This thread last week for the Pats was fun. There was some great ideas presented, so let's do it again for the Ravens. The Ravens offense is not so scary, with one exception: proven Jet-killer Wilis McGahee. I was jumping for joy when he left the division, as he always seems to run at will against this defense. Cheating Rhodes up tight is a no-brainer here. As far as their passing game, they don't really have much of one. I'm not sure who is evenplaying QB right now, but it looked last I saw as if Boller would be getting the nod due to another McNair injury. Neither QB really scares me much, though. Boller has had decent numbers against us, but I would just play a lot of man coverage here and keep Rhodes in. Also, their OL is really banged up, so we should be able to get pressure with just four, but considering the weak pass rush we have, it may take some blitzing anyway. Attacking the Ravens defense is another story. The big matchup here is Mangold v Ngata. I know KurtTheJetsFan and other OL guys will enjoy this one. Also, it sounds as if Lewis is going to be out for a while if he tore a tricept. They still have an excellent core of linebackers, and don't forget all world Ed Reed. Best to just try and avoid throwing wherever he is. He has a knack for making a spectacular play just when his team needs one. Anyone see his punt return Monday night? Remember his INT return against us? So how do we attack this defense? For starters (and please remember I am not a Chad hater), I think it will help to have a stronger arm in there. However, that can easily be negated by a failure to be able to read the defense. I guess we'll see where Clemens is, eh? From what I saw of the Monday night game, it appeared that the Ravens are somewhat suseptible to the long ball, so maybe we should give that a try. Anyway, what do you tacticians think our team should do to win this week?
On defense, load up against the run and try to make Boller beat you with his arm. If you can get them into 2d and long and 3d and long, you can blitz him and try to force some turnovers. On offense, use the running game to set up the deep play action pass. The Ravens' defense is aggressive, and if we can keep them honest with some draws and some play action, we might be able to get the ball down the field and get some single coverage on the outside and hit some big plays.
Figure out who they are trying to shut down in the passing game and throw to the other guys. Chris McAlister is going to be on Laveranues Coles and Samari Rolle probably on Cotchery. At this point that looks like Cotchery is the best option. With Lewis out I would be throwing up the seams to Chris Baker a lot also. Ed Reed is dangerous on patrol in the center but you have to take your shots. Running wise I'd just give Thomas Jones the token 5 or 8 carries to show that we can't run on them (hopefully spread out some so we don't have 4 3 and outs on our first 4 drives) and then use Washington mainly after that in the trap, misdirection, screen role that he has played very effectively against aggressive offenses recently. If Kellen Clemens doesn't get 12-15 throws in the first half and many of them on first down the Jets are doing something wrong. They have to be able to pass against this defense or the offense will just grind to a total standstill as the running game gets locked up at the line. On defense I think the Jets need 8 men in the box to shut down the running game as best they can and dare whoever is back there to beat them with their arm. This is a tough game and the Jets aren't going to win it by playing safe containment football, they'll just turn it into a progression loss that gets a little bit worse with each passing minute if they try that.
Off the top of my head: Defense: Stick with the base 3-4, or hybrid of that we seem to play, and try and keep them in 2nd and 7s all day. This would mean playing Pouha and Harris on first down. They will be expecting us to stack the run on anything better than 2nd and 8, so I would play a spread, keeping LBs in a drop-zone and frequently blitzing DBs on 2nd and long and third and long. Blanket Heap with Kerry, this way you can bring him up to the line and send him in on the QB a few times (they did not do enough of this against Pats). The knock on Boller (assuming McNair is a no go), or at least my knock, is he only sees one side of the field, much like Carr, so blitz his blind side frequently. Just make him feel the pressure, he will throw a pick. If McNair plays I would not blitz as often, maybe some delay blitzes, but we must play it by ear, if the loss of Ogden allows us to penetrate by sending 5, then do so, if they are max protecting, take away the receivers and play lots of nickel keeping speed on the field, WE CANNOT ALLOW the deep ball. If you play nickel formations, you must take this away, or you may as well get blitz happy. Offense: T. Jones, T. Jones, T. Jones. L.Washington...play action. They will be licking their brains trying to devour Kellen, keep them off balance, run on 1st and 2nd downs religously and be patient. Keep it a low scoring football game. Then on first down late in the 2nd Qt. let Kellen air one or two out, then open up the gameplan. I would like to see some creativity in getting the ball into Washingtons hands in space, same for Smith, these guys always seem to find YAC. Baker should be big this week too, find him in the seem to keep the safety off our wideouts, they will be looking to get after Kellen on third and long, and if we send Baker into the seem, this could leave Cotch in single coverage..i will take that any day.
