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: Defensive Notes vs. 49ers 11/24/11

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The Ravens were once again forced to play without Ray Lewis.  Unfortunately, Dannell Ellerbe was also inactive with a groin injury. Jameel McClain, as expected, took Ray’s spot and played every snap for the second straight week.  Albert McClellan stepped in at the other inside linebacker spot and contributed 29 quality snaps. McClellan had previously been the Ravens 8th heavy in the 443 at OLB, but he had 2 snaps at ILB after Ellerbe’s departure from the Bengals’ game.  Ayanbadejo played the nickel snaps and the Ravens were particularly effective … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Bengals 11/20/11

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The Bengals have thoroughly frustrated Joe Flacco over the past 2 seasons, primarily with the 4-man pass rush.  On Sunday, Zimmer stayed with the 4-man rush for 17 of 28 passing plays.  He also sent 3 men twice, 5 men 6 times, 6 twice, and 7 once.  Nothing worked consistently as Flacco threw for 9.6 yards per drop back. Last year, Flacco had ample time and space (ATS) on just 23 of 63 attempts (37%) versus the Bengals.  To compound matters, he threw for 7.8 YPP with ATS, 1.8 without, … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Bengals 11/20/11

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Like any football fan, I have expectations about how the game ought to be played. It surprised me a little that Pagano did not convert to the dime or quarter for the game’s final 2 plays (beginning Q4, 0:40).  With 17 yards to go, it seemed the extra DB (or two) would have been an asset in coverage, there was no legitimate threat of a run (other than Dalton), and the intentional grounding call allowed time for substitution.  At that point, it was a choice between having Ayanbadejo and Johnson … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Seahawks 11/13/11

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Just how bad was the special-teams effort Sunday? ·         Reed’s kick-off-return fumbles gave Seattle fields of 18 and 19 yards to navigate ·         Reed was called for unsportsmanlike conduct (Q2, 5:39) following a kick return to the 20.  The Ravens would start at the 10, run 3 plays for 4 yards, then Koch’s 28-yard punt would give Seattle the ball at the Ravens 42. ·         Cundiff’s first missed field goal gave the Seahawks the ball at the 40 from where they scored their only TD ·         Cundiff missed a 2nd … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Seahawks 11/13/11

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The loss to the Seahawks was a familiar story in many ways, but one all-too-hackneyed plot element is more frustrating than the others. The Seahawks used primarily a 4-man rush to frustrate Flacco.  They rushed 4 on 36 of 54 pass plays and only once rushed more than 5. Flacco had ample time and space (ATS) on 36 of 54 drop backs (67%).  To say a day of fine pass protection was wasted would be an understatement.  With ATS he was 22 of 36 for 202 yards 1 TD, 0 … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Steelers

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It could fairly be stated that Joe Flacco was both the Ravens’ best Offensive player and their best defensive player on Sunday. His 14 for 21 on 3rd down held the Steelers to 9 offensive drives including their last 2-play possession.  The Steelers lost despite 8.5 yards per pass play (YPP) and 6.8 yards per play on all plays (YPPA). The 14 conversions are a franchise record.  That shouldn’t be surprising when you think how difficult it is to get 21 3rd-down opportunities in a game.  For starters, that requires … Continue reading →

Division Tiebreakers with the Bengals

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Once again, we’re not ready for a full discussion about the Wild Card this week, but it’s fun to consider the division tiebreaker with the Bengals in the event they are tied with the Ravens for the division lead after their New Year’s Day meeting.  After 9 weeks, this single division tiebreaker is enough to consider.  First, let’s look at the results and upcoming opponents: Ravens (6-2): @ Sea, Cin, SF, @ Cle, Ind, @ SD, Cle, @ CIn (2-0 in Div, 1-0 vs. non-common opp, 4-2 in Conf, 2-0 … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Steelers 11/6/11

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Suggs_v_Roethlisberger
It’s easy to be giddy after Sunday’s big win, but it shouldn’t mask a serious problem. The Ravens pass rush had a bad, bad night. You folks are probably familiar with what I’ve defined as Ample Time and Space (ATS) for a quarterback.  I score a pass play as ATS when the QB is untouched for 3 full seconds and has a 150 degree arc in front of him with enough space to step into his throw.  In cases where the QB throws earlier than 3 seconds, I project whether … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: How Does the 2011 Ravens Pass Rush Measure Up?

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The Ravens are 2nd in the NFL with 25 sacks in 7 games.  That’s a big step forward from last year’s disappointing pass rush and begs an obvious question. Where are the extra sacks coming from? The easiest answer to this question would be to simply show the difference in absolute sacks by player, but you don’t need me to do that for you.  The question should really be rephrased. In what situations are the additional sacks occurring? To that end, I thought it would be fun to compare 3 … Continue reading →

It’s Never too Early for Tiebreakers

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We won’t get into a full discussion about the Wild Card, but I want to look at the tiebreakers strictly with the Steelers in the event they are tied with the Ravens for the division lead at season’s end.  In doing so, we are ignoring the Cincinnati Bengals.  That is dangerous to say the least, but if we can address just 1 tiebreaker issue per week, this is the one I’m choosing after 8 weeks.  First, a look at the results and upcoming opponents is useful: Ravens (5-2): @ Pit, … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Raves Rediscover the Spread—Offensive Notes vs. Cardinals

