Defensive Notes vs. Jaguars 11/15/15

We can focus on the officiating, the final play on defense, or the turnovers on offense, but it won’t change anything.

Instead, I think it’s better to review some of the positives that may have gone unnoticed from a fine defensive effort.

Substantial changes over the bye week, both offensively and defensively, highlighted a game with lots of “firsts” and “bests”. To summarize:

—Jeremy Butler made his Ravens debut and had his first NFL catch (Q4, 10:06) for 21 yards.
—Maxx Williams had his best day as a Raven, catching all 4 balls on which he was the target for 40 yards, including a 21-yard TD (Q2, 1:17). That was his first NFL touchdown.
—Chris Givens caught his first TD as a Raven (Q4, 7:36) to give the Ravens the lead that should have held.
–The Ravens modified their 3-ILB package by substituting Arthur Brown for Daryl Smith in some obvious passing situations. Brown played 7 defensive snaps, his first since 12/29/13.
—Asa Jackson returned for his latest last chance and played 8 defensive snaps. Those were Asa’s first defensive snaps since the last time Jacksonville played here (12/14/14), breaking a 12 game stretch with no snaps on defense.
—Lardarius Webb had an interception, the Ravens’ first takeaway since week 3, to break the longest drought in team history. If you’re the witch who put the hex on this defense, don’t worry. The Ravens continue to miss turnover opportunities with mind-numbing regularity. More on that later.
–The Ravens played their first 3 (plus 1 penalty) dime snaps of the season. The team last fielded 6 defensive backs on 12/7/14 at Miami (only 8 such plays in 2014). We’ll review that as well.

What I did Over The Bye Week: by Dean Pees

During the bye week, Pees made some significant personnel changes.

Dime results:

–(Q1, 11:00) Kendrick Lewis was set to tackle Thomas short of a first down on 3rd and 8, but Thomas dropped the ball and Lewis was credited with a gift PD.
–(Q2, 10:17) Bortles completed a 13-yard pass to Hurns to convert 3rd and 10. Wright was soft on the play.
–(Q4, 0:14) On 3rd and 15, Bortles completed an 11-yard in-bounds pass to Thomas. That would be an excellent result on most 3rd and 15s, but better still when there was no time for anything but a Hail Mary on the game’s final snap (or so we thought).
–(Q4, 0:01) The defense stayed on the field, the formation was good, and the snap beat the game clock, but the left tackle did not ever set (let alone for a second before the snap). You will be talking about this play for the next few days, so we need not review other than to say it was a penalty (so I don’t typically include it in snap counts), several players on each side gave up on the play, and it’s not germane to discussion of the dime.

This isn’t enough to make conclusions, but I expect we’ll see more of it over the rest of the season.

Arthur Brown

Arthur Brown’s debut came exclusively on 3rd down with to-go distances of 9, 14, 11, 10, 10, 12, and 6 yards. The Jaguars converted just 1 of those 7 opportunities by pass (and one other on Hill’s hit on Walter). I noticed Brown rushing the passer just once. Otherwise he was used to spy the running back or dropped to zone coverage. The Ravens allowed 16 yards on 7 plays with the Brown/Orr/Mosley package.

It’s interesting that Pees only felt comfortable using this package on 3rd and long, but not every 3rd and long. The Ravens allowed conversions on 3 of the other 7 such 3rd down situations with distances between 7 and 15 yards. There are on-field awareness issues, but if you’re convinced Arthur Brown will help in obvious passing situations, why not have him in the game for the entire final drive?

A New Spot For Webb

The other significant change Pees made was to move Lardarius Webb to safety for a number of snaps with 5 DBs. On several occasions, he was playing a deep cover 2, while Kendrick Lewis lined up opposite the slot receiver. Among reasons to like this move:
–It is an attempt to address the team’s biggest weakness (a lack of turnovers) by improving ball skills on the back end.
–If not done on every play, it’s a wrinkle which may make it more difficult for opposing offensive coordinators to game plan.

Webb couldn’t keep up with Allen Robinson on his 15-yard touchdown reception (Q4, 13:08), but otherwise played well. Highlights included the interception (Q2, 12:24), good coverage on 2 passes in the end zone, a tackle for a loss of 2 on Yeldon, and an in-bounds tackle on the final drive.

With the exception of Brynden Trawick, every active member of the Ravens’ secondary played at least 1 snap defensively.

Missed Opportunities

The inability to secure some carelessly thrown footballs cost the Ravens another game Sunday. In particular, Kendrick Lewis dropped a pass that appeared intended for him (Q4, 0:22) which would have sealed the game.

Need a metric to convince yourself it’s not just anecdotal? The Ravens were credited with 13 passes defensed against the Jags and had just 1 interception. For the season, they now registered 46 PDs and have just 4 INTs. Coincidentally, Ravens opponents have registered 46 PDs, but have 10 INTs.

Through week 10, the league is averaging an interception for every 5.1 PDs. Had the Ravens generated interceptions at the league average rate, they would have 9 INTs and would probably be one of the prominent Wild Card contenders.

Other Notes

–CJ Mosley played well versus the run and pass. To list some of his highlights:

–(Q1, 14:23) He diagnosed the reverse to Lee and forced the receiver out of bounds for a gain of just 3.
–(Q1, 11:41) With the right edge in peril Mosley filled tot take down Yeldon for no gain.
–(Q2, 4:15) On 3rd and goal from the 3, Mosley stood up Yeldon for no gain to force a field goal.
–(Q3, 5:05) He evaded a block from Beadles to tackle Yeldon for a loss of 5 on a screen left.
–(Q4, 13:56) He moved up quickly to touch down Yeldon for a loss of 2 on a screen left. His former teammate slipped at the sight of him.
–(Q4, 5:28) Mosley made first contact on Yeldon’s stretch right. He missed the tackle, but slowed him for Webb to take him down for a loss of 2.
He also had a contribution to containment or made the tackle on 3 in-bounds stops on the final drive (Q4, 1:06 and Q4, 0:25 and Q4, 0:14). Those plays should have sealed the game.

—Zach Orr continues to impress in limited opportunities. In his 7 snaps, he had a QH, a PD, and arrived a moment after Dumervil’s 2nd sack (Q4, 14:51).
–Hill had a bad game. It reminded me of Bernard Pollard circa 2012 in terms of a player no longer connected to the way the game is officiated. However, I don’t think he could have easily avoided the penalty versus Walters (Q4, 13:18). He was also bracing for contact with the receiver and the hit did not appear to be head hunting.
–When did the Ravens last have 5+ personal fouls? Surprisingly, one need only go back to 11/2/14 against the Steelers (6).
–The interior DL remains healthy, which has made Kapron Lewis-Moore a healthy scratch for the last 2 games. Brent Urban may be ready to return soon, but there are not enough snaps for the current rotation. Of the 70 non-penalty snaps versus the Jags, counts were:

–Jernigan had the 2nd most playing time of his career (53 snaps at Houston 12/21/14).
–Davis should receive more playing time as it becomes clear the Ravens’ playoff chances are gone.
–Canty made a contribution against the run, but did not make my notes as a pass rusher.
–Just how bad is the Ravens’ pass defense? Opposing QBs have a 101.4 QB rating including 18 TDs, 4 INTs, 64.9% completions, and 7.8 yards per attempt (net of sacks).