Buffalo needs an answer for the blitz
One of the main reasons for the Bills’ struggles against the Ravens’ defense on Sunday afternoon was a relentless pass rush from the guys in white jerseys. Baltimore sacked Josh Allen six times and had pressure in his face all game long.
The Ravens often employed a Cover 0 defense, bringing an extra defender near the line of scrimmage to rush the quarterback while leaving the deep middle of the field uncovered by a safety. The design of this defense is to bring more pass rushers on a blitz than the offense can block.
The result of this was that Allen was running for his life often. The Bills appeared to have no answers for the Ravens’ blitz package. The six Baltimore sacks could have been closer to 10 if not for Allen being able to stay on his feet and get away a couple of times and throw the ball away a couple other times.
The Ravens utilized their blitz on Buffalo’s final drive, and it resulted in a sack as well as a pressure that forced Allen to desperately heave the ball back to the middle of the field on 3rd and 8 from the Baltimore 16, resulting in an incompletion that set up Baltimore’s final stand on fourth down one play later.
It was clear that the Ravens saw on film how Buffalo could be exploited by the blitz. Extra pressure has resulted in Allen making poor decisions with the football, especially during the first half of the season. This was a problem for Allen during the Bills’ Week 4 loss to New England. Guess who the Bills still have on their schedule? The Patriots and their Cover 0 defense in week 16.
Baltimore is the most blitz-happy team in the league, blitzing on 53 percent of snaps on defense, more than any other team in the league. Blitzing is their bread and butter. But it’s the perfect strategy to counter a Buffalo offense that relies on intermediate throws, has shown little ability to throw the ball deep, and has a quarterback who likes to leave the pocket to make plays on the run.
The Ravens utilized the blitz to their benefit on Sunday. Baltimore had an excellent defensive gameplan that really stymied the Bills until they were finally able to beat the blitz for big gains in the fourth quarter. But the overall success of the Ravens’ blitz throughout the game is a really big cause for concern for the Buffalo offense. They will have to come up with answers before they face blitz-happy Pittsburgh and New England, or else they could find themselves still looking for their 10th win heading into the regular season finale.