Ravens Rundown: Week 6 2017

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

3 minutes ago, coordinator0 said:

They could. Just not out of a base 3-man line alignment. Suggs, Judon, Smith, Williams, or Bowser alone next to any of the three defensive linemen aren't going to get it done. Now if you put two of those guys on the ends with two of the defensive linemen on the inside then you have something. Harder to scheme against, harder to block, and +++ in the athleticism category. But that's not going to happen as long as Pees is constructing the defense so... 

Most of our nickel looks like now are Judon - <random DL> - Smith - Suggs, and they still can't muster anything of a pass rush. Bowser doesn't even play. Tim Williams is hurt, somehow. I'm just at a loss at how anemic this pass rush looks with all the talent we seemingly have on the outside.

The Bears played us correctly, IMO, on offense most of the game. They'd come out in their base personnel, run the ball like 3 times, then go hurry up so we can't get out of our base personnel, which then completely neutralizes our pass rush since we're rushing Pierce/Henry/Wormley/Suggs. More teams are going to start doing that against us, not that it really matters because we can't generate any sort of pass rush no matter who is on the field.

[coordinator0]

Just now, Darth Pees said:

Most of our nickel looks like now are Judon - <random DL> - Smith - Suggs, and they still can't muster anything of a pass rush. Bowser doesn't even play. Tim Williams is hurt, somehow. I'm just at a loss at how anemic this pass rush looks with all the talent we seemingly have on the outside.

The Bears played us correctly, IMO, on offense most of the game. They'd come out in their base personnel, run the ball like 3 times, then go hurry up so we can't get out of our base personnel, which then completely neutralizes our pass rush since we're rushing Pierce/Henry/Wormley/Suggs. More teams are going to start doing that against us, not that it really matters because we can't generate any sort of pass rush no matter who is on the field.

Judon and Suggs on the edges still aren't dynamic, especially the latter. I'm of the mind that Williams and/or Bowser need to be threatening the edge at all times. Smith lining up on the inside as a pseudo DL isn't going to be effective either. In that spot he needs to be more like a blitzing ILB going behind a couple of DL similar to how McPhee was in his last year with the Ravens. It's not just about throwing out a bunch of pass-rushers, it's putting them and the other guys on the field in the right position to succeed. Which Pees does not do. My ideal lineup would be something like this:

Williams / Henry / Williams / Judon

With Bowser (also playing off-ball LB and blitzing from off-ball), Suggs, and Smith providing depth off the edges and Pierce, Davis, and Ricard being the depth on the inside. Mix it up as needed for different situations. 

Yep my ideal lineup leaves Urban, Kaufusi, and Wormley out. Just not guys that fit what I would like to do. Not saying that I would dump them for nothing, at least the last two since Brent is going to be a free agent, but I think the 5-technique is going the way of the dinosaur if the idea is to get pressure with as few people rushing the QB as possible. It's different is you have a bona fide pass-rushing threat at the 5-technique, but those are rare. And neither Kaufusi or Wormley are that. 

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

Ideally I think I would follow the same thing. I would have one side be the twitch rusher side (rotation of Bowser/Williams), and the other be the "slow guy" side rotation of Suggs/Judon/Smith. 

Inside you can use any variation of DL you want. The thing about this team is we have the capability to throw 5 OLB's out there on 3rd downs and play them anywhere and move them around - but we just don't, and it's so...frustrating. You can't use the excuse that our secondary isn't allowing us to be great up front, because they are. The excuse is that Pees is a garbage coordinator.