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What are our offensive and defensive game plans to beat Baltimore?


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I think they’ll run a ton of zone defense. Most teams in the league run more man, and they carved up New England’s vaunted defense which prides itself on DB’s who can cover in man.

 

 I could see them having Poyer move up and spy on Jackson.

 

Baltimore runs a lot of 3TE sets and bigger packages. Milano and Hyde and cover those TE’s Tre should be glued to M. Brown most likely, Milano glued onto the TE Andrews, who leads them in catches. 

 

On offense i believe well see a decent dose dose of Singletary and Allen running the ball. Some RPO’s and stuff like that. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a trick play thrown in somewhere in the first half to catch the defense off guard. 

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2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

I'm not too worried about our offense in this game. It took some time but we found our identity and we have enough talent to create a mismatch somewhere on the field. Feed the ball to Singletary and let Allen do what he does. We'll put up points.

 

The defense on the other hand I am terrified for. We are built to stop the pass and that won't help in this game. I think we just have to clog the middle of the field and force Jackson to throw to the sidelines. Edmunds is athletic enough to keep him in check as a spy. Just don't let Ingram run all over us and don't give any free space in the middle. That's our only hope of stopping them.

 

McDermott and Frazier have done a really good job of game planning against QBs so I expect them to limit Jackson more than most.

 

This.

 

In particular our defense has really struggled with offenses that have used 2 running backs in the back field. With Lamar back there you essentially have two very good running backs, with the added twist that Lamar throws a good ball on the move when he breaks contain and the defense peals off their coverage assignments to come up to make a stop on him. Not only on very open receivers, but I have seen some nice 50/50 touch throws to well-covered receivers that he has delivered on the move.

 

Our defense is not really well suited to stop this and I don't think it is personnel, I think it is our scheme. We do not deviate very much from who we are and what we do well. That being said McD has shown some willingness to blitz far more than he has done in the past so we will see. For this game we would have to play a bit out of character - run-heavy teams have been a problem for us and we are going to get a healthy dose of this.

 

I would say that we lock up playing man defense down-field and go after Jackson and Ingram with our front and LBs, but I am pretty sure Belichick tried that and was schooled - that does not happen often as we all know.

 

Gang tackling Jackson and Ingram will be paramount. Like Allen that is easier said than done. Plenty of teams go up against us saying, "we just need to keep Allen in the pocket and then we can get him down on the ground". Then they watch in disbelief as he breaks tackles and contain and does exactly what they were trying to stop. Jackson and Ingram are those kinds of players too.  

 

Our best defense will be sustained, effective offense. Our only real chance is if we can keep their offense on the sideline and delivery long sustained drives that end in TD's. Hausch money has been anything but, and we cannot afford to trade field goals for their TD's. 

 

Make no mistake, this is a very confident team that has been performing at a pretty consistent high-level for longer than our Bills have. I think we are going in the right direction, but I think they have had a bit more runway in regards to fine-tuning their offensive identity and getting the most out of their skill positions. Not conceding anything, just keeping it real and know that the Bills have much bigger test against this team than they had against Dallas. 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Mrbojanglezs said:

They should probably try to run some 5-2 defense. With 5 lineman 2 linebackers and 4 dbs

That's basically what the Bills have when they are in their base defense with Zo at strong side LB.  The teams that have contained Jackson have kept outside containment, collapsed the pocket up the middle, played a match up zone with a spy positioned in the low center zone.  The Ravens use a double team block at the point of attack on almost every running play.  It's important for the d-line to play low with leverage so as not to be pushed out of their gap by the double team and split the double team, if possible.  This forces the runner to go to either side of the double team where the pursuit can make the stop.  Ingram isn't as effective when he is forced to make a move at the line of scrimmage.  Bills probably hope to force Jackson to throw to beat them, especially if the weather isn't great.

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3 hours ago, ChicagoRic said:

Interesting article on this.  You don't blitz Lamar Jackson often and you don't key on his runs.  You flood the field with DBS/Speed guys.  https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/theres-a-blueprint-for-stopping-lamar-jackson-but-teams-arent-using-it/

 

Who are our speed guys on defense?

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3 hours ago, KD in CA said:

 

You mean like for a big meal?  Maybe pasta or something that will make him feel sluggish during the game?

 

We need to find that skank that gave Darnold mono, and then introduce her to Lamar.

 

EDIT: aww shucks....the incubation period for mono is 4-7 weeks.

Edited by KayAdams
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22 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

Who are our speed guys on defense?

