GDT: Still kind of America’s Team at Ravens

[TitanSS]

The biggest thing is going to be flowing to the football. Not relying on making 1-on-1 tackles in space. Despite what Ravens fans think, yes, you want to keep him in the pocket and make him pass. Obviously you don't want to give him all day, but like our offense, their passing game is based off the running game. If you get them out of early-down situations where they can use the play-action to open up throwing lanes, defending them becomes much easier, just like it does with us.

Their offense is based around Jackson as a runner, and that opens up the pass tremendously. If we could somehow get them in a situation where we make him become a drop-back passer, that goes in our favor. Obviously, no one has been able to do that yet, so it's not just a matter of making that your game plan. It's going to be a challenge.

They can be beaten, but right now they're the best team in the NFL and it's a going to be an uphill battle. They do everything right and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go for in on 4th down often, even if they have a lead.

Belichick chose to let Henry get his yards in faith that it wouldn't lead to a lot of points. He played two deep safeties the entire game, something no one does against us, but I would expect to see it from now on. As much as fans are lauding our running game, we scored 14 points. Fans are going to point to Tannehill being to blame, but that's because Tannehill and the play-action pass are what Belichick saw as the true threat. Not Derrick Henry.

Ingram and their handoffs to the fullback shouldn't be the priority. Let them go to him and try to get multiple bodies on Jackson and limit the big plays. Hit Jackson anytime you can if it's near an exchange. Make them convert multiple 3rd downs. Make them kick field goals.

Avoid stupid plays like the one someone had on Mariota in Miami to open up 2018. Mariota carried out the zone read fake and the DE hit him about 4 seconds after the exchange when he clearly didn't have the ball. You want bodies on Jackson, but that should have been a penalty and I think it will be if we do it to Jackson.

I think the game might start out close, but I think the better team wins this one. I'm not sure I'd even take the points on us right now as no one has put together a plan that can stop this offense. I'd love to be the first to do it, but I wouldn't bet on us. I thought we should have been a slight favorite over NE, definitely not a 5 point underdog. However, I think 9.5 points feels about right in this game.

[KingTitan]

37 minutes ago, TitanSS said:

The biggest thing is going to be flowing to the football. Not relying on making 1-on-1 tackles in space. Despite what Ravens fans think, yes, you want to keep him in the pocket and make him pass. Obviously you don't want to give him all day, but like our offense, their passing game is based off the running game. If you get them out of early-down situations where they can use the play-action to open up throwing lanes, defending them becomes much easier, just like it does with us.

Their offense is based around Jackson as a runner, and that opens up the pass tremendously. If we could somehow get them in a situation where we make him become a drop-back passer, that goes in our favor. Obviously, no one has been able to do that yet, so it's not just a matter of making that your game plan. It's going to be a challenge.

They can be beaten, but right now they're the best team in the NFL and it's a going to be an uphill battle. They do everything right and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go for in on 4th down often, even if they have a lead.

Belichick chose to let Henry get his yards in faith that it wouldn't lead to a lot of points. He played two deep safeties the entire game, something no one does against us, but I would expect to see it from now on. As much as fans are lauding our running game, we scored 14 points. Fans are going to point to Tannehill being to blame, but that's because Tannehill and the play-action pass are what Belichick saw as the true threat. Not Derrick Henry.

Ingram and their handoffs to the fullback shouldn't be the priority. Let them go to him and try to get multiple bodies on Jackson and limit the big plays. Hit Jackson anytime you can if it's near an exchange. Make them convert multiple 3rd downs. Make them kick field goals.

Avoid stupid plays like the one someone had on Mariota in Miami to open up 2018. Mariota carried out the zone read fake and the DE hit him about 4 seconds after the exchange when he clearly didn't have the ball. You want bodies on Jackson, but that should have been a penalty and I think it will be if we do it to Jackson.

I think the game might start out close, but I think the better team wins this one. I'm not sure I'd even take the points on us right now as no one has put together a plan that can stop this offense. I'd love to be the first to do it, but I wouldn't bet on us. I thought we should have been a slight favorite over NE, definitely not a 5 point underdog. However, I think 9.5 points feels about right in this game.

