As he prepares for the Wild Card Playoffs, NFL Matchup’s Executive Producer shares notes from his study of Week 17 coaching tape of the Ravens offense vs. the Bengals defense.
- Rice 70 yd TD came out of “22” personnel with TE Pitta split at “x”, FB Leach offset strong; Zone run strong with ghost reverse element – Great block by RG Yanda on MLB Maualuga
- Pitta 39 yds on 3rd + 1 came out of “22” personnel, Shot play out of short yardage
- Ravens conservative game plan re: personnel and play calling; A lot of “22” personnel with Pitta aligned both at TE and WR, Focus on run game and low risk passes
- TE Dickson was utilized as the 3rd WR with Smith and Evans
- Bengals “cover zero blitz” on 3rd + 12 from the Bengals 32, Slot corner Clements part of pressure so S Crocker was man-to-man on Smith – Smith 8 yds
- TE Pitta played significant snaps as the 2nd WR detached from the formation
- Pitta a featured player in the Ravens offense, Aligned all over the formation
- Flacco was a complementary player in this game, The run game was the foundation
- Bengals continued to show double “A” gap alignments out of their nickel sub-package
- Rice at times still a tendency to cut back too quickly, Always a more effective runner when he presses downhill and then cuts backs
- Ravens a predominant zone running team, Guards Yanda and Grubbs have shown good athleticism and movement
- Pitta 9 yd TD came out of empty set with “12” personnel, Pitta #2 to 3 receiver side matched on CB Clements – Pitta great corner route
- FB Leach a significant part of the Ravens offense, A high percentage of 2 back sets
- With Boldin inactive for the 2nd consecutive week Evans played 32 snaps, far fewer than he played a week ago versus the Browns
- Johnson the wild card in the Bengals defense, Aligned both in a 3 point stance at DE and in a 2 point stance as a roving LB – Johnson as a LB gives Bengals 3-3-5 look in their nickel sub-package
- Rice 50 yd TD came on 3rd + 1 in the 4th quarter in a 17-13 game, “22” personnel straight “I”; Zone lead with FB Leach excellent lead block on MLB Maualuga – Rice made S Nelson miss in the open field
- Ravens only 20 called passes in this game, Only three 1st + 10 pass calls out of 18 1st + 10 plays