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How to beat the Ravens: Defy logic, pass early
Jan. 26, 2001
By Len Pasquarelli
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
TAMPA, Fla. -- During its record-breaking season of dominance, a year when
it surrendered the fewest points and least rushing yards since the NFL
adopted a 16-game schedule, the Baltimore Ravens defense defied opponents
to try to match the unit's aggressive persona.
Few succeeded and most who tried to slug it out toe-to-toe with the Ravens
front seven wound up with lumps on their heads and losses on their resume.
And so to top the Ravens defense in Super Bowl XXXV on Sunday evening, at
least according to several players and coaches surveyed by SportsLine.com,
the New York Giants probably have to defy the conventional wisdom inherent
to what most observers feel will be a tight game.
Run the ball when logic dictates and, no matter
the score, the game could be a close encounter
of the worst kind for the Giants offense. Throw in
long-yardage situations, and quarterback Kerry
Collins is apt to find the pocket more pressurized
than an airplane cabin. In sum, the players and
coaches who have scrutinized the Baltimore
defense either up-close and personal or via
videotape study, insist the Giants can't rely on
the standard down-and-distance formulas for play
calling.
"No matter how big your (guts), sometimes you
have to slay the dragon with guile," said former
Cleveland Browns coach Chris Palmer. "You're
not going to make a living, for instance, if you
just try to run inside on them every first down.
Because the Ravens probably won't score a lot of
points, either, it's easy to fall into the
conservative trap and just try to keep the game
close. But that plays right into their hands. It's what they expect you to do."
And so what Giants offensive coordinator Sean Payton might consider, said
the panel interviewed by SportsLine.com, is a sort of unconventional approach
to confronting a Baltimore defense that is certain to be in attack mode from
the opening snap. Translation: Throw on early downs and then run in
third-and-long situations.
It is, in retrospect, an offensive paradigm that realized some success against
the Ravens this year. In only three games -- ironically all victories, over
Jacksonville, Tennessee and the New York Jets -- did the Baltimore defense
surrender 20 points or more. And all three of those opponents had a much
higher pass-play ratio in first-and-10 situations when they faced the Ravens
than they did over the rest of the season.
Quarterbacks Steve McNair (Titans), Mark Brunell (Jaguars) and Vinny
Testaverde (Jets) threw a combined 57 passes in first-and-10 situations,
completing 35 of them for 347 yards. Those stats might not define the term
"roaring success," but do represent a 61.4 percent completion rate and 6.09
yards per pass play. Over the course of the season, the Ravens permitted a
55.9 completion rate and 6.01 yards per attempt.
One offensive coordinator from an AFC Central team, who twice game-planned
for the Ravens defense this year, told SportsLine.com that Baltimore
cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Duane Starks play "significantly" more
man-to-man coverage on first down and are more vulnerable to quick, outside
routes. On third down or in any long-yardage situations, he said, the Ravens
are more apt to play straight zone or combination coverages that force the
quarterback to hold the ball longer and expose him to the Baltimore pass
rush.
Especially when he is in man-to-man coverage, McAlister is prone to gamble
on the big play, to bite on the play-fake and try to jump the route for an
interception, and that means a receiver can beat him upfield with a
double-move.
"The corners are aggressive in early downs," said Jets quarterback Vinny
Testaverde, who led an offense that posted 22 first downs and 524 yards
against the Baltimore defense. "You really have to take advantage of their
eagerness. They'll come up and press your receivers on first down. On third
(down), they're going to back off and play it more safe. The best time to get
them is on the early downs."
Word is that Payton, one of the game's bright, young coordinators, has
spoken with former Jets offensive coordinator Dan Henning about the way he
attacked the Ravens. There apparently have been conversations between New
York staffers and assistants they know from some AFC Central teams who
prepare twice annually to confront the Baltimore defense. Most agree it pays
to throw early against the Baltimore secondary and cite another reason: On
first down, the Ravens have their base 4-3 defense on the field and don't rush
the quarterback nearly as well.
By throwing on first down, coaches pointed out to SportsLine.com, it forces
the Ravens tackles to rush the quarterback. At 350 pounds-plus apiece,
tackles Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa are not accustomed to sprinting after
the quarterback. The tandem combined for just two sacks during the season
and their conditioning can be eroded by forcing them to play the pass instead
of the run.
Said Oakland Raiders offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy: "Even on third down,
they're not as good rushing the quarterback as they are perceived to be. But
they do get the tackles out of the game on third down, move (defensive end)
Rob Burnett inside and then put (linebacker) Peter Boulware up at end to rush
the passer. You want to avoid that because Burnett is sometimes too quick
for most guards and Boulware can still come hard off the edge. So the key is
to make them play your passing game with their base people, not allow them
to substitute."
On their opening two possessions of a 34-20 loss at Baltimore in the season
finale, the Jets used a no-huddle offense that precluded the Ravens from
substituting. The result was a pair of 70-yard touchdown drives that consumed
less than four minutes total. The ploy forced strong safety Kim Herring, a
liability in pass coverage, to stay on the field. It meant that the Ravens
couldn't get nickel cornerback Robert Bailey into the game. And it left
Siragusa and Adams winded for much of the first half.
