Divisional Playoff round: Ravens at Bills on Saturday Night Football

[YoloinOhio]

 

 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

19 minutes ago, WideNine said:

 

I can't see us stopping a stiff wind with 3 down linemen.

 

The Ravens will just straight up run on us; just about any blocking concept would be successful - Stretch Zone, ISO, Trap, Pulling, or Duo and we would watch helpless while their running back is 12 yards down the field before the first defender gets a hand on him.

 

That may work for the Titans with their personnel - the Bills do not have the kind of players to pull that off. Nope, I think we will play zone and a bunch of guys in the box, be disciplined to prioritize contain on the edges not the rush - with maybe some run blitzes to disrupt their timing and blocks being setup. This is not going to be easy for this particular defense, but we knew going in that we have a good, but not great defense that has often been carried by the offense this season.

 

It will be important for our DE's to just focus on not getting too deep on their rush and not taking any inside moves that give up the edge. Their primary job will be to funnel runs back inside and not let anything leak outside.

 

Our chances of winning hinges on our offense being able to move the ball and score and hope we get a few 3 and outs to force the Ravens into a more one-dimensional offense and get Lamar to press. I am not counting on our defense just flat-out stuffing these guys - I would be perfectly happy if they prove me wrong.

 

100% agree with this. If the Defensive Ends crash down, or get pushed wide, Lamar just shoots to the outside, or runs into the vacated gap. We had zero pass rush as it was on Saturday.

 

I wasn't advocating the Bills try a 3-down, 3-backer approach, just reading how anybody has had any success (albeit limited) against the Ravens. Looking around for analysis of film, it looks like Jackson has carved man and zone coverage, and really only struggles at times floating deep balls outside the numbers.  I agree with others, the Bills don't have a great answer for Tight Ends (Andrews) historically. I think our defense mostly gets caved in against the Ravens rushing attack. 

 

Our best shot is to be in 4-wide with Singletary in the backfield, or 5-wide empty and have Allen gun all day. I maintain Allen is the best in 10-20 yard routes where he can line up and fire bullets with no arc. 

 

The Baltimore corners are grabby, they hold, and there is contact all the way down the field. They know the refs are not going to call pass interference every play, so we need multiple options.

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by Straight Hucklebuck

[Royale with Cheese]

I see a lot of Beasley this weekend....Baltimore blitzes a ton.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

8 minutes ago, YattaOkasan said:

Edmunds, Milano, and Zo w/ 4 lineman would just be a 4-3 base?  Take one of them off (or a DL and have Zo in a 3 point stance) and replace with a big safety (marlowe or neal), thats Big Nickel.  I thought you said 3-4 was big nickel.

 

Ooh, did I type 3-4 insteaf of 4-3?  Major brain fart here then!  No wonder we both wound up confused.

 

Yeah, McD nor Frazier have ever run 3-4 really that I remember.  No I meant using Zo instead of a CB. 

 

Anyway, fact is,  Zo played 70% of the snaps against Baltimore last year, whatever he was doing.

 

8 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said:

I dont recall Zo subbing at all for Taron or any other CB against Bmore last season.

 

I think we played him at DE a bit more than usual that game, but also he played at a 3-technique on passing 3rd down situations...I'd have to go rewatch

 

However he played, it was 70% of the snaps, so way more than 3rd downs

[That's No Moon]

2 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I see a lot of Beasley this weekend....Baltimore blitzes a ton.

I dont know that Beasley has a whole game to give us. Need someone else to win in the slot.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

1 minute ago, That's No Moon said:

I dont know that Beasley has a whole game to give us. Need someone else to win in the slot.

Well McKenzie did have 0 touches against the Colts.

[YattaOkasan]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Ooh, did I type 3-4 insteaf of 4-3?  Major brain fart here then!  No wonder we both wound up confused.

 

Yeah, McD nor Frazier have ever run 3-4 really that I remember.  No I meant using Zo instead of a CB. 

 

Anyway, fact is,  Zo played 70% of the snaps against Baltimore last year, whatever he was doing.

 

 

However he played, it was 70% of the snaps, so way more than 3rd downs

Yeah Zo is a really a good matchup for an LJ led offense.  You can be fast and strong with Zo (he also so smart).  Youre 70% number didnt surprise me cause of that, and I think he will be the hardest piece to replace (hoping Dirty Harry can make up for missing star a bit).  

[Royale with Cheese]

4 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

I dont know that Beasley has a whole game to give us. Need someone else to win in the slot.

I think McKenzie had 4 snaps all game.

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

We also need to tell Goodell that we are getting all the red tape out of the way to build and new stadium. We will finally get a fair game officiated and after we win the Super Bowl just have Kim Pegula text Goodell Syke!!!!!!! 

[YoloinOhio]

 

 

 

[Pokebball]

Any chance we see Stills this weekend?

[Warcodered]

 

[All_Pro_Bills]

20 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

100% agree with this. If the Defensive Ends crash down, or get pushed wide, Lamar just shoots to the outside, or runs into the vacated gap. We had zero pass rush as it was on Saturday.