 

I would think similar to you, let Ingram and the fullback try to run up on Simmons, Casey and Jones. They will get yards, but I doubt they do that enough to be confident in winning. Focus on the edges and not allowing Jackson to beat you out there. 

Henry should be able to run on the edges. Henry will also be a "defensive" weapon similar to how he was in NE. Keeping the other team offense off the field. 
I think it depends on how Vrabel and Smith want to play it. If they want to keep it tight and short, they won't try to pass much and just try to have Henry control the clock and hope it can produce opportunities to score like in NE. 

If they think we need to match score for score because they aren't confident in being to keep the Ravens from scoring 30-40 points then they might go into more wide formations. 
Because if the Ravens don't respect the pass in any shape or fashion and they stay in run heavy defenses even if we spread them out or pass more then I have faith in our passing game to capitalize on that. 

[FutureIsWhite]

1 hour ago, TitanSS said:

The biggest thing is going to be flowing to the football. Not relying on making 1-on-1 tackles in space. Despite what Ravens fans think, yes, you want to keep him in the pocket and make him pass. Obviously you don't want to give him all day, but like our offense, their passing game is based off the running game. If you get them out of early-down situations where they can use the play-action to open up throwing lanes, defending them becomes much easier, just like it does with us.

Their offense is based around Jackson as a runner, and that opens up the pass tremendously. If we could somehow get them in a situation where we make him become a drop-back passer, that goes in our favor. Obviously, no one has been able to do that yet, so it's not just a matter of making that your game plan. It's going to be a challenge.

They can be beaten, but right now they're the best team in the NFL and it's a going to be an uphill battle. They do everything right and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go for in on 4th down often, even if they have a lead.

Belichick chose to let Henry get his yards in faith that it wouldn't lead to a lot of points. He played two deep safeties the entire game, something no one does against us, but I would expect to see it from now on. As much as fans are lauding our running game, we scored 14 points. Fans are going to point to Tannehill being to blame, but that's because Tannehill and the play-action pass are what Belichick saw as the true threat. Not Derrick Henry.

Ingram and their handoffs to the fullback shouldn't be the priority. Let them go to him and try to get multiple bodies on Jackson and limit the big plays. Hit Jackson anytime you can if it's near an exchange. Make them convert multiple 3rd downs. Make them kick field goals.

Avoid stupid plays like the one someone had on Mariota in Miami to open up 2018. Mariota carried out the zone read fake and the DE hit him about 4 seconds after the exchange when he clearly didn't have the ball. You want bodies on Jackson, but that should have been a penalty and I think it will be if we do it to Jackson.

I think the game might start out close, but I think the better team wins this one. I'm not sure I'd even take the points on us right now as no one has put together a plan that can stop this offense. I'd love to be the first to do it, but I wouldn't bet on us. I thought we should have been a slight favorite over NE, definitely not a 5 point underdog. However, I think 9.5 points feels about right in this game.

I agree with pretty much everything you said except the line . I think they win by 5 or less , if at all.  If they play drop two safeties against us I think Tennessee can take advantage of the time of possession.  If we spread out 3 and they drop 2 then that means they will be playing a 6 man front, I think our run game would feast on that. I think we’re going to see more designed runs , short routes and a methodical plan to keep the ravens off the field . 
 

I really think whoever gets a ten point lead first wins ,  if ravens do I don’t see us clawing back . If Titans do I think they will run Henry till his wheels fall off and put Lamar in a position he hasn’t been in al year . 
 

I really think Titans win this game 27-24 

[TitanSS]

28 minutes ago, FutureIsWhite said:

I agree with pretty much everything you said except the line . I think they win by 5 or less , if at all.  If they play drop two safeties against us I think Tennessee can take advantage of the time of possession.  If we spread out 3 and they drop 2 then that means they will be playing a 6 man front, I think our run game would feast on that. I think we’re going to see more designed runs , short routes and a methodical plan to keep the ravens off the field . 
 