Well you dont put alexander out there this week on specific downs and go with 5 or 6 DBs and neal being one of them as he is a bigger Safety. 

Edited by Hebert19
Missed word
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Simply put , the Bills will have to win this one on offense. Long drives, milk the clock and score TDs. Their no huddle has been effective, but the downside is using less clock. It will be interesting to see if the 49ers are able to keep the Ravens in check with their defense. Perhaps the Bills can get a few ideas from that. 

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2 minutes ago, Patrick_Duffy said:

Hopefully there will be snow. Would make this game even more fun to watch.

It’s early of course, but it looks like low ‘40s and partly cloudy for the Ravens game right now. Unless a major change occurs, probably won’t be a “ weather” game. 

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If the Niners defense can't find a way to slow the Raven's offense down, I don't think we will.   I'm hoping that they "show us the way".  It's also possible that Baltimore is getting all jacked up about their big game with the Niners, and will have some form of let down against us.  Plus we are at home.  I'd like the Niners to lose in a hard fought close game - as I don't want the Raven's coming in here smarting from a loss.

Edited by Georgia Bill
typo
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You win by taking away the ball & controlling the clock. Jackson isn’t the most accurate QB & with the typical December bad weather; wind, rain, snow, gale force winds, this game will be won in the trenches. Jackson still will be the fastest player but I believe the formula is out there. Invite the Ravens to run in the middle stack players on the OTs and give up the interior. Thinks Star on an island. The Ravens won’t be able to get the edge, and as soon as the ball is snapped the lanes collapse on Jackson / Ingram. Disguising overloads blitzes won’t work. You need to hit them hard and keep hitting them. On offense same thing. This is a game we win if Singletary, Gore & Allen run wild. 

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Baltimore has one older guard who's been one of the best at his position for many years.  Their other guard is young and not heralded.  Their starting center just went out for the rest of the season, and they will be starting a rookie UDFA the rest of the way.  That is probably going to be the weak link of the offense.  Their tackles are young and need to continue developing, but they aren't bad.  Their starting WRs are rookies:  Marquise Brown, the highly drafted smurf speedster from Oklahoma and Miles Boykin, a big athletic guy they drafted in the mid rounds from Notre Dame.  Their Running back is Mark Ingram, signed away from the Saints last off season.  He's got decent size and is a very tough runner.  Of course, Lamar Jackson is a significant part of their running game too.  Their starting tight end is big.  He gets two or three receptions per game, but I'm guessing his primary benefit to the offense is as a blocker.

 

When Buffalo is on defense, I assume they will need to treat Jackson as a second runner and  focus on discipline and gap integrity.  If the Bills want to leave Tre White on one guy, the obvious choice is Marquise Brown.  They can't, however, leave Levi Wallace one on one with Miles Boykin all game.  Boykin will have him for lunch.  They'll need to give him some safety help.

 

Baltimore has short, broad interior defensive linemen in their 3-4 system.  I'm guessing that running inside will find tough sledding.  In the secondary, their two best DBs are Earl Thomas and Marlon Humphrey.  It's a tough defense to be sure.  I wouldn't try to rely on Frank Gore pounding the ball into the middle of the line.  I'm sure Josh Allen can find some room on scrambles and I think Cole Beasley will continue to find opportunities.

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7 hours ago, Virgil said:

The biggest advantage in the Ravens offense, outside of just Lamar, is that all defenders first step is forward on every snap because you assume the run first.  This leaves the receivers in 1 on 1 coverage or allows the TE's to slip out in coverage.


With that, I think you play hard zones and allow the short yardage.  You have Milano and Edmunds play zone, 5 yards back, within the Tackles and Guards.  Let them get those free first yards, but don't commit to the play until you absolute know where it's going.  You run heavy on the line, playing solid gap defense.  Don't let them create confusion. 

 

The challenge then is how you handle the pulling guards and backfield blockers who lead the way.  That's where gap integrity is key, as well as the play of the safeties.  Hyde should be playing in the box for most of the game, with Poyer covering deep.  If you have a gap controlled front 3, 7 in zoned out within 3-7 yards, you keep them to short plays.  Eventually, you'll get stops.  Honestly, we run more of a 3-4 style defense with Phillips in the middle, Oliver as an End, and Shaq on the other End. 

 

The speed of Edmunds and Milano are key

This. I’d almost say that it makes sense to just go with cover 3 or quarters most of the game and force them into nonstop 10+ play drives and hope to out score them... Basically turn the game into fewest TOs wins and see what happens. ?‍♂️

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