01-16-2023, 12:48 PM
I was pretty surprised at how the offense couldn't get points in the second half aside form the sneak.
Reason I say this is that Mixon seemed to be moving the ball as well or better than he had been on first down. I recall one series where he got 8 on first down and the team couldn't scrap together two yards to convert and punted. The roughing the kicker drive was a particularly bad one, too. They got 6 shots at moving the chains and punted from just about the same spot they would have if the penalty never occurred.
I'm not entirely sure it's the line, either. Burrow had some time on a few of those 3 and outs, but couldn't convert.
IMO, the Ravens are a much better (and by better I mean faster) team when it comes to defending the middle of the field than others they've faced in recent games. Smith and Queen are as quick of a linebacker duo as there is in the league. The safety trio of Clark, Williams, and Hamilton is elite. They are somewhat like the Bengals defense in that aspect. They can be attacked on the perimeter at corner despite having big name corners and their pass rushers are good but not game-wrecking good. Up the middle they are a nightmare and like us, they can get away with playing single high to stop big plays due to their talent at safety.
The theme since the slow start was combating defenses taking away the deep ball by using the middle of the field, but using the middle of the field is no easy task vs Baltimore.
My consolation after this game is that the Bengals aren't going to face a defense like this again in the AFC. Jacksonville is stout, but KC and the Bills have highly susceptible defensive backfields. Neither has the best off-the-ball linebacker in the league ie Roquan Smith, either.
Reason I say this is that Mixon seemed to be moving the ball as well or better than he had been on first down. I recall one series where he got 8 on first down and the team couldn't scrap together two yards to convert and punted. The roughing the kicker drive was a particularly bad one, too. They got 6 shots at moving the chains and punted from just about the same spot they would have if the penalty never occurred.
I'm not entirely sure it's the line, either. Burrow had some time on a few of those 3 and outs, but couldn't convert.
IMO, the Ravens are a much better (and by better I mean faster) team when it comes to defending the middle of the field than others they've faced in recent games. Smith and Queen are as quick of a linebacker duo as there is in the league. The safety trio of Clark, Williams, and Hamilton is elite. They are somewhat like the Bengals defense in that aspect. They can be attacked on the perimeter at corner despite having big name corners and their pass rushers are good but not game-wrecking good. Up the middle they are a nightmare and like us, they can get away with playing single high to stop big plays due to their talent at safety.
The theme since the slow start was combating defenses taking away the deep ball by using the middle of the field, but using the middle of the field is no easy task vs Baltimore.
My consolation after this game is that the Bengals aren't going to face a defense like this again in the AFC. Jacksonville is stout, but KC and the Bills have highly susceptible defensive backfields. Neither has the best off-the-ball linebacker in the league ie Roquan Smith, either.
