Film Study's notes from Clowns game

[TBird]

It could have been another week to cry “This never was a playoff team.”

Or “The secondary can’t hold up.”

Or perhaps “The injuries were too much.”

But, it wasn’t.

The defense kept the Ravens in the game for 3 quarters and the entire team put together a 4th quarter that overwhelmed the underdog Browns while Kansas City punched the Ravens’ playoff ticket by beating Philip Rivers into submission.

The Ravens enter the postseason a flawed team, but are on par with the other AFC hopefuls in terms of talent.

Who were the Ravens’ defensive standouts on Sunday?

Pernell McPhee had a monster game in just 33 snaps. Here are my notes:

• (Q1, 2:40) Pernell held the left edge vs. Dray as Smith tackled Crowell for a gain of 2.
  
• (Q1, 1:53) He chased down Hawkins for a 5-yard gain on a WR screen to deny a 3rd and 8 conversion.
  
• (Q2, 13:12) He beat Thomas inside to sack Shaw for a loss of 7.
  
• (Q2, 4:03) He held the right edge effectively versus Cameron and Barnidge as Mosley and Williams combined to take down Crowell for a gain of 1.
  
• (Q2, 3:23) Despite whiffing on contact, he pressured Shaw wide as he rolled right and was unable to connect with Gabriel in the end zone. The play allowed Hill and Smith to deliver big hits on the Browns’ receiver.
  
• (Q3, 10:40) McPhee brushed aside Cameron to take down West for a loss of 5.
  
• (Q3, 9:58) On the very next snap, he fought off the block from Cameron and maneuvered through traffic to record his 2nd sack of the day (loss of 2).
  
• (Q3, 5:12) He forced Shaw’s read-option run to the middle where Guy took him down for a gain of 1.
  
• (Q4, 9:18) On 3rd and 4, he absorbed a double team from Bitonio and McDonald. He then moved off laterally to make the initial contact on Shaw who was tackled for a gain of just 1.
  
• (Q4, 7:22) Shaw threw one of his few long passes of the day (incomplete 35 yards down the left sideline) as McPhee beat Schwartz for a QH.
  
• (Q4, 2:31) From ROLB, he stunted inside then leaped high to bat down Shaw’s pass.
  

It will be difficult for the Ravens to keep McPhee, particularly if he contributes to a deep playoff run. A 4th (or even a 3rd) round compensation pick in the 2016 draft will be trivial consolation.

Lawrence Guy had another fine game with a season-high 37 snaps. Here are my notes:

• (Q1, 9:58) He got tackle assist credit on West’s 2 yard run middle.
  
• (Q2, 13:40) He drew a drive-stalling hold on Schwartz to negate West’s 15-yard run right.
  
• (Q3, 13:12) He compressed the front-side pocket versus Schwartz as McPhee beat Thomas for the sack.
  
• (Q2, 6:48) He clung to West as Hill applied the punishment to bring down West for a gain of 4.
  
• (Q3, 11:54) Guy backed up Thomas and Dumervil held off Cameron to force Crowell inside for a gain of just 2 yards.
  
• (Q3, 9:58) For the 3rd time 4 weeks he came close to sack credit and got up dancing. This time it was Pernell McPhee’s dance that was more convincing as he was credited with the sack despite Guy’s initial contact. Don’t worry. We’re noticing.
  
• (Q3, 6:45) He worked off Schwartz to bring down West for a gain of 3. He is listed as the primary in the Gamebook.
  
• (Q3, 5:12) He worked of Bitonio to take down Shaw for a gain of 1 on the read option.
  
• (Q3, 4:30) He beat C McDonald for pressure as Shaw completed a 4-yard pass to Cameron.
  
• (Q3, 3:34) Thomas drove him back effectively to lead West’s 2-yard TD run.
  

Guy had a portion of 6 tackles where the gains were 2, 4, 3, 1, 3, and 2, including 5 defensive wins. On 3 of those he is the first tackler listed, but he didn’t get primary tackle credit on any of those. That’s odd and visual inspection would indicate otherwise. It’s also a bit ironic in light of the 3 near sacks for which he has not received credit.

Other good signs on defense:

• The Ravens finished 2014 with 3.6 YPC allowed. It was their 19th consecutive season with less than 4.0 yards per carry allowed.
  
• By and large, the Ravens made Joe Thomas look bad including sacks allowed to Suggs and McPhee.
  
• The Ravens continue to dip into the defensive line pool successfully and got some good play from Tyson and 9 snaps from Casey Walker.
  
