As we’ve been doing for several years now, we’ll break down the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponent each week, telling you what to expect from a scheme and individual standpoint. Like last year, Josh Carney and I will cover the opposing team’s defense. I will focus on the scheme, Josh on the players.
Today, our first look at the Baltimore Ravens’ offense.
ALEX’S SCHEME REPORT
RAVENS RUN GAME
Though there’s newness here in the passing game under first-year OC Todd Monken, the run game feels familiar. Perhaps not quite as heavy and condensed as past years, in part due to being stronger at wide receiver (especially when healthy), but they still employ FB Patrick Ricard and multiple tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. On the year, they have run the ball 139 times, second-most in football only behind the Philadelphia Eagles. And their 70 rushes on first down are fifth leaguewide.
Injuries have made the stats more varied, but the carries have been distributed throughout the offense. Gus Edwards leads the team with 44 carries while QB Lamar Jackson is right behind with 41. Five players have at least 10 rushes while four different players have a rushing touchdown this season. Jackson leads the way with four, two in each of the last two weeks.
As a team, the Ravens lead the NFL with 22 runs of at least 10 yards. Jackson leads the team and has one of the top marks in the league with 11. They nearly have as many runs of 10 or more yards as they do pass plays that have gained that much (29). Their eight rushing scores are third-most in football.
Conceptually, the scheme has variety. There’s plenty of read/option with wrinkles like tight end arc blocks. In past years, Pittsburgh has used its “mesh/charge” to attack the quarterback and force the give to the back, but we’ll see if they change things up this week.
There’s also the Ravens’ Bash scheme, meaning “Back Away.” The line pulls one away, the back goes the other, and the quarterback can either keep the ball and follow his pullers or give to the back away from where the guards are moving and where the defense is flowing. Example of the quarterback keeping and giving to the back.
They use wham blocks early in games to slow down one-gapping teams. And in the red zone, that’s especially when Jackson keeps the ball. All four of his touchdowns have been within 10 yards and you get a lot of true designed runs like quarterback power. Like here against the Browns.
The Ravens are averaging 24.8 points per game, 12th-best in football. They’ve scored at least 25 points in three of their four games. They’re a great situational football team. Fifth on third down at 47.4 percent and the NFL’s number one red zone offense through the first month, finding the end zone 80 percent, 12 of 15 times.
I’d also note they have struggled to hold onto the football and fumbled a lot in the games I saw. Big reason why they lost in Week Three to the Indianapolis Colts. In the first half, they fumbled three times (losing two). A botched snap on third down killed another drive. In that respect, there’s been several errors.
Ravens Pass Game
Jackson is back healthy and having a great year with an opened-up passing game under Monken. His completion percentage is through the roof. It sits at 74.3 percent, second in the league behind only Buffalo’s Josh Allen, and is 12 points higher than where Jackson finished last year.
Still, the pass game has felt almost secondary to the ground game. Jackson hasn’t thrown for more than 237 yards in a game this season and has as many rushing scores as passing (four). He’s only thrown one interception.
Rookie WR Zay Flowers has been an exciting player. Not much of a downfield threat, averaging only 10.2 yards per catch with an ADOT (average depth of target) of just 6.1 yards, 28th out of the 30 players with at least 20 receptions this year. But he has the 11th-highest YAC per reception at nearly five yards after each grab and is a fun space player to watch. TE Mark Andrews remains Jackson’s trusty top threat with three touchdowns on the year, including two in last Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns. He’s been targeted three times in the red zone, all ending in scores. Don’t forget about veteran Nelson Agholor, who has 10 grabs and a touchdown in 2023. As noted above, they have 29 completions of at least 10 yards and 11 going for at least 20.
Conceptually, you see a lot of fast motion that’s become pretty popular this season. Receivers sprinting across the formation and turning upfield on the snap, almost CFL-style. There’s a lot of wheels/rails in this offense to, at the least, expand the defense vertically and open things underneath.
There’s a lot of receiver bubble/tunnel screens and middle screens to the back. In a two-minute drill against Cleveland, they opened up with a couple of screens and run plays to get some free yardage early with the Browns playing the pass.
Alert smash concepts, especially in the red zone, a lot of four verticals that will make it hard to play Cover 1/Cover 3 against without matching and carrying.
Josh’s Individual Report
It’s Ravens week, Steelers fans!
For the first time in the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens renew their heated rivalry in big AFC North action Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
The last time these two teams met, Pittsburgh found a way to keep its faint playoff hopes alive with a thrilling 16-13 win in the final minute as Kenny Pickett found Najee Harris for the game-winning touchdown.
That’s all out the window now though as the two teams appear to be heading in different directions.
After struggling on both sides of the football last week, the Steelers don’t get any easier of a test on Sunday, taking on Baltimore star quarterback Lamar Jackson for the first time in two seasons as he was injured and missed the Week 14 and 17 matchups last season.
