Greg Olsen didn’t get Ravens’ calls on failed fourth downs vs. Titans

If you like upsets, you’ll love this year’s NFL playoffs, which have already produced some stunning results.

If you like upsets, you’ll love this year’s NFL playoffs, which have already produced some stunning results. In the wild card round, the Saints and the Patriots were both sent home early courtesy of the Vikings and Titans. Yesterday, Tennessee scored another astounding upset over the Ravens, winning 28-12 despite going in as 10-point underdogs.

What won the game for the Titans more than anything was excellent coaching from Mike Vrabel and his staff. They were able to effectively contain Lamar Jackson (despite 143 rushing yards from the presumptive league MVP) and picked him off twice.

On the flip side, the coaching for Baltimore could have been better. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman helped engineer 530 total yards of offense, but his team repeatedly stalled out in the red zone and in other key spots against an underrated Tennessee defense.

Two Roman calls in particular stood out as devastating for the Ravens’ chances of winning.

Baltimore had not failed to convert on fourth and one all season. They were stopped twice by the Titans last night, though. Naturally, the anti-analytics crowd was extremely pleased with those failures. While they’re completely wrong and the Ravens were right to go for it both times, the plays Roman dialed up were lacking.

Panthers tight end Greg Olsen noticed. Here’s what he said on Twitter about those calls.

This is why Olsen has a bright future ahead of him talking about football on TV.

The Ravens racked up the most points (531) and second most yards (6,521) in the league this year by utilizing Jackson’s unique talents but also by embracing motion, misdirection and multiple options. When it came time to put up or shut up on fourth down though they used Jackson as a truck rather than the Ferrari he is.

Put Cam Newton in the same spot and he might have done better, but the Titans clearly had the box stacked both times and the Ravens ran right into it. Rather than call for straight-forward runs, Roman should have utilized some form of deception. Tennessee offered a great example later in the game of how effective some sleight of hand can be in those spots.

Derrick Henry ran for 195 yards yesterday. At the goal line the Titans used him as a passer, though.

That’s how you take advantage of a defense that’s anticipating a run. Unfortunately, most NFL teams still choose to stubbornly run downhill when they need a couple of yards.

The Panthers are as guilty as any, of course. This season, they lost several close contests because they were unable to convert in short-yardage or goal-to-go situations. Getting the ball into Christian McCaffrey’s hands makes sense. Forcing him to run into a nine-man box does not.

Hopefully Matt Rhule and his new offensive coordinator have some fresh ideas about how to win in those situations.

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