FILMSTUDY: Breaking down the Offensive Line performances v. Chargers

[TL24x7]

Plus a feature on Anquan Boldin

Anquan Boldin has carried the Ravens’ receiving corps at times this season, but heading into his final year under contract, he has some weaknesses which aren’t going away, and others that are being exacerbated by his reduced speed.

He was targeted 8 times with 2 catches, but might have caught any of three balls that went incomplete.

- He was slowed following the flight of the ball over his head and couldn’t quite catch up to a deep ball down the right sideline when he had Jammer beat (Q1, 9:56).
- Gilchrist had tight coverage and didn’t find the football, but he distracted Boldin from picking up a well-thrown ball which would have converted a 3rd down (Q1, 7:35)
- He got a piece of the high throw (Q4, 2:18) that was nearly picked off by Weddle on the right sideline.

A younger Boldin would have made at least 2 of those 3 catches. Add the personal foul to this list and you have a pretty bad game.

However, his awareness was never more apparent than on Rice’s 4th and 29 conversion (Q4, 1:59). All four split receivers ran routes to at least the 30. Pitta crossed the hashes, giving the Ravens two targets on each side.

As the pass went to Rice, Boldin stood near the numbers on the left side at the 27-yard line. He’s lost (even on the top view) as Rice was breaking across the field, but you then see a full-speed Boldin lining up Weddle who was moving to intercept Rice as Ray turned the corner and moved back upfield. Boldin anticipated the spot, set Rice up to work off his block, didn’t lead with the helmet to risk injury or a penalty, and delivered the blow at full speed with his side to flatten the Chargers’ Pro Bowler.

Should it have been flagged? Quite possibly, but Boldin helped avoid the flag by identifying the interception point such that he arrived a split second sooner and delivered the block in a way that appeared clean. It’s among the best efforts I’ve ever seen a receiver make to throw a block.

The Ravens had 88 snaps (excluding Flacco’s 3 kneels) and the starting linemen played every snap:

Oher: Michael regressed against the Chargers. He was beaten outside by Barnes for a sack (Q4, 2:07), but recovered Flacco’s fumble on the play to set up Rice’s dramatic conversion. Liuget moved across his face for penetration to take down Pierce for a loss of two on 4th and 1 (Q3, 0:34). The seven pressure events had a consistent theme:

(Q1, 9:56) Split 4-way pressure when Liuget split double team with him and Reid
(Q1, 2:15) Bulled by Reyes
(Q3, 12:29) Shared a pressure with Rice on overload left
(Q4, 5:01) Bulled low by Barnes
(Q4, 2:12) Bulled by Liuget
(OT, 10:06) Allowed PD by Liuget despite being engaged and holding ground
(OT, 3:20) Bulled by Ingram

Scoring: 71 blocks, 7 missed, 1.5 penetrations, 5.75 pressures (5 + 0.5 + 0.25) pressures, 1 sack, 50.5 points (.57 per play). D with an adjustment for recovering the fumble. It was barely a passing grade, but it was a poor day in most dimensions.

And for the rest of the offensive line, CLICK HERE

[Rxdoxx]

Thanks for the link Tony

and Thank you Ken for another super detailed recap.

Reading the O-line can be depressing, but my gut tells me that everyone improves when we physically upgrade the C.
(Not knocking Birk's brain or his heart but his body is starting to resemble an old Yugo, and that has to bring everyone's line play down a little)

[Beau Petard]

Really good stuff! Thanks to Tony and Film/Ken (BTW, has anybody ever seen Filmstudy and Superman -- or Perry White or Jimmy Olsen, for that matter -- at the same time in the same room???)

Question, and maybe better directed to B-Ravor -- what's the situation with Boldin's contract status? I believe he's 32, so not a really "old" guy for a receiver, but getting there. A quick google search page indicates he's a $6 million dollar man for 2012. Is his contract for more years than this one? Any bonuses, back-end salary increases, etc.? I have to think Ozzie and the Ravens are assessing what to do with him over the course of the next few seasons based upon his CAP impact(s).

[moose10101]

Osemele's "pin and turn" move on Rice's run was one of the coolest things I've seen an offensive lineman do.

[Boulderraven]

Thats good work Film. That O-Line performance was pretty bad, I hope it can only get better. Maybe they need Leach and a TE to stay in and block more often.

[wickedsolo]

Thats good work Film. That O-Line performance was pretty bad, I hope it can only get better. Maybe they need Leach and a TE to stay in and block more often.

Problem is none of the TE's can block.

[leachisabeast]

Problem is none of the TE's can block.

Leach can block better than most tight ends in the league and should be used as such. Pitta is a great receiver but can't block to save his life as you've said, and Dickson is well... Ed Dickson.

[leachisabeast]

Pretty much everyone had a bad game on the Oline, apart from maybe Osemele. Osemele clearly has talent, he just needs to put it all together, tough for a rookie to do, he's been more impressive than Mike Adams though on and off the field.

