Beating Baltimore: A Guide to Defeating the Greatest Team in Red Zone History

by adelfish | 7 years ago | 0 Comments

Beating Baltimore – A Quick Guide to Defeating the Greatest Team in Red Zone History

Week 4, Season 42. That was the last time the Baltimore Ravens lost. In fact, there are some very interesting things about Week 4, Season 42. Let’s just compile them into a list before we get started. Week 4, Season 42, was the last time…

- The Baltimore Ravens lost a regular season game

- The Baltimore Ravens scored less than 10 points in a regular season game

Week 4, Season 42 also has significance in other ways. The Baltimore Ravens have allowed 27 points 3 times since that game. They’ve won all 3 of them by 10 or more points. The Baltimore Ravens have scored 7 points in a game just once since then – that was RZ Bowl 42, in which they defeated the San Francisco 49ers 7-0. Since then, the Ravens are a perfect 32-0 (including last night’s 30-0 shutout of the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs), and haven’t looked back. The Ravens are the defending champs, winning last season’s championship with the aforementioned 7-0 shutout of the 49ers, and seem to be on a collision course with their third trophy. They are the first team in the history of the Red Zone to complete two perfect seasons in a cycle, and have developed one of the greatest rosters we’ve ever seen, certainly the greatest we’ve seen under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Just to make you spit out your coffee, let’s take a look at the absurdity that this group brings to the table every single week, starting with their point differential. They score an average of 38 points per game, meaning that this offense nearly averages 40 points per game. The 2013 Denver Broncos, considered the greatest offense of all time, averaged 36.1 points per game. The Ravens are flat out 2 points better than they are. Factor in that this defense allows 10 points per game, consistently. That is their average – 10 points per game. If you are a little slow on following me here, or have started skimming already because you saw an article about the Ravens and you checked out – let me explain. The Baltimore Ravens win games by an average of 28 points per game.

They don’t just beat you, they don’t just walk on to the field knowing they are better than you – they destroy you. They are the kind of team that gets coaches in their division fired, they are the kind of team that others study to try and emulate, they are the kind of team that a 5th round athletic prospect hopes to see the 21230 zip code on their phone on draft night. They steal the lunch money of the AFC, and have proven twice that they can handle what the NFC has to offer on the biggest stage.

As they have ascended, they have left the other 15 teams in the AFC wondering what they need to do to change the guard, and I’m here today to help them. Not to provide a know-all, be-all formula to knocking off the Birds, but to push them in the right direction. Take this as a CliffNotes version of your senior year thesis, or the notes you scribbled with ink on the back of your hand that you peer at during your final exam. Print this out, memorize it. Stick it on your fridge, record it word for word and podcast it on your drive to work. Regardless of how you do it, I don’t care – just make an effort. The league is counting on you.

Without further ado, enjoy the ways I think are possible to besting Goliath in a conference full of David’s.

#1 – Stopping Quarterback (and Personnel) Immortality

‘Haskins is the guy, for sure. If he stays healthy, we could have been looking at a team that hasn’t lost a single game in 3 seasons. We were pretty decent with Flacco under center, but Haskins has been the key guy to get the edge over the competition.’ – Coach Astin

Eric Haskins is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the league, and it’s starting to become ridiculous. He has three 4000+ yard seasons, and one 5000+ yard season. He has never thrown more than 14 interceptions in an entire season, and has thrown touchdown numbers of 44, 36, 31, and 40 since his rookie season. His completion percentage LOW is 62%, and has steadily climbed from 66, 68, 72, and 73. To put it lightly, he is a machine.

So how is it that you can slow down Haskins? Well, the first step is to knock him out of the game. In the 27-7 loss to Jacksonville almost 30 games ago, the Jaguars injured Haskins early on, forcing Baltimore’s backup into the game against a ferocious Jaguars defense. Haskins also threw an interception in that game, one of thirteen he threw that season (take out a 5 interception anomaly against the Broncos, he throws eight picks in fifteen games). The Jaguars roll, the Ravens face adversity for the first time in months, and they still end up wearing the glass slipper in February. In the two games that Haskins lead offenses have scored 7 points or less, he has either been injured, or the opposing defense held him to 1 touchdown, and forced a turnover. The key to this Ravens offense has, and always will be, the passing game deep downfield. It sets up their run game that was completely diseased until the arrival of Pappas Hubbard. In these two games, Haskins was also sacked a fair amount of times. On his 4 total drop backs against Jacksonville, he was sacked once – against San Francisco in the championship, he was sacked 6 times.