Jackson has elevated his game this season under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken. He remains an elite-level runner who gives defenses fits, but his passing abilities — which were already pretty darn good — are even better through the first four weeks of the season.
He has a rocket arm and has improved his accuracy tenfold. He’s been really impressive so far this season.
It certainly helps that the Ravens invested in getting him some additional playmakers this season, especially rookie first-round sensation Zay Flowers.
Flowers is a Tyreek Hill-like weapon with elite speed and impressive open-field elusiveness, and he can take a short catch to the house. The Boston College product stretches the field, too, and can make plays down the field.
Look at this throw from Jackson to Flowers in Week Two against the Bengals. Absurd.
Jackson hasn’t had that type of field stretcher in a long, long time — maybe ever.
The accuracy is fantastic to see. I was always a big believer in Jackson as a passer, but he’s on another level this year.
The ball placement from Jackson — with ease — is jaw dropping. Just a flick of the wrist and the ball zips out of his hand but goes wherever he wants it to go.
Not only has he improved as a passer, he’s become much, much better in the pocket too. He’ll take some bad sacks at times, but his movement in the pocket feels like a real strength for him.
And when he’s on the move his awareness and arm strength are top notch.
While Jackson has taken that next step as a passer, the Ravens still like to run the football quite a bit under Monken, just nowhere near as much as they did under Greg Roman.
It helps that they have a physical offensive line and a stable of good running backs to rotate in and out.
Gus Edwards is taking advantage of the unfortunate Achilles injury to J.K. Dobbins, thrusting him back into the starting role. He’s not a big home run hitter and isn’t going to scare many teams with his speed, but he’s a bowling ball downhill who can wear defenses down.
He’s very good in the Ravens’ power and zone runs.
Make no mistake about it though: the Ravens still love to use Jackson as a runner, especially on designed quarterback powers with right tackle Morgan Moses pulling. It’s a very successful play for the Ravens.
They build an RPO and a fake jet off of them, too.
Along with Edwards in the backfield, veteran running back Justice Hill has broken out for the Ravens early in the season. He’s served as a very nice change of pace back for Baltimore behind Edwards, giving the Ravens home run juice in the run game.
Veteran Melvin Gordon III is also in the mix and has looked good at times in limited action. Like I said, deep stable of good, experienced running backs, and cheap, too.
At receiver, this is a really solid roster for Baltimore, even with Odell Beckham Jr. banged up.
Flowers is a budding star. He’s a cheat code.
The guy can’t be tackled one-on-one in space, is a serious home run threat over the top or on swing passes and has really opened up Baltimore’s offense overall.
He’s a bit small so durability concerns are real, but he’s avoided the big hits, knowing when to go down or get out of bounds, and is as elusive as they come. You can’t hit what you can’t catch or see.
Veteran Nelson Agholor has developed good chemistry with Jackson early, becoming a go-to target in got-to-have-it situations, especially over the middle of the field.
He’s a tough receiver who makes some contested catches, though his hands are still a bit inconsistent.
If Beckham is healthy, he’s a matchup the Ravens might look to take advantage of. Though he’s not the Beckham who was a star, he can still separate and has great hands.
The passing game still heavily involves the tight ends, too. Mark Andrews is one of the best tight ends in the game and is Jackson’s trusty target.
He makes some absurd catches, is a good blocker overall and is a problem for defenses in space with the football. He likes to push up the seam and find those windows behind the linebacker and in front of the safety.
That’s his sweet spot.
So, too, is the red zone. Monster down there.
Up front, the Ravens are a M*A*S*H unit. They have constantly dealt with a number of injuries in the trenches in recent years, yet they continue to play well.
Here’s how I expect them to line up left to right on Sunday:
LT — Ronnie Stanley
LG — John Simpson
C — Tyler Linderbaum
RG — Kevin Zeitler
RT — Morgan Moses
Of course, that’s the offensive line that was projected to start the season. They’re getting healthy at the right time, and they’ve continued to win while dealing with injuries to Stanley, Linderbaum and Moses.
Linderbaum is fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered in Week One. He’s playing very well for Baltimore. Great run blocker, as expected.
Stanley is battling back from a knee injury. When he’s healthy he’s one of the top left tackles in football. Moses is dealing with a shoulder injury. He’s found a home in Baltimore and really settled in nicely with the Ravens.
Zeitler quietly remains one of the best right guards in football while Simpson provides an edge to the group.
Special teams remains, well, special in Baltimore.
Justin Tucker is going to be a Hall of Famer someday. He’s so darn good. That said, he’s missed two kicks on the year already. He’ll be fine though.
Punter Jordan Stout is in his second season. Big, big leg for the Ravens. Can really flip the field, pin teams deep and give his defense a major advantage. He’s averaging 49 yards on 21 punts this season with a long of 67 yards and has had eight punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
Weapon.
Devin Duvernay remains the kick and punt returner. As dangerous as they come. Can get vertical on a coverage unit in a hurry, split the gap and be off to the races. Flowers might even return some punts, too, depending on the field positioning.