I really think whoever gets a ten point lead first wins ,  if ravens do I don’t see us clawing back . If Titans do I think they will run Henry till his wheels fall off and put Lamar in a position he hasn’t been in al year . 
 

I really think Titans win this game 27-24 

We took advantage of the TOP against two deep safeties in the second half last week and our run game feasted and we didn't score. Just controlling TOP and not scoring can lead to wins if you have a meh offense and a great defense, but we won games the second half of this season because Tannehill was throwing the ball all over the yard off play-action. If we play the TOP game against the Ravens and don't score on 7 of 9 possessions in our stellar rushing performance like we did last week we're losing this game.

The Patriots did basically the same thing we do on defense (play the pass over the run on early downs) and then people complain about us giving up 4 yards on first down, giving up a couple first downs, and then they end up with a 3rd and 9 on their own 45. We weren't near as effective with it without our top 2 CBs, but we did it well last year and this year prior to injuries.

We need to limit big plays on defense, maybe get a turnover or two, and create some big plays on offense. TOP is nice, but give me points on the scoreboard.

 

[TD DrewBennett]

3 hours ago, renndawg37 said:

Come on man, that's some loser talk...

oh we can win this game, but its hard to not think about those same old titans

[KingTitan]

1 hour ago, TitanSS said:

We took advantage of the TOP against two deep safeties in the second half last week and our run game feasted and we didn't score. Just controlling TOP and not scoring can lead to wins if you have a meh offense and a great defense, but we won games the second half of this season because Tannehill was throwing the ball all over the yard off play-action. If we play the TOP game against the Ravens and don't score on 7 of 9 possessions in our stellar rushing performance like we did last week we're losing this game.

The Patriots did basically the same thing we do on defense (play the pass over the run on early downs) and then people complain about us giving up 4 yards on first down, giving up a couple first downs, and then they end up with a 3rd and 9 on their own 45. We weren't near as effective with it without our top 2 CBs, but we did it well last year and this year prior to injuries.

We need to limit big plays on defense, maybe get a turnover or two, and create some big plays on offense. TOP is nice, but give me points on the scoreboard.

 

Yeah points are the main goal.
But time of possession is a dangerous weapon if you have an offense that is dangerous. They start pressing because they aren't getting their plays like normal.

I can think of a few Manning games where he didn't get the possessions that he is normally used to so he pressed on a play or two and made a mistake. Similar to if you not used to playing behind, if your not used to playing tight you can panic. Thinking you have to make the big play because you don't know when you will get the ball again. 
Possession is a mental weapon as well. 

Of course this is all assuming the Raven offense doesn't get the big play in 2 plays. Being a top offense maybe can be used against them. 

[TitanSS]

1 minute ago, KingTitan said:

Yeah points are the main goal.
But time of possession is a dangerous weapon if you have an offense that is dangerous. They start pressing because they aren't getting their plays like normal.

I can think of a few Manning games where he didn't get the possessions that he is normally used to so he pressed on a play or two and made a mistake. Similar to if you not used to playing behind, if your not used to playing tight you can panic. Thinking you have to make the big play because you don't know when you will get the ball again. 
Possession is a mental weapon as well. 

Of course this is all assuming the Raven offense doesn't get the big play in 2 plays. Being a top offense maybe can be used against them. 

If you have a top defense that's capable of stopping/slowing top offenses, this is certainly the case, but still provided that you are scoring points. 

When you have an average defense vs the #1 offense in the league, it's a different story.

TOP is a stat that is misused, just like people misuse rushing numbers. It's a correlation does not equal causation issue. Just because you lead the game in TOP doesn't mean you're going to score more points than the other team. However, if your offense is successful and you're sustaining drives and scoring points, chances are you are going to win the TOP battle. However, the goal is to sustain drives and score points, not necessarily just hold onto the ball longer. It just so happens that the team that's scoring more points had the ball longer than the other team. Successful offenses are less likely to be forced into punts.

Like last week, even NE even musters a FG in the final 5 or 6 possessions, us winning the TOP is completely moot. We didn't win because we held the ball longer. We won because our defense stopped Tom Brady on a number of consecutive drives.