 

I wasn't advocating the Bills try a 3-down, 3-backer approach, just reading how anybody has had any success (albeit limited) against the Ravens. Looking around for analysis of film, it looks like Jackson has carved man and zone coverage, and really only struggles at times floating deep balls outside the numbers.  I agree with others, the Bills don't have a great answer for Tight Ends (Andrews) historically. I think our defense mostly gets caved in against the Ravens rushing attack. 

 

Our best shot is to be in 4-wide with Singletary in the backfield, or 5-wide empty and have Allen gun all day. I maintain Allen is the best in 10-20 yard routes where he can line up and fire bullets with no arc. 

 

The Baltimore corners are grabby, they hold, and there is contact all the way down the field. They know the refs are not going to call pass interference every play, so we need multiple options.

 

 

 

I have a little more confidence in the Bills chances against the Ravens than many here.  I think they just need to go out and execute their game plan on offense and let the Ravens defense worry about how to defend it.  And on defense they had a decent strategy last time they played, losing 24-17 mainly because the Bills offense was ineffective.  That has changed since.

 

I was watching ESPN First Take and they were talking about the Bills/Ravens and Stephan A. Smith didn't give the Bills much of a chance against the Ravens.  Citing their defensive stats and Jackson's ability in Roman's system.  And citing their surge down the stretch.  But who did they beat?  They had one quality win against the Browns plus wins against the Cowboys, Jaguars, Giants, and Bengals.  Hardly a "murderers row" of good opponents.  Plus on Saturday a game against a Titans team that just looked flat after the 1st quarter.  If the Bills bring the house here I can see them coming out on top. 

[Warcodered]

 

[Putin]

37 minutes ago, TheProcess said:

I don’t love Moss being out. Obviously. However, I think relying on one guy as the primary guy may be better to get someone in a groove. Not suggesting he’s going to run for 200 yards, or even have a chance to, but Devin played well in the Texans playoff game last year as the primary guy. Sprinkle in Williams or Yeldon and I think we’ll be fine. We are a passing team anyway. 

Yes we are a passing team and a great one at that , but we can’t just sprinkle in some run plays we have to be able to run the ball it’s January and there is no dome games on the schedule,  Ravens and KC can both run the ball WELL and what worries me is if the weather gets bad not only we can’t run the ball well we are not that good at stopping the run  

[YoloinOhio]

 

[That's No Moon]

49 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I think McKenzie had 4 snaps all game.

I know. He's banged up also. And beasley wasn't himself.

[YattaOkasan]

7 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

I know. He's banged up also. And beasley wasn't himself.

It’s also not a good McKenzie match up. Those jet motions are best against man which the colts barely played. 

[MasterStrategist]

55 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Ooh, did I type 3-4 insteaf of 4-3?  Major brain fart here then!  No wonder we both wound up confused.

 

Yeah, McD nor Frazier have ever run 3-4 really that I remember.  No I meant using Zo instead of a CB. 

 

Anyway, fact is,  Zo played 70% of the snaps against Baltimore last year, whatever he was doing.

 

 

However he played, it was 70% of the snaps, so way more than 3rd downs

Yes went back to watch some of last years game...

 

1. we did stay in our "base" 4-3 defense alot...good call on Zo.  Yeah will be interesting if we go with Klein or stay in nickle with Taron.  

2. Tremaine played a real great game, physical downhill tackling.  

3. We blitzed Lamar quite a bit on 3rd downs, primarily to take away rushing lanes IMO

4. Star did play well too, im a bit worried about getting pushed around in the middle.  Our 5 man rotation needs to step up

5. Bmore runs a ton of cover 0, Josh needed to put some more touch on his deep passes.  At least try to draw interference

6. Motor was a beast.  I know Bmore added some studs to that front, so I don't expect t to be able to run like we did.  I'm all for getting our RBs involved in thr passing game

7. We need to score early.  Its been mentioned, but make Lamar come from behind.  

8. Give Smoke 2-3 deep ball shots.  We tried to connect with him and Foster last yr, just 1 connection might change that defensive aggressiveness

[Blank Stare]

18 minutes ago, Putin said:

Yes we are a passing team and a great one at that , but we can’t just sprinkle in some run plays we have to be able to run the ball it’s January and there is no dome games on the schedule,  Ravens and KC can both run the ball WELL and what worries me is if the weather gets bad not only we can’t run the ball well we are not that good at stopping the run  

I agree that we have to be more effective at running and stopping the run if we want to move forward to the AFCCG and beyond. Not world beaters, but better. On the defensive side, I think it mostly comes down to better tackling. That’s fixable. However, I think we’re also size challenged up front on the D line. Not much we can do about that now. 
 

I just looked up Motor’s stats from the Texans game - 13 for 58 (4.5 YPC) and 6 receptions for 76 (he was actually our leading receiver 😢). Of course Josh also had 9 for 92 on the ground that game which helped. But, we’ll be ok if we can get similar production out of Singletary on a YPC basis. As much as I’d like to see Yeldon, this is a chin strap game, and I might lean toward the more physical player in Williams to sub Motor.