Payton isn't likely, some Giants players told SportsLine.com, to use the
no-huddle. But he will try to hasten the pace of the game, get the New York
offense out of the huddle quicker, force the tempo a little bit. "Anything to
keep them from just sitting back and knowing everything you're going to do,"
said Giants wide receiver Ike Hilliard.
The Ravens had 35 sacks in 2000, actually 14 fewer than in 1999, but they
still place an emphasis on collapsing the pocket on third-and-long. Middle
linebacker Ray Lewis will occasionally blitz from the inside and the Ravens
threw a changeup at the Raiders in the AFC Championship Game by rushing
weakside linebacker Jamie Sharper on seven different occasions.
If the Giants do throw on third down, they are probably wiser to attack the
perimeter and the sidelines, rather than the middle of the field. Despite a lack
of size, Bailey is a terrific third-down defender in the slot. Venerable free
safety Rod Woodson, who plays a lot of zone now, will attack the ball on third
down and still has the ability to turn a quarterback's overthrow into a
touchdown.
Of the Ravens' 23 interceptions during the regular season, 14 came in
third-and-long situations. Testaverde threw three interceptions against
Baltimore and they came on third-and-7, second-and-10 and second-and-8, all
obvious passing situations. Of the two interceptions Brunell threw, one was on
a fourth-and-14. The Giants would do well to remember that discretion is the
better part of valor.
"It's not a sin to run the ball at them on third-and-long," said Jacksonville wide
receiver Jimmy Smith. "Sometimes they'll overpursue and create a gap for
you. But the other thing is this: You are better off sometimes just punting the
ball to them and forcing their offense to play to a long field. If you turn the ball
over to them on third down, they've shortened the field for the offense and now
you've put your own defense in a bind."
Indeed, the natural attack instinct is to try to convert the long third-down play,
but statistics indicate that a punt might be the better option. Said one NFC
West coach: "It's not like you're punting the ball to the Rams or someone like
that. It's the Ravens, for gosh sakes, and they're not going to have too many
80-yard drives now, are they? You have to win the field-position battle against
them and, hard as it is to accept, sometimes that means playing it safe on
third down."
While the Ravens have permitted just 16 points in three postseason victories,
their own offense has not been especially productive. The big plays have
come from tight end Shannon Sharpe and of his three receptions of 50-plus
yards, one came against a busted coverage and another when Oakland strong
safety Marquez Pope took a poor angle on the ball.
Indeed, the Baltimore offense has had 40 possessions in the playoffs and on
just one of those series managed more than a pair of first downs. Twenty of
the possessions ended in zero first downs and a punt. The Giants are familiar
with those numbers and one offensive assistant noted Thursday that New
York "won't get too cute" on third down and "shoot ourselves in the foot."
When the Giants do run the football, look for them to concentrate on trying to
hammer it at Adams, who is less disciplined than Siragusa and will
sometimes run himself right out of a play. The game plan calls for only small
doses of rookie tailback Ron Dayne, who is simply too slow to the hole to be
truly successful against a front seven that closes as quickly on the play as
does the Baltimore unit. Instead it will be tailback Tiki Barber who could hold
the key to the Giants plans in the running and, to some extent, the passing
game.
Barber has been tentative in the playoffs, the by-product of a broken left
forearm that he knows the Ravens will try to hit early and often. Barber will run
some inside but New York will attempt to get him out into the flats, or up the
field on circle routes. The intent is to make the Ravens linebackers, and in
particular Lewis, play more in space, where they are not as effective. Despite
his interception return for a touchdown in the playoff victory at Tennessee, the
human tackling machine is not a strong pass defender. The videotape of the
Titans game indicated that Lewis was out of position on his interception and
only made the play because Tennessee tailback Eddie George tipped the ball
to him.
To force the Baltimore linebackers to defend the pass -- Boulware is only an
average player when forced to backpedal as well -- the Giants might spread
the field more than usual. Barber probably will be aligned in the slot at times,
or go in motion out of the backfield. On third down, of course, the Giants will
use a third receiver instead of a tight end. But look for three-wideout sets on
some of the early downs as well.
"There's always a tradeoff in spreading the field, because you leave your
quarterback vulnerable to the blitz," said Jets offensive line coach Bill Muir.
"But sometimes it's worth the gamble. We did it and found out that we could
identify their blitzes a lot better, that the quarterback actually had a better
look at where the pass rush was coming from. I think even they might admit
they are not quite as good when you spread them out. Of course, they're still
plenty good."
For all the advice the Giants have solicited and received, for all the videotape
they have watched, and for all the diligence in trying to dictate matchup
advantages, the key to beating the Ravens is still going to be execution. From
talking with New York coaches and players, it appears the team has a solid
and diverse game plan that is well-balanced in terms of risk and reward. Given
the 41-point outburst against Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game, the
New York offense is very confident of itself and feels it has uncovered some
spots it can exploit.
But dissecting the Baltimore defense in the film room and carving it up on the
field, Collins said, are two different things.
"It's a good game plan," he said. "We feel we know them well. But you've still
got to go out and do it, not just think about doing it, and that's the bottom
line." |
