The last time the Baltimore Ravens took the field for a meaningful football game – the Divisional Round loss to the New England Patriots – the ultimate downfall of the team was the secondary’s inability to slow down New England’s short-pass-oriented dink-and-dunk offense.
Completion after completion for minimal yardage led to long, methodical drives in which Patriots quarterback Tom Brady took what the defense gave him and consistently moved the chains.
On Sunday afternoon in Denver, the Ravens secondary is posed with the challenge of taking on another cerebral quarterback in Peyton Manning, who slowly and painfully eats away at opposing secondaries unlike any other passer in the NFL.
Paired with 2014 Ravens assistants in Gary Kubiak (head coach) and Rick Dennison (offensive coordinator), