter. (The Ravens, lacking Jackson and different key contributors due to accidents and the coronavirus final season, had 16 carries for 39 yards of their Week 16 blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.)
While the Ravens’ run blocking was inconsistent, particularly within the first half, the dashing manufacturing in all probability may’ve been higher. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats modeling, working again Kenyan Drake (11 carries for 31 yards) completed with 16 fewer yards than anticipated in his Ravens debut. Another week of observe ought to assist Drake’s consolation with the run schemes. A wholesome and explosive Dobbins, who practiced as a full participant Thursday and Friday and will play Sunday, would even be a boon.
“I would describe [the running game] as very choppy,” offensive coordinator Greg Roman mentioned Thursday. “We had been rusty in some issues; it was a man right here, one factor right here, one factor there. So it’s clearly one thing we’re attacking and attempting to enhance. We actually didn’t present an entire lot as soon as that recreation opened up a little bit bit, and we constructed a special lead. …
“But as far as the running game goes, we want to be more efficient. We will be. We’ve got to work through it, work at it. But really, it wasn’t, like, a massive problem. It was one thing that broke the play down. But we’ve got a lot of work to do, and I feel really good about the guys getting it done.”
2. If the Dolphins’ Cover 0-heavy blitz schemes are solely as safe as their secondary’s weakest hyperlink, the Ravens may have a goal in thoughts for Sunday.
In final season’s assembly, Dolphins cornerbacks Xavien Howard and Byron Jones — the sixth- and ninth-highest-paid corners within the NFL this yr — performed each defensive snap and helped maintain Jackson to 238 yards, a landing and an interception on 26-for-43 passing.
This time round, the Dolphins nonetheless have Howard and rising-star security Jevon Holland, who can line up as a slot nook. Fellow beginning security Brandon Jones additionally fared effectively in Week 1, getting the strip-sack on New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones that exterior linebacker Melvin Ingram returned for a landing.
But the Dolphins don’t have Jones, who began the season on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform record with an Achilles tendon damage. Starting in his place Sunday was Nik Needham, who allowed 5 completions on six targets for 93 yards, in accordance with Pro Football Focus. He’s removed from inexperienced, having began 11 video games over the previous two seasons. But he performed simply 4 snaps in final yr’s matchup.
3. The cat-and-mouse recreation between the Ravens’ offense and the Dolphins’ protection Sunday may very well be entertaining. As the Patriots’ Jones noticed in Week 1, Miami can present a Cover 0 look earlier than the snap and ship on that promise with an all-out blitz. The Dolphins also can present a Cover 0 look, look forward to the offense to audible right into a safer pass-blocking scheme, then again off the road earlier than the snap and drop right into a passive zone.
The Ravens have maintained this week that they’re higher ready for the form of punches the Dolphins threw final season. But they’ll must be ready for Miami’s counterpunches, too.
“They play Cover 0, but they also play a lot of other things,” Roman mentioned. “They want to show you ‘0,’ and they don’t [run it]. … So, yes, there’s definitely some layers to this. But it’s going to come down to preparation, communication and execution. So if we’re good in those areas, I like our chances.”
4. Roman didn’t wait lengthy Sunday to indicate a brand new dimension within the Ravens’ assault. On their first play from scrimmage, Jackson faked a handoff to Drake and rolled out to his proper, the place he accomplished a brief cross to vast receiver Rashod Bateman.
It wasn’t how the play unfolded that was novel, however the way it began. Jackson had lined up below middle, a departure from Roman’s shotgun- and pistol-heavy formation tendencies. On first and second down Sunday, the Ravens ran three cross performs from below middle — Jackson went 3-for-3 for 30 yards — and had six under-center runs for twenty-four yards. According to Sports Info Solutions, that they had simply 14 drop-backs and 26 carries (excluding kneel-downs) from below middle on early downs all final season.
“We can do a lot of stuff under center,” Roman mentioned. “We did some of it this week, and there’ll be more of it to come. We’ve got to stay on top of what we’re doing under center, which we will — maybe set the hook on a few things.”