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It’s difficult not to get excited about the Ravens’ new-look offense. Summarized, here is what I saw from the spread/shotgun/no huddle offense: ·         The Ravens didn’t run it every play without a huddle and made some substitutions ·         The Cardinals made some substitutions both when allowed by reaction and on the fly ·         The Ravens ran 79 offensive plays for the game, excluding the kneel. ·         The first 28 had very little shotgun.  The last 51 were almost all shotgun (44). ·         The last 51 included 20 no huddle plays … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Cardinals 10/30/11

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There is much more about which to be excited than concerned from this game.  The comeback masked a game that was not as close as the score would indicate.  Is it troublesome that some key mistakes are keeping opponents in games?  Of course.  Are most of the mistakes correctable?  Absolutely, and by the 2nd half they were.  Sunday’s seemingly unimpressive win came despite an awful punt coverage with several missed tackles, a fumble to set the Cardinals up at the 2-yard line, and a dropped pass which gave the Cardinals … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Texans and Jaguars

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Who’s to blame for the offensive meltdown at Jacksonville?  It was a unit-wide effort to be sure and I’d cite 4 plays as examples of the breadth of the ineffectiveness: •             Rice’s fumble (Q1, 8:59) was his first in 520 touches and Jacksonville’s first recovery of the season. •             Rice had broken through the line into level 2 (Q2, 1:56) where McKinney and Gurode were in front of the play.  They each passed up an opportunity to block (Posluszny and Landry respectively) as Rice was taken down for a gain … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Defensive Notes vs. Jaguars 10/23/11

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MJD_Pollard
Do you remember Mad Libs?   I’ve seen them referenced on some sitcoms recently, but I’m not sure if those were nostalgic table scraps for children of the 1970’s or they are still being produced and sold regularly.  Sometimes I think it would be helpful for NFL players and coaches each to go through some Mad Lib training in the off season or at least at the rookie symposium.  Case in point, Monday’s game. With emotions high after the defense carried the offense, it’s natural that a player will be … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Follow the Bouncing Ball–Defensive Notes vs. Texans 10/16/11

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The Ravens had been both opportunistic and somewhat lucky with turnovers in the first 4 games.  They had recovered 8 of 11 opponent fumbles and deflected 2 passes at the line of scrimmage that went for interceptions. The Texans first TD was scored as Wade Smith drove Ngata backwards into level 2.  Haloti slipped off the block and hammered Myers while Wade stood flat footed without a partner as Webb stripped Tate.  Smith fell on the loose ball, but it’s unusual for the offense to recover a fumble past the … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Jets 10/2/11

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Gamblers will tell you that your results will often be a function of the results on your large bets.  For example, if you typically bet $50 on 10 games a week, but bet $500 the 10 times all season that you think you see a good opportunity, your overall results are going to be highly skewed by your success on those 10 bets, even if you post an outstanding winning percentage (let’s say 55%) on the 170 small bets. How does that relate to Sunday night?  Flacco had 4 throws … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Booting Private Ryan

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Maureen and I enjoy hockey and were watching a Caps/Flyers game in one of the last 2 seasons.  The broadcast cut to a fan in the stands with a sign that read Briere = [picture of a cat].  I turned to Maureen and said “Briere equals cat?”  She just looked back sideways at me and I said ‘oh…OH!” Since then, when we see less than manly behavior on the football field, “Briere equals cat” is all we need to say to each other. On Sunday night, the phrase had a 4th-quarter … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Rams and Ravens Play 5 Stud, 9’s are Wild

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I think it’s worth a minute to review the 3 Torrey Smith scores, because each was something special in terms of both athletic effort and design, but this was a game that virtually every Ravens receiver was targeted on a 9 route. Torrey Smith’s 3 TDs: ·         (Q1, 12:30):  Stewart lined up as the single high safety on the left hash.  Mikell covered Dickson in the slot.  King had press coverage on Smith outside right.  Rice picked up the blitzing Laurinaitis, but was driven backwards to Flacco.  Joe released off … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Pressure Gambles Pay Off–Defensive Notes vs. St. Louis 9/25/11

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The Rams entered the game having run the football with only marginal success and facing the Ravens formidable front 7 and beleaguered secondary.  Given the Titans’ success in week 2, this figured to be a game where the Rams would try to test the Ravens deep. The Ravens countered with blitzes that were more a function of numbers than deception as well as some press coverage to disrupt routes.  Chuck Pagano’s unit ran 2 blitzes I scored as deceptive during the first half, but more significantly, they rushed less than … Continue reading →

FILMSTUDY: Offensive Line Model and Notes vs. Titans 9/18/11

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The Ravens could not duplicate their fine effort from week 1 and lost in Tennessee.  The offensive frustrations are great and we’ll get to some of those later, but I need to do some housekeeping first. Let me start with a few comments about the scoring system first, because it’s intended to provide a transparent, objective measure to go with my subjective analysis.  I’ve seen it quoted elsewhere and I think there are some misconceptions in play. It primarily penalizes pass-blocking errors and is necessarily simple, because I wanted a … Continue reading →