Author Archives: Ken McKusick

About Ken McKusick

Ken McKusick

Ken comes to us via area message boards where he has consistently posted some of the most insightful and memorable posts that you'll find anywhere.  Known as "Filmstudy", Ken is a lifelong Baltimorean and rabid fan of Baltimore sports who grew up about 1 mile from Memorial Stadium.  He attended all but a handful of Orioles home games from 1979 through 2001.   Ken bleeds orange in more ways than one.  He's a graduate of Syracuse University, where he earned degrees in both Broadcast Journalism and Math and now works locally as an actuary. The message board member name "Filmstudy" comes from his collection of video from every Ravens game ever played and his player-participation-by-play tracking system for defense that he developed in 2006.  This system is the cornerstone of his thoughtful and one-of-a-kind analysis of the complex Ravens defense.  

FILMSTUDY: Bobbie Williams Blocking Review

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Bobbie Williams was signed as an unrestricted free agent this off season and is among the options to play left guard for the Ravens in 2012.  In 2011, Williams played in parts of 8 games from weeks 5-14.  He played every snap for 8 straight games before he broke his ankle in week 14 versus the Texans.  He’ll be 36 years old in September. Per PFF grading, I took 1 good game and 1 bad game from his 2011 season with an aggregate score that represented his season as a … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: So what do the Ravens have in Jacoby Jones?

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Jacoby Jones is the 3rd ex-Texan to receive a significant contract from the Ravens since the beginning of 2011.  If he can approach the level of play provided by Vonta Leach or Bernard Pollard, they’ll have found another bargain.  Jones projects as the Ravens’ primary punt returner, but had a significant role as a receiver for the Texans in 2011.  With injuries to Andre Johnson (9 games missed) and Kevin Walter (1 game), Jones led all Houston receivers with 808 snaps and was active for all 18 games. The most … Continue reading →

Who is the Ravens best ever fifth-round draft pick?

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It’s often difficult to understand how others view the world, but I wanted to give a window into how I do in the context of an evaluation I made 4 years ago. In 2008, I wanted to write a piece on how evaluations need to change rapidly when assessing NFL talent and put that in the context of a particular question. The hypothetical question was:  Who is the player most likely to be identified as the Ravens best 5th round draft pick ever in the 2020 Media Guide (the Ravens … Continue reading →

Contrary to popular opinion Ravens schedule not unfavorable

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Repeat after me…”The Ravens are entirely responsible for which teams they play.”  The only potential chance to be robbed by the schedule makers is in the order, day of the week, previous opponent schedule, or placement of the bye.  The Ravens have a number of fair elements in their schedule with no glaring difficulty.  Let’s start with the positives: ·         The Ravens play a single Thursday game, and it’s at home.  There are 18 total Thursday games, 15 of which are up for grabs (excludes Thanksgiving presents to Dallas and … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: 2011 Season Defensive Personnel Analysis—Secondary

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Cornerback was the weakest position in preseason.  Domonique Foxworth was still recovering from the ACL tear which shelved him for 2010.  Cary Williams was the team’s best corner, but did not use his physicality as much as might be hoped.  Lardarius Webb was criticized by message board pundits for his lack of technique.  Chris Carr was also struggling with injuries. Meanwhile at safety, injury questions continued to surround Ed Reed and the newly acquired Bernard Pollard could not win the starting strong safety spot from Tom Zbikowski. From there, the … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: 2011 Season Defensive Personnel Analysis—Linebackers

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In the year of the quarterback, the Ravens not only led the NFL in opposing passer rating (68.8), they also led the AFC in sacks with the 2nd highest total (48) in franchise history.  As usual, the Ravens also stopped the run effectively despite injury issues at inside linebacker (ILB). The Ravens have no defensive level with more potential for change than linebacker.  Jarrett Johnson, Brendan Ayanbadejo, and Jameel McClain are free agents, and may not be back.  Dannell Ellerbe will fight to win a job.  And, of course, the … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: 2011 Season Defensive Personnel Analysis—Defensive Line

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The Ravens had more than a little success defensively in 2011.    What went right above all else for the 2011 Ravens’ defense was an absence of serious injuries on the defensive line. The Ravens only had 7 players suit up the entire season and none of them played less than 17% of the total snaps.  Brandon McKinney was deactivated 5 times (including the AFCC) and Arthur Jones missed 2 games late in the season, but the Ravens otherwise dressed the same 7 men for every game. The Ravens regained … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Patriots 1/22/12

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Prior to Sunday the Ravens had a 57-1 record with a +2 or greater turnover margin, since 2000.  That record with a turnover advantage is cited weekly in the Ravens press release.  It is to 2011 football statistics what the Yankees’ record entering the 8th inning with the lead was 30 years ago to baseball statistics.  It’s deceptively good, because there is not a meaningful context for the typical fan.  Bill James wrote that the Yankees 51-3 record in 1981 when leading entering the 8th inning wasn’t particularly exceptional (only … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Ravens Call Texans’ All-Ins 1/15/12

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I would have liked to avoid the topic of the week, but it’s difficult not to talk about Flacco with a game of these extremes. First, let’s look at the pressure brought by the Texans.  They rushed between 4 and 7 every pass play.  To summarize by number of pass rushers: 4:  12 plays for 15 yards, 1.3 YPP, 4 sacks 5:  5/22, 4.4 YPP, 1 sack 6:  8/21, 2.6 YPP 7:  7/82, 11.7 YPP These numbers tell a story without much further subjective analysis, but I want to speak … Continue reading →

