It was a road win and an ugly win which defers for another week the question we ask ourselves every other night about the Orioles…“Did that loss just cost the team its chance to make the playoffs?”
This game can be broken down statistically in a number of ways, but I’m going to drill down on the 3rd and 4th down plays by the Browns that were a source of frustration for Ravens fans.
Reviewing the Gamebook, I noticed the Ravens actually “outperformed” the Browns by a hair with 10/17 on 3rd and 4th down compared to Cleveland’s 9/16. However, that sort of performance won’t get the Ravens to the playoffs and deserves an examination by play:
(Q1, 13:42) 3/7, PR8 (Pass Right for 8 yards): McCown completed a 3-yard pass near the right sideline to which Hawkins added 5 yards after the catch (YAC) with a missed tackle by Wright and Orr too slow to defend the marker.
(Q1, 12:25) 3/5, PR28: McCown threw complete to Johnson (11 + 17 YAC). Webb was close in coverage, but could not knock the ball away or make the tackle.
(Q1, 9:51) 3/10, PL31 TD: Coleman beat Wright for a 31-yard TD in the back of the end zone. Despite obvious kickup of white dust, the play was not reversed. Webb was late arriving. Pictures distributed after the game showed Coleman’s toes clearly out of bounds. If you have a camera that can seamlessly follow and focus on Alex Ovechkin, how difficult would it be to have NFL cameras added to each boundary capable of focusing automatically on the spot in question?
#Browns 1st TD should've been overturned (see below). Helps make up for some bad penalties that went the #Ravens way pic.twitter.com/VjyvxNb5m9
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) September 18, 2016
(Q1, 5:11) 3/8, PM14: Barnidge lost Orr as he turned to the sideline for a 14-yard gain (12 + 2 YAC) to convert.
(Q2, 13:24) 3/12, PR16: McCown threw complete to Pryor (14 + 2 YAC) well in front of Jimmy Smith who was much too soft for the situation.
(Q2, 11:14) 3/2, RR0: The Ravens stopped the Browns for the first time on 3rd down as Mosley beat RG Greco to shut down McCown’s option run right.
(Q2, 5:50) 3/2, PR4: Smith was a little soft on Hawkins who hauled in this pass by the right boundary (3 + 1 YAC)
(Q2, 4:01) 3/12, RM8: Mosley and Weddle shut down Johnson’s run left for a gain of just 8. I’m not sure why the Browns gave up on this one after all of their success on 3rd and long, but thanks.
(Q3, 11:23) 3/11, PR12: Johnson converted a screen right (-4 + 16), lunging to the marker after Mosley missed a tackle 8 yards from the LoS.
(Q3, 9:59) 3/9, S-5: Jernigan beat C Cam Erving left for a slow-developing sack.
(Q3, 6:12) 3/10, Inc: Johnson lined up 1 yard behind the LG in one of the truly odd RB alignments I have ever seen. That compromised his pass block on Mosley who flattened McCown as he threw. The pass was nearly on target to Pryor, but too low to be caught by Smith, who was soft by several yards behind him.
(Q3, 0:10) 3/5, PM47: Za’Darius Smith had a free run off the ORS (offensive right side), but failed to wrap up McCown, who stepped up and threw deep for Coleman (43 + 4 YAC) between the right hash and numbers. Wright was in good position vs. a 5’11” receiver to either knock the ball away or strip it, but was unable to do either. Webb was late arriving to help.
(Q4, 14:04) 3/28, Inc: McCown had all day to throw, but could not connect with Pryor by the right sideline. This time, Wright had good coverage and Webb was closing as the ball arrived.
(Q4, 8:50) 3/19, PR25, negated by IDP74: McCown escaped pressure by rolling right with Erving ahead of him. Fortunately for the Ravens, the Browns center took off in search of a lead block while McCown rocketed a ball down the right sideline for Pryor. The ball was knocked away by Smith, into the waiting hands of Higgins for a gain of 19, but that was negated by the ineligible receiver downfield penalty on Erving.
(Q4, 8:15) 3/24, Inc: On the ensuing play, McCown threw a screen pass right for Johnson that was dropped. Orr and Wright had the play well diagnosed and the screen blockers beaten.
(Q4, 0:55) 3/10, PL7: McCown threw complete to Barnidge (3 + 4 YAC) which was not only short of the sticks, but Tavon Young made a fine undercutting tackle that ran the clock down to 0:34 before the Browns could snap their 4th down attempt…
(Q4, 0:34) 4/3, PR11 (OOB to stop clock): McCown went back to Coleman (9 + 2 YAC) who beat both Wright and Mosley to the boundary for both the conversion and a critical clock stoppage.
A few notes on these plays:
– In total, the Browns registered 181 yards on their 3rd/4th down plays (11.3 YPP).
– Their 9 conversions had an average distance of 7.0 yards to go, but gained an average of 19.0 yards. This wasn’t simply a case where the Browns manufactured a large number of 3rd-and-short situations and converted a high percentage.
– Soft coverage and the inability to make a play on the football when coverage was tight were both recurring themes. That reminds me of the old Animal House line “Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
– Failure to wrap up on sacks has also been a big problem through 2 games. That may seem unfair when it’s clear the effects of the 8 brutal knockdowns on McCown won the game for the Ravens defensively. However, if the Ravens are to contend, they will need to convert more of their sack opportunities and generate turnovers in the process.
– Cam Erving played very poorly, but he’s still a massive young center most Ravens fans wish was here. He had several costly errors in this game. Unfortunately for him, it appears he may have suffered a serious injury.
– Shareece Wright, Lardarius Webb, and Jimmy Smith each had a role in more than one of these plays.