It must be said that this should come to no surprise, Olines normally really struggle on long trips like this, it's almost impossible for an Olineman to recover in time for a game, being such a physically demanding position that requires intelligence and concentration as well as a huge amount of physical effort. This is why our Oline plays so well at home, but not so much on the road.

[RavensQB]

This would be the week you want to see McKinnie pick up and slam Harrison again.

[Tspot-D-Ravenator]

Pretty much everyone had a bad game on the Oline, apart from maybe Osemele. Osemele clearly has talent, he just needs to put it all together, tough for a rookie to do, he's been more impressive than Mike Adams though on and off the field.

It must be said that this should come to no surprise, Olines normally really struggle on long trips like this, it's almost impossible for an Olineman to recover in time for a game, being such a physically demanding position that requires intelligence and concentration as well as a huge amount of physical effort. This is why our Oline plays so well at home, but not so much on the road.

Osemele had so much trouble with Barnes... He was a turnstile at times and he can't handle the speed rushers

[Tspot-D-Ravenator]

This would be the week you want to see McKinnie pick up and slam Harrison again.

[wickedsolo]

This would be the week you want to see McKinnie pick up and slam Harrison again.

Probably more likely to see him pick up some gatorade and slam it on the sideline.

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[wickedsolo]

Osemele had so much trouble with Barnes... He was a turnstile at times and he can't handle the speed rushers

That will get better as he gains experience.

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[houstonravensfan]

That will get better as he gains experience.

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Probably. But I still think our Oline has two RTs but no LT. Film paints a very distressing picture. The FO dropped the ball on the O line. They had no one waiting to step in for Grubbs and we have only a question mark behind Birk. Joe deserves better.

[wickedsolo]

Probably. But I still think our Oline has two RTs but no LT. Film paints a very distressing picture. The FO dropped the ball on the O line. They had no one waiting to step in for Grubbs and we have only a question mark behind Birk. Joe deserves better.

I disagree that they dropped the ball. At the end of the day you have only a certain amount you can realistically spend to make sure you arent skimping elsewhere. You also have to consider that some guys just may not want to play in Baltimore (i.e. Evan Mathis). Finally, several of us have looked at the probability of getting a starting caliber LT after the 15th overall pick in the draft and short of a few (and I mean a FEW) players, it is slim to none.

I'd also like to just state that I believe most teams in the NFL have two RT's and no LT...the Packers and Giants come to mind. Secondly, this whole "LT being more important than the RT" is complete hogwash. That was the case 20 years ago when defenses only had 1 pass rusher. In todays NFL the difference between the left side and right side is your first step once the ball is snapped. Think about it. How many D's do you know of really only have one pass rusher and only line them up over the LT?

I think the Patriots did it the right way by drafting Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer. Both guys are long with quick feet. Both the LT and the RT need to be more athletic than what traditional thinking would point to and frankly, thats why Oher and KO are the tackles. They are both very athletic. Is Oher a great LT? Absolutely not. Will he ever be? Probably not. However, he has shown improvement and KO has shown that he can be pretty damn good too.

I think LG and C is much more of an issue than the tackle positions are at this point. The interior OL is a big reason for the issues in the ground game. So, we agree there.

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[BigPlayReceiver]

I know I'm a broken record here but if you are going to pay #5 and #27 $140M then you also have to construct a wall in front of them... G-C-G or C-G-T. I would like to see us aggressively address our OL deficiencies.

[leachisabeast]

I know I'm a broken record here but if you are going to pay #5 and #27 $140M then you also have to construct a wall in front of them... G-C-G or C-G-T. I would like to see us aggressively address our OL deficiencies.

Yup, totally agreed.

I will say that the interior is becoming more important every year than the tackles. You can have a great Oline with three all pro quality guards and a center, but with only average tackles, similar to what the Saints had last year. Speaking of dropping the ball, the Saints are a team who REALLY dropped the ball in the offseason with their Oline.

[houstonravensfan]

I think LG and C is much more of an issue than the tackle positions are at this point. The interior OL is a big reason for the issues in the ground game. So, we agree there.

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Agree with you -- including your point about needing two "LTs." IMHO we don't have even one. I also agree you usually need a high draft pick for a really good T, but that is NOT the case for C or G. The FO should have had a better G behind Grubb than . . . Who? Harewood? Jah Reid? And at C, a late rounder in the 2011 draft would have been smarter than picking a guy (Gino G) in 2012 who apparently is not ready to play C at all this year.

[Section 502 Raven]

I know I'm a broken record here but if you are going to pay #5 and #27 $140M then you also have to construct a wall in front of them... G-C-G or C-G-T. I would like to see us aggressively address our OL deficiencies.

this is what the patriots did for brady and the colts did for manning. no QB is effective if they are playing from their back or under duress.

[Ravenswintitle]

this is what the patriots did for brady and the colts did for manning. no QB is effective if they are playing from their back or under duress.

those guys get rid of the ball in 3 seconds; that's a big part of why the Oline looks better.