TOWELED OFF: A Pittsburgh fan tries to make sense of a terrible loss

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The thoughts of an anonymous Pittsburgh Steelers fan following Sunday’s game (this is actually a compilation of actual post-Denver carpings/”logic” from the Steelers’ boards): Harrison can’t get a call He’s held each time they throw Suspend him 1 more  @#$* time, Goodell… We were beaten by Tebow? Ben played on just 1 ankle He nearly stole the show Rub some dirt on yours Markice We were beaten by Tebow! Clark’s absence was regrettable But the right thing as we know I’d give him one of my spleens We were beaten … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Experience Points

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Chuck Pagano came up with another game plan well suited to the opponent.  The Ravens were able to limit the damage from the Houston running game and with minimal pressure on Yates, forced him to throw 37 times directly into the strength of the Ravens defense. If you were genetically designing a new super soldier, you’d want to start with some of TJ’s DNA for his fearlessness. Most veteran quarterbacks playing the Ravens seem to look for Ed Reed and throw away from him.  Yates has a clearly-demonstrated affinity with … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Wasted Opportunities

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Ask 100 folks to come up with 3 adjectives to describe the Ravens’ defense and you’ll get a lot of overlap.  I’m guessing the most common words might be aggressive, physical, and opportunistic.  It’s that last word I want to examine for a moment. The Ravens had 13 passes defensed versus the Bengals on Sunday.  For the season, they lead the league in passes defensed with 112.  That’s 8 more than 2nd place San Francisco.  Unlike past seasons, however, they aren’t converting those hands on the football to interceptions as … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Browns 12/24/11

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The Ravens get all the calls.  Just ask any Steelers fan. Torrey Smith has drawn the 3 longest pass interference calls in the league this season (50 yards at Jax, 50 yards vs. SF, 60 yards vs. Cle).  No one else has drawn such a foul in excess of 45 yards.  The 60-yard PI Sunday is the longest I can ever recall.  Flacco threw the ball approximately 65 yards and Smith had separation from both Haden (via a double move) and Adams (via speed).  Adams was closer and tried to … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Browns 12/24/11

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Talk about history repeating itself. In last year’s week 16 game (12/26/10), the Ravens and Browns played a very similar game.  In Cleveland that day, the Ravens benefitted from a number of Browns’ miscues to win 20-10.  Here’s a link On Sunday, the Ravens faced a Browns team that: ·         Exercised awful clock management at the end of the 2nd quarter ·         Used all 6 timeouts used on offense ·         Lollygagged their way through a drive beginning with 6:50 to go in the game which assured that it would be … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Chargers 12/18/11

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Sometimes it’s not about your players. As a fan, it’s natural to want to pinpoint an explanation for a game like Sunday’s.  It’s easiest to develop a theory related to either outside circumstances or the players/coaches we know well.  Ideally we’d ascribe it to some temporary or correctable problem.  There was lousy play calling, Webb’s injury, blind officials, and the Chargers fell on every loose ball.  You’ve heard the excuses. In this case, I think their athletes simply outplayed ours.  Most significantly, Rivers had an amazing night of touch passing … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: The Envelope Please…Defensive Notes vs. Colts 12/11/11

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For a defensive laugher, the Ravens forgot a lot of punch lines. The Ravens dominated by most measures, yet went 0 for 3 recovering the fumbles they forced and left some interceptions on the field.  While it was good to see some of the young players get a chance on the final drive, it was disappointing to see the Ravens render their own pass rush impotent by playing so soft on the corners.  That led to the only touchdown allowed. I’ve got more detail on Suggs below, but just where … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Playing Small Ball—Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Colts 12/11/11

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The Ravens returned to a style that has served them well versus overmatched opponents in the Harbaugh era, small ball. Some examples: ·         The Ravens took just 1 deep shot the entire game, a 35-yard pass intended for Smith (Q2, 1:12) where Lacey appeared to get away with pass interference. ·         The Ravens have played very conservatively on 2nd and short (1 or 2 yards to go) of late.  In the last 3 games they have had 9 such plays with 8 runs (Leach 4/4 first downs, Williams 2/2, Rice … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Browns 12/4/11

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Much is made of the mini-bye week teams enjoy after a Thursday night game.  The Ravens had extra time to prepare, delivered an offensive performance which was varied, and directly attacked the Brown biggest weakness. What’s so creative about running the ball a franchise-record 55 times?  I can’t imagine a team running the ball more different ways than the Ravens did Sunday.  Let’s review: •             The Ravens successfully used both zone and straight ahead blocking •             They used a 6-man formation (6 plays) •             They ran the 6-man formation unbalanced … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Browns 12/4/11

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Fans of any team tend to be highly reactive to bad losses, particularly to rivals. With the Browns facing 4 games with the Ravens and Steelers in a 5-week period, I’m expecting lots of drama.  The Browns have a dedicated and knowledgeable fan base.  They’ve clearly had enough of losing and can be very amusing when discussing it.  Current topics include: •             What songs best convey the organizational commitment to losing? •             The Browns had only 9 men on the field for a punt Sunday (Q4, 12:14) •             Half of … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. 49ers 11/24/11

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Each week the Ravens put out a Ravens Game Release that looks a little like the media guide with some similar information.  I would guess the target audience is primarily the other team’s media, because the information doesn’t change too much from week to week. If you like the media guide and the little information boxes, you’ll love this stuff.  The Ravens have the 4th best record against the NFC since 2008 (10-5).  The Ravens have allowed the fewest 1st-possession points in the NFL this season (0, Arizona/Houston had allowed 7 … Continue reading →