The Ravens Have ONE Defensive Weakness

[Fan_in_Kettering]

I just looked at team defense for 2020 and, as usual, the Ravens are near the top. However, the defensive statistics are strongly skewed because the Baltimore rush defense is top ten but overall pass defense is bottom half. The Ravens’ defense is 26th in passes completed, 18th in interceptions, and 17th in sacks. That’s not normal for Baltimore.

This plays into Joe Burrow’s strength which is completing passes. I think he can dink and dunk the Ravens to death tomorrow a la Virgil Carter. Patrick Mahomes ran lots of successful slants and short wheel routes against Baltimore last week and I think this might work for Joe Burrow too.

If the Bengals can manage to run against the Ravens tomorrow, even better. This will open up the pass game even more. Once again it comes down to effective offensive line play and I need to see more push and less reaction.

[reuben.ahmed]

But how does one of the worst rush defense in league stop one of the best rush offense in league.

I predict a lot of burrow and mixon under 50 rushing because we will fall behind. Maybe Geno's 1/4th a season off will help in his return.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(10-10-2020, 12:34 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: But how does one of the worst rush defense in league stop one of the best rush offense in league.

I predict a lot of burrow and mixon under 50 rushing because we will fall behind. Maybe Geno's 1/4th a season off will help in his return.

This is a good point as always. I was concentrating on the Ravens’ defensive side of the ball. I have no idea how Lou Anarumo plans to stop the Baltimore offense. I know how Dean Pees did it with Tennessee in the playoffs last year but Cincinnati doesn’t have the same personnel the Titans do.

[Luvnit2]

(10-10-2020, 12:21 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: I just looked at team defense for 2020 and, as usual, the Ravens are near the top.  However, the defensive statistics are strongly skewed because the Baltimore rush defense is top ten but overall pass defense is bottom half.  The Ravens’ defense is 26th in passes completed, 18th in interceptions, and 17th in sacks.  That’s not normal for Baltimore.  

This plays into Joe Burrow’s strength which is completing passes. I think he can dink and dunk the Ravens to death tomorrow a la Virgil Carter.  Patrick Mahomes ran lots of successful slants and short wheel routes against Baltimore last week and I think this might work for Joe Burrow too.  

If the Bengals can manage to run against the Ravens tomorrow, even better.  This will open up the pass game even more.  Once again it comes down to effective offensive line play and I need to see more push and less reaction.

It also comes down to Burrow being accurate, on short passes to allow receivers best chance to run after the catch, on throws over 20 yards (his major weakness so far) to start making the throws he made in college. We saw him do it, now to progress (he is doing very well) I want to see throws on the money short and long.

[Luvnit2]

(10-10-2020, 12:40 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: This is a good point as always.  I was concentrating on the Ravens’ defensive side of the ball.  I have no idea how Lou Anarumo plans to stop the Baltimore offense.  I know how Dean Pees did it with Tennessee in the playoffs last year but Cincinnati doesn’t have the same personnel the Titans do.

That is my concern as well. If Ravens run all over us (like others have done like Cleveland), our offense will be kept on the sideline.

I think we will be thrashed, hope I am dead wrong. But, also to have any chance we need to win the turnover battle by at least +2, if we do that we can keep it close hopefully.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Ravens have the 4th scoring defense and the Bengals have the 30th redzone offense.

I've pretty much already written this week off as an L. If they lose then, oh well saw it coming. If they win, then it's a pleasant surprise.

[Joelist]

Our run defense issues have centered around the DL failing to contain properly or seal edges, letting runners bounce out to the edges easily. With our bizarre 2 LB formations that makes it inevitable we get gashed on the ground.

[*Synric*]

Of all the teams the Ravens have faced the Bengals offense closely resembles the Chiefs. The Bengals are going to attack the edges of the Ravens defense with pitches in the run game and go 5 wide empty sets moving receivers around to create matchups.

The Bengals can move the ball against the Ravens Defense but they need to convert in the redzone which they have struggled to do most of the year. Field Goals are not going to cut it.

On defense the Bengals need to be disciplined in their run fits, get penetration on the outside, keep Lamar Jackson moving laterally instead of being able to cut north south. The Bengals also need to maul the Ravens Receivers/TEs at the line and at the stem to throw off timing.

The Ravens are beatable but the Bengals need to play disciplined low penalty mistake free football and convert in the redzone.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(10-10-2020, 02:01 PM)Synric Wrote: Of all the teams the Ravens have faced the Bengals offense closely resembles the Chiefs. The Bengals are going to attack the edges of the Ravens defense with pitches in the run game and go 5 wide empty sets moving receivers around to create matchups.

The Bengals can move the ball against the Ravens Defense but they need to convert in the redzone which they have struggled to do most of the year. Field Goals are not going to cut it.

On defense the Bengals need to be disciplined in their run fits, get penetration on the outside, keep Lamar Jackson moving laterally instead of being able to cut north south. The Bengals also need to maul the Ravens Receivers/TEs at the line and at the stem to throw off timing.

The Ravens are beatable but the Bengals need to play disciplined low penalty mistake free football and convert in the redzone.

It's too early to be that drunk, Synric.

The Bengals don't have a Mahomes, Kelce, or Hill. They certainly don't have a Reid or Bieniemy calling the plays.

Also what helped the Cheifs win against the Ravens? The 2nd scoring defense in the NFL. It's not a surprise that the only game the Ravens lost so far is the only game where they scored less than 30 points.

[*Synric*]

(10-10-2020, 02:36 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: It's too early to be that drunk, Synric.

The Bengals don't have a Mahomes, Kelce, or Hill. They certainly don't have a Reid or Bieniemy calling the plays.

