Ravens in Red Zone

FO looks at all the Ravens’ red zone struggles against the Colts

In my opinion, the Ravens made several schematic mistakes against the Colts that they have since corrected. The temptation to put Joe Flacco in a Peyton Manning suit too soon has been replaced by an almost over-compensation to the run. Straight five-man fire-out blocking and ill-timed draw-related passiveness has given way to six-man smashmouth and great timing with pulling guards. Instead of rolling McClain all over the place in motion, it’s now about using his power in conjunction with that line. The Ravens will have to pass more than they did against the Patriots — four completions in 10 attempts won’t work unless the Ravens can get Manning to play like Brady did last week — and they already know what happens if they don’t capitalize on the mistakes Manning does make.

Step 1 is to make the Colts respect play-action. Flacco sells it very well, and it’s obviously predicated on consistent run success. Step 2 is to use misdirection off motion and make the Colts pay for their quick downfield pursuit; I was really surprised at Baltimore’s seeming unwillingness to go against the Colts’ line movement off motion. Step 3 is to understand what their receivers can’t do — Mason will not blow by Indy’s fast defense, but he can sit in holes and zone flats and make things work underneath. The obvious key is to convert in the red zone with the use of personnel overloads. Baltimore did this extremely well against the Patriots, sending left guard Grubbs to the second level as right guard Yanda pulled to fill the gap. McClain would seal the edge as left tackle Gaither and center Birk forced alleys open side to side. The Ravens can upset the Colts if they take what they’ve learned, and add in just a taste of what they used to do.