A year ago, the Cincinnati Bengals torched a Wink Martindale-coordinated defense twice during a season sweep of the Baltimore Ravens.
Martindale, who made some comments about Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase that sparked headlines, is no longer with the Ravens, though.
But Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan says that even though some of Baltimore’s defensive tendencies have changed under new coordinator Mike Macdonald, they easily have the ability to mix it up.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s changed. I would say the deployment of the blitzes might be just a little bit different,” Callahan said, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Their personnel is different. Some of the exotic stuff they may not run because they don’t have the people for it, but he was with Wink for (seven years). He’s willing to deploy those as needed.” …
The Ravens aren’t blitzing nearly as much as they have in past years. But that’s one of those things they can change up at a moment’s notice. Whether they do against Burrow and his excellent numbers against it remains to be seen, but the versatility is very much still there.
Plus, we’ve seen Burrow’s offense struggle as opposing defenses have adapted with more two-high safety looks, so that’s likely something to expect Sunday night. Given the changes, expecting another blowout win would be misguided, barring a stunner.
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