OL Overpowers Saints

The Saints eschewed the aggressive pass rush of the last several opponents and the OL effectively pushed the Saints defense around to drive a run game when everyone knew it was coming.

The Ravens afforded Jackson ample time and space (ATS) on a season high 52% of 25 drop backs resulting in a pass/sack.  When Jackson had ATS, he completed 7 of 11 for 90 yards (6.9 YPP) with 1 touchdown and 2 sacks (both for no loss).

Jackson delivered the ball before pressure could develop (BOQ) on 4 of 25 drop backs (16%) with 3 complete for 28 yards (7.0 YPP).  He was pressured 8 times (32%), on which Jackson completed 2 of 7 passes for 13 net yards (1.6 YPP) with 1 sack.

By number of pass rushers:

3: no plays

4: 17 plays, 74 yards, 4.1 YPP, 2 sacks

5: 6 plays, 59 yards, 9.8 YPP

6: 2 plays, -2 yards, -1 YPP, 1 sack

7+:  no plays

The Saints rushed 5+ on 8 of 25 pass plays (32%) on which Jackson averaged 7.1 YPP.

OL Scoring

The Ravens ran 65 scored snaps (excludes accepted penalties which result in no play, kneels, spikes, and special teams plays that result in a run or pass).

Stanley:  Ronnie played his first complete game since returning and did not allow a pass rush event.   He and Powers were driven back by DE Turner to blow up Hill’s RL-3 (Q1, 3:44). He also had his face crossed by Turner as part of a shared penetration on Drake’s RL-4 (Q4, 9:36).  He was flagged for holding ILB Davis (Q3, 13:41) on what appeared to be a marginal call.  Of his 5 missed blocks, 3 were losses at the LoS.  He connected on 3 of 4 pulls and made 2 blocks in level 2.  His highlight was a combination block on ILB Werner and then S Maye in level 2 on the first offensive play (Q1, 13:01).

Scoring:  65 plays, 58 blocks, 5 missed, 1 (2 x ½) penetration, 1 offensive holding, 50 points (.77 per play).  That’s a B after adjustment.

Powers:  Ben delivered a solid effort including a heavy pull workload. In addition to the shared penetration with Stanley noted above, he failed to pick up ILB Davis penetrating from level 2 on Drake’s RM-1 (Q1, 11:37).  He allowed a pressure when beaten inside by DE Davenport (Q1, 4:26). He did not have a negative play after the second Ravens drive.  Of his 4 missed blocks, only 1 was a loss at the LoS.  He was asked to pull 13 times and connected on 11.  He had 4 blocks in level 2 but did not have a pancake nor a highlight.  

Scoring:  65 plays, 58 blocks, 4 missed, 1.5 penetrations, 1 pressure, 53 points (.82 per play).  That’s a B after adjustment.

Linderbaum:  Tyler played well despite being the apparent target of Lamar’s frustration.  He had 2.5 pressures (beaten left by DT Roach, Q1, 11:43, full; beaten left by ILB Davis blitz, Q3, 8:34, full; and failed stunt hand off with Zeitler Q4, 15:00, half).  On the delay of game penalty, the Ravens were late to the line, Lamar signaled late to Zeitler, Zeitler was slow to tap, and Linderbaum did not snap immediately nor demonstrate awareness of the play clock.  Each of these three players were charged 1/3 of the penalty (-1 point).  Among his 3 missed blocks only 1 was a loss at the LoS.  He made all 3 of his pulls, had 5 blocks in level 2, but did not deliver a pancake.  His highlight was a combination where he helped with DT Tuttle, then blocked DT Street, then blocked S Mathieu in level 2 (Q4, 3:23). Despite the fact the run went for no gain (Q4, 3:23), blocking 3 men on the same play is extremely rare for an offensive lineman.

Scoring: 65 plays, 59 blocks, 3 missed, 2.5 pressures, 1/3 delay of game, 53 points (.82 per play).  That’s a C+ with adjustment.

Zeitler:  Kevin continued an impressive run of quality games.  Aside from the delay of game shared with Linderbaum and Jackson, Kevin shared a pressure with Linderbaum on a failed stunt hand off (Q4, 15:00).  Of his 7 missed blocks only 2 were losses at the LoS.  He connected on 5 of 7 pulls.  He missed all 3 of his level 2 block opportunities and did not have a pancake nor a highlight.

Scoring:  65 plays, 57 blocks, 7 missed, 1/2 pressure, 1/3 delay of game, 55 points (.85 per play). That’s a B with or without adjustment.

Moses:  Morgan played a fine game despite an inadvertent strip of Lamar.  He was beaten outside by DE Jordan and then dislodged the football which was deftly recovered by Lamar who nearly completed a long pass to DeSean Jackson (Q2, 12:06).   In terms of scoring, I reduced Moses’ subjective adjustment by .04 (the equivalent of approximately -2.5 points).  The only other negative play was a flag for being illegally downfield (Q2, 9:00) which negated a 23-yard pass to D. Jackson.  Of his 4 missed blocks 2 were losses at the LoS.  He had 5 blocks in level 2 and delivered 2 pancakes.  He connected on 6 of his 7 pulls including 2 courtesy points as the trailer.  On the more impressive of his 2 highlights, he drove LB Elliss 5+ yards in level 2 on Lamar’s RM6 (Q4, 4:10). 

Scoring:  64 plays, 59 blocks, 4 missed, 1 pressure, 1 illegal downfield, 54 points (.84 per play).  That’s a B+ with adjustment.

Mekari:  Patrick replaced Moses for 1 play and allowed a pressure.