Battle Plans: Keys to Sweeping Pittsburgh

It’s the Ravens’ second repeat divisional matchup of the season, so it will be my second start/stop/continue Battle Plans of the season.

This is where I look at the game film from the first meeting between the two teams and decide what the Ravens should start doing differently from that encounter, what they did a few weeks ago that they should stop, and what they did a few weeks ago that they should continue doing, in their matchup this week.

Ravens-Steelers, round two, here we go…

Offense

Start

In my Battle Plan for the first meeting between these teams, I wrote about how the Ravens should run some more Outside Zone – the staple of the Ravens’ running game are their Gap runs featuring pulling linemen. The predominant run play in the NFL utilizes Zone blocking, and specifically Outside Zone, which the Ravens run proportionately less of in their Greg-Roman-led offense.

This works serves the Ravens well against most opponents given that they are used to preparing for a very different running game. However, they often do run into a team when a little more Outside Zone looks like it would be a very good idea. The Steelers are one of those teams, and evidently, Greg Roman agreed with me.

The Ravens did roll with more Zone blocking in the first game, but they were flawed in their execution of it. The aiming point for the Running Back is just outside the Offensive Tackle, called a Bang read for the Running Back in Outside Zone. This point looked like the best way to attack the Steelers defense or even to attack the Bend read, which calls for a cutback against the grain. Outside Zone can be a pre-determined read for the Running Back or through reading his keys as the play evolves.

Crucial to the Bend and important for the Bang reads is the backside cut-off block. The Ravens are most likely to run Outside Zone towards Ronnie Stanley given his athleticism. This means Morgan Moses needs to cut off the 3-technique Defensive Tackle to his side – normally Larry Ogunjobi for the Steelers. This is a tough assignment for Moses, but crucial, as Ogunjobi, while not excelling as a run defender, can be a nightmare as a backside run defender in pursuit.

Moses has struggled to make this type of block all season. For the Steelers, cutting off the bend or affecting the bang by allowing Ogunjobi to invade the play-side will force the Running Back to bounce and into the waiting arms of their competent edge defenders.

The Ravens must find a way to make that block, as that type of run can be very effective against this defense.

Stop

One of the main reasons why Zone Blocking, or even using Duo, is preferable against the Steelers is due to the presence of Cam Heyward on the defensive line. While Montravius Adams and Ogunjobi are middling run defenders, Heyward is elite. When running Zone or Duo, you are able to get a double team onto Heyward and have far more chance of neutralizing him.

The Ravens did run some Zone in the first meeting, as already mentioned, and at times struggled to get one blocker to take over the double team when on Heyward. Ben Powers and Tyler Linderbaum worked well in unison, with Powers as the Post man on him, but it still took longer than you would hope for a release to the second level. They did though succeed in creating vertical movement and getting Heyward off the line of scrimmage which helped a great deal to open lanes for JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards.

Unfortunately, most of the time the backside wasn’t effectively blocked, and the run didn’t work, which is why they need to start getting the backside blocked (as already mentioned). When the Ravens ran their usual Gap scheme, with a pulling Guard and Pat Ricard coming across the formation, Heyward was able to wreak havoc and allow others to make plays.

Those type of runs from the Ravens just didn’t work effectively against this Steelers defensive front. It’s not that they need to stop these entirely; they’re too much of a feature of the offense and will work well to set up other types of run when used effectively in combination. But all teams run Gap and Zone, and while the Ravens needle is often pointed to the side of using more Gap than Zone, they need to redress that balance slightly this week and stop running as much Gap as we normally see from them.

Continue

Two things for this offense to continue doing: Firstly, they should continue to utilize their two most explosive players up the middle. That’s Linderbaum and Dobbins (and could be Lamar Jackson too if he manages to return for this game, though I think I would be on the side of bringing him back for the playoffs only at this point). The defense should run riot against Kenny Pickett this week, leaving little for Huntley to do to win the game if the Ravens get the running game going.

Getting that running game going will require patience, as the Steelers are an effective unit when defending the run, but the best way to break some big runs is for things to happen quickly at the line of scrimmage. This happened best for the Ravens when Linderbaum was able to use his explosiveness to come off a double team and spring to a Linebacker, with Dobbins and his explosion following behind him. This sprung the big run of the game that set up the early touchdown and can be used again this week.

The other thing that will be vital to get some semblance of a passing game going if Huntley is under Center is the Ravens’ use of motion both pre-snap and at the snap. The Ravens effectively used motion to indicate either a reverse or a screen to get the Steelers’ aggressive defensive backfield flowing towards the football. This, combined with Mark Andrews decoy routes and option routes into the soft spot in the Steelers underneath zones, worked very well to get the Ravens less heralded Wide Receivers open for easy, quick completions from Huntley.

Russell Street Report.