Ravens Fail to Adjust to Giants Pressure

Offensive Line Scoring & Notes vs. Giants

The offensive line had a solid game, but the Giants continued to pressure Flacco with schemes, overloads, and numbers.

Let’s start with the metrics and come back to some analysis.

Here are Joe’s results against the Giants with and without Ample Time and Space (ATS):

Summarizing his results relative to expectation:

Summarizing the Giants pass rush by numbers and ATS:

Some notes:

–Flacco had a rare inverted game where he threw better without ATS. That’s happened just a handful of times since 2010. Joe’s 4 longest completions (41, 18, 70, and 22 yards) all came with pressure.

–When the Giants rushed 5 or more, the Ravens were able to provide ATS on just 2 of 15 drop backs.

–The Ravens gained just 56 yards on those pays, most of which came on Flacco’s 41-yard bomb to Perriman (Q1, 14:15).

–You’ll notice from the scoring below that the offensive line had solid overall grades despite 3 penalties and just 40% ATS. In part, that’s because West surrendered 2 pressures, and the Giants had another 5.5 pressures, 1 QH, and ½ sack by players who were not accounted for due to scheme/numbers.

–This was a case where the Ravens needed a better in-game adjustment to pick up blitzes.

–While Flacco has had just 42% ATS during the 3-game losing streak, opponents have enjoyed 67% ATS versus the Ravens’ defense.

Offensive Line Scoring

The Ravens ran 76 scored snaps versus the Giants (excludes penalties).

Lewis: Alex played his second consecutive game at LT and struggled against Jason Pierre-Paul (JPP). He was flagged twice and surrendered portions of 7 pressure events, all to JPP. In racing form:

–(Q1, 3:51): Allows JPP to bat down pass

–(Q2, 8:09): Beaten outside by JPP for partial penetration on RM-1

–(Q3, 3:09): Beaten inside by JPP for pressure

–(Q3, 2:10): Beaten outside by JPP for QH

–(Q4, 9:25): Beaten inside b JPP for 3-way shared QH

–(Q4, 0:58): Beaten outside by JPP for pressure shared with Urschel

–(Q4, 0:32): Beaten outside by JPP for pressure

–(Q4, 0:27): Bulled by JPP for pressure

He was also flagged for a hold when beaten inside by JPP and committed a false start on the next play to stall the first drive of Q3.   He had 2 blocks in level 2 and had 2 highlight run blocks, both by driving JPP back 5+ yards. I remain impressed with Lewis as a run blocker.

Scoring: 76 plays, 65 blocks, 3 missed, 0.5 penetration, 4.5 pressures, .33 QH, 1 offensive holding, 1 false start, 45 points (.59 per play). With adjustment for quality of competition, that’s a D, a repeat of his first game at LT.

Urschel: John had an improved showing in his second straight start at LG. He was bulled by Okwara for his only solo pressure event (Q1, 12:25) and later had a false start that helped stall the opening drive. Thereafter, however, he allowed just parts of 2 negative events the remainder of the game. He had 4 blocks in level 2 and delivered 1 pancake. His highlight was a combination on Harrison, then Casillas, on West’s 5-yard run that converted 3^rd and 3 (Q1, 8:46). He took over at center when Zuttah was sidelined for 1 play.

Scoring: 76 plays, 70 blocks, 3 missed, 1.5 pressures, 1/3 QH, 1 false start, 63 points (.83 per play). That’s a B after adjustment for opponent quality.

Zuttah: Jeremy again played his best game of the season. He had just 1 negative score for a half pressure allowed to Harrison. He made 6 of 9 blocks in level 2, had 1 pancake, and had 2 highlights, including a nice combination to lead West’s 6-yard run (Q1, 13:37). His total of 6 missed blocks is high for a center. However, those broke down as 3 misses in level 2, a missed pull, and 2 occasions where he was backed up significantly (1 pass, 1 run). The latter category is the most significant concern.

Scoring: 75 plays, 68 blocks, 6 missed, 1/2 pressure, 67 points (.89 per play). Including adjustment for quality of competition, that’s an A- at center.

Jensen: Ryan again played well. He surrendered the initial pressure to Harrison which led to Hankins’ 4-yard sack (Q1, 1:06). He also allowed Hankins to penetrate to take down West for a loss of 1 (Q1, 13:04). He had 5 blocks in level 2 and 2 pancakes. He made another addition to his career highlight video with a 3-for-1 cut block of Hankins which also led to Vernon and Robinson going down on West’s 33-yard run (Q2, 14:42).

Scoring: 76 plays, 70 blocks, 3 missed, 1 penetration, 1/2 pressure, 1 sack, 61 points (.80 per play). That’s a B- after adjustment at guard.

Hurst: James had a decent game at RT, primarily versus Vernon. I charged him with half of Collins’ sack (Q2, 1:22). On that play, it appears he squares up to block Vernon, but Allen takes an outside path to pick him up squarely while both Collins and Sheppard blitzed the right B gap unblocked. It’s quite possible Allen blocked the wrong man, but Hurst still needed to pick up someone rushing inside and let Vernon go. As it was, Hurst simply stared flatfooted without a block. He made 5 blocks in level 2, pulled successfully twice, and had pancake. He missed 8 blocks, which included 3 missed cuts on the back side of run plays, 2 misses in level 2, and 3 plays where he was beaten/bulled/shed for backfield penetration.

Scoring: 76 plays, 62 blocks, 8 missed, 3.5 pressures, 1/3 QH, 1/2 sack, 51 points (.67 per play). That’s a C after adjustment.

Ducasse: Vlad entered for 1 play at LG and made his block.

If you’re interested in seeing scoring trends for the players this season, these charts will be updated weekly.

The Ravens were hurt by uncertainty of their tackle situation this week when they released Chris Carter and signed Billy Turner when the Dolphins waived him. Carter was a core special teams player and played both ILB and OLB during the preseason. It’s not a stretch to see the team needing him at either position at some point this season. Turner was released before the game. The coaches may have seen something they didn’t like in practice. However, it’s also possible they made the decision based on Wagner’s ability to suit up.

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