Also what helped the Cheifs win against the Ravens? The 2nd scoring defense in the NFL. It's not a surprise that the only game the Ravens lost so far is the only game where they scored less than 30 points.

I'm not talking about the players I'm talking about the scheme. The Chiefs and Bengals like to do alot of the same things on offense.

[Bengalholic]

The Ravens defense has allowed a QB rating of 93.1 to opposing QB's and a completion rate of 67.2%. They've also allowed a 42.5% overall 3rd down conversion rate and rank 28th in 3rd down pass defense, and even worse (29th) on 1st downs.

If the Bengals can muster any kind of run game on Sunday, it should open up the passing game and allow for some big plays. 

[J24]

Offensively might be a 60 throw game for Burrow. Seems like running won't do any damage to that front.
Boyd, Sample, Mixon, and Bernard will all have to be factors in the passing game.

As for the Defense I'm more worried about the Ravens passing attack then their rushing attack. When Jackson starts to feel it there is zero chance in stopping them.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(10-10-2020, 03:08 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: The Ravens defense has allowed a QB rating of 93.1 to opposing QB's and a completion rate of 67.2%. They've also allowed a 42.5% overall 3rd down conversion rate and rank 28th in 3rd down pass defense, and even worse (29th) on 1st downs.

If the Bengals can muster any kind of run game on Sunday, it should open up the passing game and allow for some big plays. 

Interesting thing about these stats....

93.1 rating is actually a below average number this year... NFL average QB Rating? 96.3
67.2% completion is barely above the NFL average of 66.7% this year.

Based off our accumulated knowledge, those numbers SHOULD be horrible for a defense to allow, but really they're pretty much average. 

The NFL really needs a QB Rating version of OPS+/ERA+ where it's a number based off league average that year and then put on a range where 100 is average and every 1 above or below 100 means that QB was that % better or worse than average.

2020 QB through 4 games: 65% completion, 920 yards, 6 TD/4 INT
2000 QB through 4 games: 59% completion, 840 yards, 6 TD/4 INT

Who had the better season? The 2000 QB, because he was above average in all 4 stats while the 2020 QB was below average in all 4. They seriously need a QB Rating+ or something. Then we could look and see 2020 QB was a QBR+ of 97 and the 2000 QB was a QBR+ of 110, so the 2000 QB was notably better.

- - - - - - - -

(The point you raised about the 1st and 3rd down defense is still very valid, though. Granted I do wonder how much of that is them playing prevent defenses to run out the clock on wins since they're still the 4th ranked scoring defense. The average score on their 3 wins is 34-13, so that's some serious garbage time.)

[HarleyDog]

Pumped PUMPed PUMPED for tomorrow. This is our game. Beers and Rob Zombie on full blast has convinced me so.  

[ezekiel23]

All these defensive stats aside, I wouldn’t be one bit surprised to see the the Bengals upset the Ravens on Sunday.Tee Higgins is getting better every game,and we all know what Boyd can do.Now we just need AJ to have a breakout game.Go Bengals.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(10-10-2020, 12:21 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: I just looked at team defense for 2020 and, as usual, the Ravens are near the top.  However, the defensive statistics are strongly skewed because the Baltimore rush defense is top ten but overall pass defense is bottom half.  The Ravens’ defense is 26th in passes completed, 18th in interceptions, and 17th in sacks.  That’s not normal for Baltimore.  

This plays into Joe Burrow’s strength which is completing passes. I think he can dink and dunk the Ravens to death tomorrow a la Virgil Carter.  Patrick Mahomes ran lots of successful slants and short wheel routes against Baltimore last week and I think this might work for Joe Burrow too.  

If the Bengals can manage to run against the Ravens tomorrow, even better.  This will open up the pass game even more.  Once again it comes down to effective offensive line play and I need to see more push and less reaction.

Sounds like we might be able to pull out a win. It should be a tough one though. I expect it to be close.

Still picked the Ravens but this gives me more hope with how accurate Burrow is, especially on the short passes.

Thanks for the rankings FIK.

[NATI BENGALS]

I wouldn’t look too much in to it. According to fantasy Lamar has been pulled in some of their games. I think the inflated pass D numbers are due to garbage time stuff and Mahomes

[BURROWorBUST]

For those worried about the Ravens gashing us on the ground, this will be the first time we see DJ Reader on the field with Geno. Two Pro-Bowl DTs on the field at the same time. Have the Bengals ever had two Pro-Bowl DTs on the field at the same time? Not in my memory. As far as I know, we've yet to see what that looks like. And one of the Ravens' guards might be worse than Fred Johnson (or so I hear). One of our DTs could seriously feast tomorrow.

Plus, Bynes knows their schemes and personnel.

So, I think there's room for some optimism.

[jfkbengals]

(10-10-2020, 04:34 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Pumped PUMPed PUMPED for tomorrow. This is our game. Beers and Rob Zombie on full blast has convinced me so.  

One of those two has lied to you.  As beer is always accurate about a woman's beauty, it is ruled out as the guilty party.

That lyin' Rob Zombie!

[HarleyDog]

(10-11-2020, 05:28 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: One of those two has lied to you.  As beer is always accurate about a woman's beauty, it is ruled out as the guilty party.

That lyin' Rob Zombie!

Honestly (getting ready to go off the deep end), Thought it was a good game. To lose from a division rival and not score a TD is a sacred thing. Baltimore lost this game. Had they let JB score a few trash TD's, he would probably be a little easy. Yet, he didn't score. That dude is gonna be  ferocious going forward. How's that massive homerism workin for me?

Cant wait till we face the Steelers.