– The Ravens again did not play a single snap of dime defense in this game. Each of the long-distance connections above came versus the nickel and some of them with extended pocket time. Particularly when playing zone, the Ravens could have benefited from better underneath ball skills and short-area coverage ability than Zach Orr or Albert McClellan possess or delivered. I have no idea why Anthony Levine was groomed for, and excelled in, the role during the preseason and is now being used exclusively opposite the slot receiver in a big nickel package. I do know that the Ravens have still played just 99 snaps of dime in the 72 meaningful games Dean Pees has been their Defensive Coordinator.
So there you have it. When your wife asks you why you were screaming profanely at the TV for most of the afternoon (“the Ravens won, honey”), you can link her this article. And let me know how that goes for you.
The Ravens held the Browns to just 59 offensive snaps.
Individual Notes (note all snap counts exclude penalties, kneels, and spikes and as such will be lower than other published totals)
Timmy Jernigan (41 snaps) was again one of the Ravens’ defensive stars. Each of his 3 QHs were monstrous hits on McCown (Q1, 9:51 and Q1, 5:11 and Q3, 9:59) which contributed to his diminished 2nd half performance. A big play which may be forgotten was his screen diagnosis (Q4, 1:04) on which he was able to take down Johnson for a loss of 1 in bounds. That play, combined with the injury to Erving, forced the Browns to use their last timeout. Jernigan was again used as the sole defensive lineman on a number of passing downs along with 5 linebackers. In some cases, the other 5 heavies were all standing.
I scored Michael Pierce (18 snaps) for 3 pressure events. He overpowered Joel Bitonio to the outside for his first career sack (Q4, 9:33). He had the first hit on McCown (Q1, 12:30) when he beat Cam Erving and rolled McCown over traffic behind him for one of the hardest QHs you’ll ever see. I was amazed McCown got up from it, but he would endure 7 more knockdowns, most of which were almost as punishing. In a game where the Ravens allowed 6.6 yards per snap as a team, they allowed just 1.7 YPP with Pierce in the game. An illuminating coming-of-age moment came on the final drive when Pierce was inserted for the first 2 plays. In that situation, you expect someone who can make a pass rush contribution to be in, which is not normally a NT. In addition, to that point Pierce had never played a snap without Brandon Williams lined up next to him.
Brent Urban (8 snaps for a 2nd consecutive game) is not getting much playing time, but contributed a cleanup sack (Q2, 4:49) on initial pressure from Matt Judon.
Lawrence Guy (26 snaps), had increased playing time, including a few more passing downs. He had the tackle for loss on 2 run plays blown up by Suggs. Guy also backed up Bailey for pressure on the game-sealing interception (Q4, 0:20).
Terrell Suggs (37 snaps) did not show much as a pass rusher in 23 pass snaps, but he gave great evidence his run skills are not gone with a couple of outstanding efforts on the edge:
–(Q4, 15:00) He penetrated to jam up the right side by getting underneath 2 pulling blocks (Bitonio and Thomas) to reverse Crowell’s run right for a loss of 5. Guy and Orr cleaned up for tackle credit, but Suggs made the play.
–(Q4, 10:09) He made an amazing matador move to elude the pulling Greco and tackled Crowell for a loss of 3.
Terrell Suggs, making pulling guards look bad since 2003.
Albert McClellan (44 snaps) played a significantly larger role in passing-down snaps. I don’t think that was a good thing, because he faced some compromised positions when dropping to cover (ex: Q4, 10:42). However, he had a very nice stunt setup when he took a double from Erving and Greco that allowed Jernigan to loop outside for a QH (Q1, 9:51) on the Browns first TD pass.
C.J. Mosley played all 59 snaps and it’s fun to watch his gambling style. His tackle total increased to 6, which were -1, 4, 28, 8, 0, and -1 yards from the LoS. Of those, all but the 28-yard tackle is a defensive win by the Football Outsiders definition. He did not receive tackle credit, but his penetration past Greco foiled McCown’s option on 3rd and 2 for no gain (Q2, 11:14). He also had a hard QH (Q3, 6:12, see above) which contributed to wearing down McCown. The interception was a case where all 3 defenders (Mosley, Webb, Weddle) were in the right place and C.J. made the sure play. Mosley also had a few clunkers including 2 missed tackles (Q3, 11:23 and Q4, 2:00) which allowed first down YAC. He was also unable to stop Pryor from getting to the boundary for a key clock stoppage (Q4, 0:34) on the final drive.
Eric Weddle (59 snaps) was the defensive MVP. Here are his contributions in racing form:
–Draws OPI on Pryor to negate 8-yard run
–Corrals Johnson on 2-yard stretch left
–Has good coverage on back end of 30-yard incomplete for Pryor down left sideline
–Tackles Johnson with Mosley to deny 3rd and 12
–Intercepts sideline pass for Higgins by being in position over the top
–Has good coverage on Barnidge on 15-yard incomplete with QH
–Fills open left side to tackle Crowell RM2
–Maintains triangle of coverage versus Pryor on Mosley’s interception.
Now if he can just get the rest of the secondary to play like he has…
Tavon Young (20 snaps) played well despite the fact his down-and-distance responsibilities matched exactly the Ravens failures in this game. I did not note him as targeted on any pass prior to the final drive. He was then targeted twice:
–(Q4, 1:31): He made a hard undercut of Pryor for a gain of just 1 in bounds. That play ran 29 seconds of the clock.
–(Q4, 0:55): He tackled Barnidge for a 7-yard, in-bounds gain to force a 4th-and-3 play detailed in the list of 3rd down plays above.
In a game where the Ravens had a number of standout defenders, it could be argued he was the team’s defensive MVP.
After some missed practice days, Za’Darius Smith was active (39 snaps). Smith was used a number of times on the inside of the 4-man pass front.
Kamalei Correa and Chris Carter both dressed, but neither played on defense.
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