Defense
5. In his first recreation towards the Ravens, in 2018, then-Chiefs vast receiver Tyreek Hill had eight catches for 139 yards, together with a miraculous 48-yarder on fourth-and-long late within the fourth quarter to maintain Kansas City’s comeback hopes alive. In 2020, Hill had 5 catches for 77 yards and a landing in Baltimore, plus two runs for 25 yards.
Last yr, the Ravens determined they’d seen sufficient. They double-teamed Hill usually and shaded their protection towards the six-time Pro Bowl choice, holding him to a few catches on 4 targets for 14 yards — however leaving loads of house elsewhere for quarterback Patrick Mahomes to carve up the Ravens’ secondary.
In Miami, Hill doesn’t have Mahomes throwing to him, tight finish Travis Kelce lining up subsequent to him or Andy Reid teaching him. He does have vast receiver Jaylen Waddle as a working mate, although. The No. 6 general choose in final yr’s draft, Waddle had 1,015 receiving yards as a rookie and began his season Sunday with a 42-yard catch-and-run rating. The Ravens can’t double-team each.
“I think when you face a team like this, you have to really make sure you’re on your fundamentals, running out of the stacks, pursuit angles are good, communication in the back end, presnap and postsnap,” defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald mentioned Thursday. “So it’s been a big emphasis for us this week.”
6. The Ravens don’t simply need communication on protection. They need “obnoxious” communication: everybody pointing, everybody speaking, everybody calling out reads.
There wasn’t sufficient of that final season in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Dolphins’ two greatest positive aspects got here on protection busts.
In the ultimate minute of the primary half, the Ravens had three zone defenders drop into protection to quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s proper, virtually forming a line 10 yards vast. But as vast receiver Isaiah Ford ran a vertical route down that sideline, nobody went with him. He was vast open for a 52-yard catch-and-run that arrange a go-ahead discipline purpose.
Late within the fourth quarter, with the Ravens trailing 15-10, they forgot to cowl vast receiver Albert Wilson after he went in movement and zoomed up the left sideline. This time, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa discovered him unmarked for a 64-yard catch-and-run. A minute later, Tagovailoa put away the sport with a landing run.
In Week 1, the Ravens’ defensive recreation plan seemed removed from vanilla. The form the protection confirmed earlier than the snap usually modified on the snap. But security Chuck Clark mentioned afterward the unit was on the identical web page all through the afternoon.
With Kyle Fuller misplaced for the season and fellow cornerbacks Brandon Stephens, Humphrey and Peters coping with their very own accidents, that cohesiveness won’t come so naturally Sunday.
“The thing that I’m most pleased with is the sense of urgency from our guys about communication,” Macdonald mentioned Thursday. “Not that it wasn’t there, but it really feels like the most buy-in we’ve felt in the sense of urgency to make calls since we got here over the last couple weeks. That’s something that we’re definitely harping on; it’s a point of emphasis. You always hear the saying, ‘A loud defense is a good defense,’ and that’s what we’re trying to be.”
7. Tagovailoa was one of many NFL’s most correct quarterbacks towards zone protection final season ― 72.4% towards Cover 2, Cover 3, Cover 4 and Cover 6 shells, in accordance with SIS ― however removed from one of the environment friendly. Seven of his 10 interceptions in 2021, and simply three of his 16 touchdowns, got here towards zone appears.
In their first yr with Macdonald as coordinator, the Ravens may play extra zone than they ever did below predecessor Don “Wink” Martindale, who favored aggressive, man-to-man appears. Jets quarterback Joe Flacco noticed a majority of zone coverages in Week 1, ending 21-for-29 for 183 yards and an interception (74.4 passer score).
Extra factors
8. The Ravens have gained six straight dwelling openers, outscoring opponents by a mixed 181-78 in these video games. The Ravens are additionally 13-1 in dwelling openers below coach John Harbaugh and 20-4 at M&T Bank Stadium in September since 2008, the NFL’s greatest dwelling profitable share in that span. A win Sunday could be the one hundred and fiftieth of Harbaugh’s profession, together with postseason victories.
9. How essential would a win Sunday be? Of the 262 groups which have began 2-0 since 1990, 165 (63%) ended up making the playoffs, in accordance with CBS Sports. Teams that began 2-0 have additionally gained 20 of the previous 32 Super Bowls, together with the 2000 Ravens.
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