TOP probably does have some sort of mental component, but that's not something that we can quantify.

[-Hope-]

 

[KingTitan]

1 minute ago, TitanSS said:

If you have a top defense that's capable of stopping/slowing top offenses, this is certainly the case, but still provided that you are scoring points. 

When you have an average defense vs the #1 offense in the league, it's a different story.

TOP is a stat that is misused, just like people misuse rushing numbers. It's a correlation does not equal causation issue. Just because you lead the game in TOP doesn't mean you're going to score more points than the other team. However, if your offense is successful and you're sustaining drives and scoring points, chances are you are going to win the TOP battle. However, the goal is to sustain drives and score points, not necessarily just hold onto the ball longer. It just so happens that the team that's scoring more points had the ball longer than the other team. Successful offenses are less likely to be forced into punts.

Like last week, even NE even musters a FG in the final 5 or 6 possessions, us winning the TOP is completely moot. We didn't win because we held the ball longer. We won because our defense stopped Tom Brady on a number of consecutive drives.

TOP probably does have some sort of mental component, but that's not something that we can quantify.

This is true if they get a FG they win it, but let's look at why they didn't get the FG.

We had the ball in the 4th quarter for 10 mins and 56 seconds. Pretty much 11 minutes out of 15.  Leaving the Pats. 4 to try to take the lead. Trying to do so in a fashion they were not built to do. They couldn't score in one play. 4th quarter they 2 possessions both 3 and out and then one ending in a pick 6. 

And yes the goal is not to just play keep away it's to get points. Possession is only a good stat if you are up and score with some kind of consistency. 

It all goes together. If defense stops them or holds them to FGs, if we score TDs..etc.

But time of possession can be a huge thing in a close game and a big weapon against a team that can score. 

Now I know the Ravens score a lot of points, but I'd need to go look at if they do it in drives or chunks. I don't recall seeing a lot of 80 yard runs where they only had the ball for 2 mins and scored 14 points. That is a factor too. If they take 12 plays to score and then we manage to score in 14 plays, whoever has the ball last might be the one. 

[Mesa_Titan]

24 minutes ago, -Hope- said:

 

<3 Eddie forever and ever. The "Take Everything" slogan is doing it for me. Like it a lot.

[TitanSS]

23 minutes ago, KingTitan said:

This is true if they get a FG they win it, but let's look at why they didn't get the FG.

We had the ball in the 4th quarter for 10 mins and 56 seconds. Pretty much 11 minutes out of 15.  Leaving the Pats. 4 to try to take the lead. Trying to do so in a fashion they were not built to do. They couldn't score in one play. 4th quarter they 2 possessions both 3 and out and then one ending in a pick 6. 

And yes the goal is not to just play keep away it's to get points. Possession is only a good stat if you are up and score with some kind of consistency. 

It all goes together. If defense stops them or holds them to FGs, if we score TDs..etc.

But time of possession can be a huge thing in a close game and a big weapon against a team that can score. 

Now I know the Ravens score a lot of points, but I'd need to go look at if they do it in drives or chunks. I don't recall seeing a lot of 80 yard runs where they only had the ball for 2 mins and scored 14 points. That is a factor too. If they take 12 plays to score and then we manage to score in 14 plays, whoever has the ball last might be the one. 

To that argument, our offense did move the ball somewhat. The Patriots were defending the big play and we tried to take what they were giving us. Tannehill throwing an INT and fumbling the snap and killing two drives when we only had 5 second half possessions were killers. We also had their only sack on another possession, which put us in 3rd and 11 and essentially killed that drive. On another one we punted when in a 4th and 4 on the Patriots 35 yard line (weak).

However, none of that yielded any points. Despite the fact that the Patriots were far behind in TOP, they still had 4 second half possessions (not counting their final possession with 15 seconds left) in which all they needed was a FG and we lose that game. This is why I think this strategy is only effective if your defense is better than the opponents offense. 

If we can hold the Ravens offense scoreless on 4 consecutive drives, it won't be our offense's TOP that won us the game. It will be our defense shutting down a great offense, something I don't expect to happen.