• Rashaan Melvin was targeted 3 more times on defense resulting in a gain of 6 (Q4, 3:34), an incomplete knocked away by Hill underneath (Q4, 7:22), and a defensive holding penalty (Q3, 12:34) which negated his PD in coverage of Hawkins (Q3, 12:34). He made a big play coming off his man to help take down West for a 3-yard loss negated by Upshaw’s personal foul (Q3, 1:00). He’s now allowed 4 completions in 16 times targeted.
  
• The Ravens held the Browns to 59 competitive snaps (excludes 2 kneels) and 4.4 yards per play.
  
• The pass rush returned with 4 sacks, 3 of which occurred with a 4-man rush.
  

…And a few Bad Signs:

• The Ravens received several gifts to win Sunday including drops, missed receivers and a completion that denied a TD because it was well behind the receiver.
  
• They lost coverage in the secondary several times, including the Levine/Hill miss that led to the 49-yard play to Gabriel (Q3, 3:45) which set up the Browns’ only TD.
  
• The Browns had too much success running to the outside, including the 15-yarder that was negated by holding.
  
• Penalties cost the Ravens some big plays. The personal foul call on Upshaw was simply awful (Schwartz literally threw him into Shaw), but after Elam got away with lowering his helmet on the next play, the Ravens had to feel even.
  
• Upshaw surrendered a 1st down by offsides (Q3, 6:01) and rather than take a free shot down the field, Shaw threw a 3-yard completion to Hawkins from a clean pocket.
  

What amazes me about this version of the Ravens’ defense is how balanced it is in terms of contribution.

• McPhee is the Ravens’ defensive MVP on either an aggregate or per-snap basis (47.7% of snaps played this season). He’s been creating the pass rush opportunities that allow Suggs and Dumervil to get home with a 4-man rush and beating doubles inside consistently. In the last 2 weeks he has also stepped up against the run.
  
• Dumervil has provided needed pass rush and set the team record for sacks while playing just 56% of the defensive snaps. I’ve enjoyed his season thoroughly, but when he’s been doing anything besides rushing the passer, he is out of position. He’s had just 8 solo tackles this season that were not sacks.
  
• Suggs has provided rock-solid edge setting and heads-up screen coverage to go with 12 sacks. He fell from 84.1% to 79.1% of snaps this season, but his effectiveness increased.
  
• Will Hill has been the big patch needed in the secondary. He quickly became an every-down player after his 6-game suspension and has been one of the NFL’s best safeties since.
  
• Speaking of suspensions, Haloti Ngata was having one of his best seasons through 12 games before missing the stretch run.
  
• Timmy Jernigan proved to be exactly what the Ravens could have hoped as an explosive inside lineman who played a greatly increased pass-rushing role as the season progressed. His in-season improvement reminds me a lot of how the light went on for Arthur Jones in San Diego, 2012. The difference is, Jones waited until year 3 to emerge. Jernigan has already hit 3rd gear as a rookie.
  
• Smith and Mosley have been complementary ILBs who play essentially every down (96.4% and 98.5% respectively). Mosley deserves many of the accolades he’s getting, but he has a long way to go as a coverage linebacker (and I believe he will get there based on his speed). Smith contributes a little bit of everything, but is most valuable on passing downs.
  
• Webb has had a subpar season that Ravens fans hope can be explained by injury, but he has played better the last 4 weeks and the Ravens will need him to step up during the playoffs.
  
• It is an understatement to say Rashaan Melvin has been “not bad” for the team’s 9th cornerback of the season (I’m including Elam’s play as the nickel). Melvin has emerged to play at a striking level for 3 weeks with the press coverage skills necessary to maximize the team’s pass rush strength. He’s not one of the “near MVP’s” by any stretch, but he appears capable of playing well in the postseason.
  
• Finally, Brandon Williams has blossomed into one of the league’s premiere run-stuffing nose tackles. His snaps increased from 83 (8.2%) to 516 (50.3%) including a heavier workload since Ngata’s suspension.
  

The Ravens now have 5 young defenders who have performed well and have ceilings that I can’t yet see (Mosley, Jernigan, Williams, Melvin, Hill). It’s unusual for any franchise to have so many potential stars still in their low cap years.

Share This Share on

[vmax]

I appreciate this fans work. I don't know where he posts, but thank him from me.

 

Guy has been on my radar since I first saw him on the field. I went from "Who is this guy?" to "Are the Ravens that thin?" to "Hey! He's playing steady and holding his own" to "Hey! You can't intimidate this Guy and he has a ton of heart and desire."

Lunch pail player. Does the dirty work.

 

Melvin and Hill seem to have stopped the bleeding some, and if Webby can step it up a little more, then the Ravens have a decent band aid considering the huge amount of players they had to replace.