Offense: Get Clemens throwing early. First drive let him air it out. He seems to have a great connection with Justin McCariens. As stated earlier, Coles and Cotchery should be well covered which should give McCariens and Baker room to operate. If needed, get Brad Smith under center and line Clemens up as a receiver. This week i think the trick plays come out If Ray Lewis is not able to play sunday, get TJ the ball alot and put a FB in front of him. His bang up in the middle style should allow him to break a few big ones and will also help out the play action. Use Leon for screens and occasional misdirections only. This game is one the reason we brought in a workhorse to pound the ball, especially if there is no Lewis Eliminate pre play penalties. It will be very loud in Baltimore and the line needs to be well aware of the counts. We cannot afford 5 yard mistakes. Defense: BLITZ BLITZ BLITZ!!!. If anyone saw what Cincinnatti did to Boller, we just should mimic that style. Pressure causes mistakes which Boller is prone to. Sit a LB 5 yrs off the LOS and force Boller to make a bad throw. Plug the middle and force Willis to run outside. He is most dangerous when he gets a head of steam and can make a quick cut. Revis and Dyson, and Barrett (for the most part) are good tacklers and should have enough time to come up and limit the amount of yards he gets. Do not let Todd Heap beat you. The guy always seems to find open spots in the zone and up the seams. Most of you will hate me for saying this but i think Justin Miller is a good mark for Heap. Speed wise they match up well and if Miller can deliver a big hit early (if he plays) he will set the tone ST: Tackle tackle tackle and dont allow the big one. Also hope that Revis returning punts can put us in good field position for KC to start drives.
Seemed like the Bengal got alot of open holes up the middle as the game wore on . The pass defense obviously was spotty. I prey they Try using leon on some screens and Tjones on some off tackle running (Use them doing what they are good at) I will keep saying this over and over but Kevin Barlow found nothing up the middle and neither will Thomas Jones . If Kellen Starts then the Better stretch that feild and keep these guy honest. Im Pretty sure Mcnair will start(The Bionic Man) so we will have to be extra sharp in the secondary . Oh By the way watch out for any camera men not filming the game!!!
I just got a great idea on how to suceed on offense! We could strategically place cameramen around the field and videotape their signals on defense. Man am I good, I bet you this one is good enough to win a few superbowls:wink:
Why was Barnes inactive last week. From what I saw Kowalewski got no push on the guy he was block, but was barely able to hold his ground. This leads to my Point. Bigger bodies and better blocking in the ground game. An extra TE and better fullback play would be a start. Working out of Empty sets gives the QB lots of options, but is not helping our pass protection. Use less of a spread offense this week. Make the TE chip and then set up as a safety valve. Go down filed more. We have the weapons, make use of them. On Defense: Make your tackles! This alone kills a drive or two last week. Being physically out matched is one thing, but sloppy play is unforegiveable. Blitz. If the LB's can't get it done, try a safty or a corner. No more cushion. I could not tell if it was 5 yards, 10 or 20 the CB's where staying off the line, what ever it was it was far too much. Get up there and get a hand on the receiver.
Some good stuff so far. Lots of calls for blitzes, though, and that scares me because of McGahee. He kills the Jets every single time he plays us.
Tony if we hold mc-gay-he to 90 yards that a good day on the field! We have to produce scoring drives. If Chad is hobbled and cant throw off the foot. Then playing him in my oppion is conceding defeat. All we will see are little dump off's (again) and I’m almost sure is mechanics will be compromised unless they pump him up with morphine for the pain! We have five tight ends on the roster let’s deploy multiple sets to open up the field. With a hobbled Chad does anyone think they will back pedal to try and cover; no they will be coming all day! If they start Chad here’s one thing that’s for sure, he will be coming out at some point. (Not a basher)
As many mentioned the Ravens are going to pound the ball as Boller sucks and McGahee has killed the Jets in the past. I really don't think that Billick is going to get cute and play action on 1st or 2nd down. On defense, the Jets need to play the Ravens like other teams play the Jets...dare the QB to beat you. However, the difference with the Ravens is that they have Heap in the middle. So, Rhodes and Vilma need to step and knock him around. Sutton needs to calm down the defense. They are going to be all fired up after last week, but the team can't afford for the LBs to overpursue or try to go for the big hit. The need to be stout and wrap up McGahee, even if it means holding on until other players can knock him down. On offense, I think Schottenheimer shoudln't be afraid to pass. There should be no pressure on the offense since they aren't expected to do too much with Clemens running the show. However, this doesn't necessarily mean airing it out. The Ravens secondary led by Reed is strong. So, with Ray Lewis injury and the loss of A.Thomas, I think you need to work the middle of the field in the 7-15 yard range. I think that Jets could spread the offense out with two underneath routes or go with two TE sets (perhaps with a lot of early down play action) sending both out in patterns and relying on RB/FB handling blitzes/blocking.
If both teams were at full strength I don't think jets could win. KC for chad makes it worse. However, if KB has to play for ravens, it helps. The ravens will absolutely confuse KC-this is his first game and it comes against a terrific defense. Mangini might try to open up with a surprise, but i believe he will call a conservative offensive game. Nothing really different than if CP was in-short passes and so on. He might try some kind gimmick with smith. I just do not see much attempt at long passing here. On D he will stack against the run and attempt to make ravens win through the air. The best bet is to hold down their run and win a turnover battle. I don't think we will do it, but its possible.