To your point though, I don't think our offensive philosophy was flawed, but I don't think we were necessarily trying to play a TOP game until we got to the 4th quarter. In fact, we were losing the TOP in the first half. Not because NE was trying to play a TOP game and keep Ryan Tannehill off the field, but because their offense was successful and moved the ball into the red zone on their first 3 drives, and we had 2 three-and-outs.

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by TitanSS

[TitanSS]

Does anyone think that when we went to Foxborough 2 years ago that anyone on that team believed we had a chance to win? Maybe they did on that team, but to me, we didn't belong there. To me, we got lucky barely beating a slightly better team in KC that should have won it easily after a 21-3 lead at half. When we went into the divisional game the next week I expected us to lose by two scores.

I'm not saying we will win, but this year does feel different. Last week I felt like we should have been the favorite, despite our record and seed. I felt like we were the better team and we made several offensive mistakes that I outlined in the post above and we let a lesser team hang in there with us when we should have put them away. I truly believe we were the better team before the game and for the entire game.

I'm not betting on us to go into Baltimore and win, but this year I feel like we at least belong in this game. I feel like we are the 3rd best team in the AFC and I feel like the players on that roster believe they belong there and believe they can win.

[-Hope-]

4 minutes ago, TitanSS said:

Does anyone think that when we went to Foxborough 2 years ago that anyone on that team believed we had a chance to win? Maybe they did on that team, but to me, we didn't belong there. To me, we got lucky barely beating a slightly better team in KC that should have won it easily after a 21-3 lead at half. When we went into the divisional game the next week I expected us to lose by two scores.

I'm not saying we will win, but this year does feel different. Last week I felt like we should have been the favorite, despite our record and seed. I felt like we were the better team and we made several offensive mistakes that I outlined in the post above and we let a lesser team hang in there with us when we should have put them away. I truly believe we were the better team before the game and for the entire game.

I'm not betting on us to go into Baltimore and win, but this year I feel like we at least belong in this game. I feel like we are the 3rd best team in the AFC and I feel like the players on that roster believe they belong there and believe they can win.

agreed. when we went up 7-0 against the pats that year that was about the only moment when i thought we might compete- everything before and after it indicated a blowout, lol. i think it might have been taylor lewan who said something last week to the effect that in 2017 guys on the team felt lucky just to have made it to the divisional round, whereas this year nobody's satisfied and they want more because they know how good they can be. that shows, and although i don't think we'll win the game i expect them to put up a good fight tomorrow.

[BayRaider]

I have the Ravens 23-21 officially but would not be surprised at all if you guys win. Everyone seems to think Ravens blowout. I feel you guys are dominant top to bottom outside of the secondary. The question is, can Vrabel come up with a gameplan with Lamar? 
 

I don’t think you’d beat the Chiefs in a rematch though. 
 

If you guys keep everyone including Tannehil and have a good draft/FA, should be in SB contention again next year with a better seed. 

[TitanSlim]

1 hour ago, TitanSS said:

Does anyone think that when we went to Foxborough 2 years ago that anyone on that team believed we had a chance to win? Maybe they did on that team, but to me, we didn't belong there. To me, we got lucky barely beating a slightly better team in KC that should have won it easily after a 21-3 lead at half. When we went into the divisional game the next week I expected us to lose by two scores.

I'm not saying we will win, but this year does feel different. Last week I felt like we should have been the favorite, despite our record and seed. I felt like we were the better team and we made several offensive mistakes that I outlined in the post above and we let a lesser team hang in there with us when we should have put them away. I truly believe we were the better team before the game and for the entire game.

I'm not betting on us to go into Baltimore and win, but this year I feel like we at least belong in this game. I feel like we are the 3rd best team in the AFC and I feel like the players on that roster believe they belong there and believe they can win.

Maybe it's because we finally beat the Patriots in Foxboro or how well Henry and the offense has been playing since Tannehill has taken over but, I truly feel we can beat any team remaining in the playoffs.

I'm not saying we'd be favorites for most matchups but I don't feel we wouldn't have a chance like I felt in 2017 vs the Pats.