[TBird]

Will do, man.

 

Film Study resides on 24x7 as a feature writer and he posts his grades on Sunspot and Scout.

 

He played college football at Syracuse and resides in Bmore in the insurance industry. You should see his

man cave where he does his writing. We posted pics of our caves one day and he has two large screens on the

wall and 7 lap tops.

[oldno82]

I guess he has 7 laptops for backup insurance...

[cravnravn]

I guess he has 7 laptops for backup insurance...

Or 7 porn sites :P

[tsylvester]

Don't mean to toot my own horn but I've been telling you about McPhee since he came into the league; beast. They need to lock him up even if they have to get rid of Ngata to do it, he has all the tools and the motivation to be a DMVP and if he stays healthy and driven, a Hall of Famer, yes, I said it.

[TBird]

Don't mean to toot my own horn but I've been telling you about McPhee since he came into the league; beast. They need to lock him up even if they have to get rid of Ngata to do it, he has all the tools and the motivation to be a DMVP and if he stays healthy and driven, a Hall of Famer, yes, I said it.

Exactly right but I disagree about the Ngata part.

[tsylvester]

Exactly right but I disagree about the Ngata part.

 

 

These past four games have shown they have the talent, young talent, cheap talent, to be very good without Ngata. I love the guy, he is a great player, but McPhee is far more upside.

[TBird]

One thing's for sure. WE need Ngata tonight and his legs are fresh from the time off but if Ravens

cut him next year you're talking about an $8M CAP hit in dead money, I think it's that.

[RavenMad]

One thing's for sure. WE need Ngata tonight and his legs are fresh from the time off but if Ravens

cut him next year you're talking about an $8M CAP hit in dead money, I think it's that.

It's $7.5m dead money but we actually would have cap savings of $8.5m if we cut him in the offseason. His cap number for 2015 is $16m. He's gone in the offseason unless he takes a huge pay cut.

[oldno82]

It's $7.5m dead money but we actually would have cap savings of $8.5m if we cut him in the offseason. His cap number for 2015 is $16m. He's gone in the offseason unless he takes a huge pay cut.

Agree with that. Too much money for a defensive lineman.

[TBird]

I said about $8M in CAP savings w/o looking it up but that's still a lot of dead money.

 

Ngata will be back. He proved what a force he still is last night with Jernigan out. He had fresh

legs. Jernigan can't bull rush like Ngata can.

 

He was a big reason for the pressure on Jen with 5 sacks and someone broke thru the line

and got into Jen's face on the 2 pt conversion try forcing her to throw late allowing Elam to

intercept the ball.

 

I think that was Ngata.

[oldno82]

No question he had a big game but he'll have to take a cut or restructure to stay here.

[TBird]

He probably will if asked. Oz made the point trading Boldin. Then Suggs re-signed and Ngata will too if he wants

to stay.

 

He had a sack and was responsible for Brandon's sack too. He pushed two guys back into Jen all night long and

so did Brandon. Jernigan requires two blockers also but is more of a finess and moves guy.

[RavenMad]

He probably will if asked. Oz made the point trading Boldin. Then Suggs re-signed and Ngata will too if he wants

to stay.

 

He had a sack and was responsible for Brandon's sack too. He pushed two guys back into Jen all night long and

so did Brandon. Jernigan requires two blockers also but is more of a finess and moves guy.

He was approached last offseason and wouldn't do it. That said Ozzie has more leverage now with Williams and Jernigan looking good. I would rather spend the money on resigning McPhee than keep Ngata at a $16m cap number.

[GrubberRaven]

McPhee has injury problems though, doesn't he?

[tsylvester]

McPhee has injury problems though, doesn't he?

 

 

No, he has been healthy, as much as one can be playing the MANY positions he plays. He has gotten better each year. Whether they play him at nose, at tackle in the 4-3, or at end. He is a beast and shuts down a side of the field when they play him at end because of his height. If he played there full time, he would have many more batted balls. Quite the verisitle player. The question will be how much he wants.

 

With Suh going on the market and Watt setting the bar, this could be interesting.

 

One thing I will say, the scouts & front office have never had a problem finding and developing defensive tackles/ends.

[TBird]

He was approached last offseason and wouldn't do it. That said Ozzie has more leverage now with Williams and Jernigan looking good. I would rather spend the money on resigning McPhee than keep Ngata at a $16m cap number.

Yea, but this year is different with his suspension. He'll have to consider it if he wants to stay. Yea, it's a lot of money but

we got into the POs with his and Joe's CAP hit.