It’s been a long NFL season, but the postseason is finally here. Now, you probably didn’t get to study the entire playoff field in-depth during the regular season. No worries. We’ve put together guides that will help you become an instant expert on all 12 teams making up the field.
These guides will tell you how each team uses its personnel on both sides of the ball, what its strategic tendencies are and how efficient the team is based on several advanced metrics.
In this guide, we’ll be looking at the Baltimore Ravens, who claimed the top seed in the AFC with a 14-2 record. Let’s get to know them…
RAVENS OFFENSE
When it comes to personnel, there isn’t a more diverse offense in the NFL. The Ravens technically base out of 11 personnel, but, more often than not, there are two or fewer receivers on the field. Baltimore plays a lot of tight ends and backs to buoy the running game, but with Hollywood Brown and Willie Snead in the receiving corps, there is always a deep threat on the field.
The Ravens’ pass rate is the lowest in the league, but Lamar Jackson has been wildly effective when he does drop back. Baltimore leans heavily on play-action fakes. With Jackson always a threat to take off and run, those fakes are made even more effective. When the Ravens want to get the ball out of his hands quickly, they’ll typically do so out of an empty formation, which spreads out the defense and makes the presnap picture clearer for the young signal-caller.
Baltimore owns the league’s most diverse and effective run game. This might be the best running team in NFL history. The Ravens do a little bit of everything. They are constantly shifting before the snap, moving gaps and toying with the defense’s run fits. Almost every hand-off involves some sort of read by Jackson, which changes the math inside the box. And even when the defense plays things perfectly, Jackson can just evade the free defender with a quick juke move. Did I mention this might be the best run-blocking offensive line in the league? This running game is a beast.
RAVENS DEFENSE
Whew. Look at those splits. Should we really be calling it “base” defense if the Ravens play it on only 5% of their snaps? Probably not. Baltimore can’t get enough defensive backs on the field. One of the key changes that spurred the defensive turnaround was moving corner Brandon Carr to safety and asking safety Chuck Clark to play linebacker.
I don’t know how much you can trust charting numbers for a Wink Martindale defense. Baltimore runs the most complex coverage schemes in the league, so there’s no telling what the secondary is up to on a given play. One thing we can say for sure: Martindale loves to blitz. A lot. No other team in the playoff field sends at least five rushers at a rate higher than 33.4%. The Ravens are up over 50%. And Martindale will blitz anywhere on the field. It’s easier to send the house when you have reliable corners on the outside and a safety like Earl Thomas patrolling the deep areas of the field.
The pass rush was a big concern for the Ravens coming into the season. After losing veterans Terrell Suggs and Za’Darius Smith, Baltimore didn’t have a proven pass rusher on the roster. Well, Martindale’s blitzes took care of that concern. And the midseason trade for Marcus Peters helped to shore up the secondary that had struggled before his arrival. After a slow start, and some creative adjustments by Martindale, the Ravens now own one of the best pass defenses in the NFL. Playing all of those defensive backs has taken a toll on the run defense, however.
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