The only way to disrupt this offense, and stop them from scoring more than their projected 38 points a game, is to hit Haskins early and often, and to force him to hold the football. Now this task is easier written than done, because the All-Pro Great Wall of Baltimore lies between you and putting your hands on the franchise quarterback. All-Pro blockers like Gordon Snyder, Josh Stratton, and others lead the way for this all-time offense, and they pave the roadways.

Not only that, this offense has receivers that break press, run perfect timing routes, and can outrun any linebacker in space, a running back who is as dual-threat as they come, and most of all – depth. They give Haskins a surplus of weapons to work with, and that has led to this run of dominance. So you’re probably coming this far, still wondering how you stop them. Well, you truly can’t.

In those two games we mentioned above, one was a complete aberration due to the injury to Haskins (but it showed a small section of the blueprint), and the other was executed perfectly. The Ravens execute a gameplan better than most, and the first part of that plan is getting Haskins and the intermediate to deep ball passing game working early and often, to take pressure off of the offensive line. This leads to soft coverage to protect the safeties, running lanes for Hubbard, and all the time in the world for this offensive line to eat against four man rushes – and once this starts, you can’t stop it. You have the most accurate and efficient quarterback in Red Zone history standing upright, picking apart your base cover 3 and cover 2 defense.

#2 – The Right Pieces

‘The Jets always play us tough, and had our number early on. The Dolphins, in most cases, matched up well too and we have had many close games. Surprisingly, the Bills haven’t matched up very well against us and we hope it stays that way, but they are a gritty team and it wouldn’t surprise us if we end up losing one to them before the end. As for the NFC, the Giants victory over us was more us not playing well, and them capitalizing on that. The Minnesota Check Downs, err..I mean the Vikings gave us a fit with trying to contain McCaffrey. And of course, those Eagles teams of old.’ – Coach Astin

Reading into this gives clues into what this team worries about when they face a tough opponent, or an opponent they know is going to give them problems. - Big, fast cornerbacks - Running backs that are a pass game threat - Athletic pass rushers The formula in beating the Ravens lies in that combination of personnel. With the Jets, you had corners that could contain Knox and company, forcing Haskins to take chances against an elite secondary. With the Dolphins, you had a pass rush featuring Francis Bedell, who is a gamebreaker in every context of the term. The Bills have a defense that has combinations, but lacking someone who can wreck a game for the opposition (especially after last night’s injuries).

The Vikings had a combination of that, with McCaffrey burning the Ravens in two consecutive games, and a group of corners who were able to keep up with this offense. Something is in common with all these mentioned teams (maybe exception of Buffalo), and it isn’t just the personnel – these are the last remaining teams to have beaten a Haskins-led Ravens team. A team that can eliminate the pass rush of Parkey and company, by making the right reads in the short passing game, and in turn force Haskins to rely more on the short game has a real chance to defeat Baltimore.

#3 – Executing a Gameplan, and Staying the Course

‘When we took over the Ravens, we wanted to win in the trenches first and foremost. Our first three drafts were all offensive and defensive lineman mostly. If you don’t have lineman, it doesn’t matter. You won’t be successful in any aspect of your gameplan. As for the defensive line, we wanted to be able to get pressure with only bringing 4-5 guys at a time, allowing us to improve our coverage downfield.’ – Coach Astin

They have a plan, and they stick to it. This is just a front office philosophy, but it carries to every corner of the franchise. Why do you think this team is an assembly line? It’s because the develop talent in house, and train them the Raven way every single time, no exceptions. The way to beat them, is executing on the gameplan and sticking to it. You need the personnel, and if you have that it’s half the battle. Putting those players in the right situation will slow down this offense, and frustrate their defense.

They win every game at the line of scrimmage, as they intended to five years ago, and the only way to reverse it is to eliminate the timing of their offense. Like any good machine, any interruption in it’s design throws it off course. Utilizing short routes to disrupt the pass rush, and forcing Haskins to make tough throws against press coverage, and in turn getting the pass rush involved along with that press defense, is what can lead to a victory.

Do I think any team remaining in the playoffs has the recipe to do this? Yes, but it is highly unlikely. My best advice? Sit back and enjoy this, because it’s rare you see dominance this often.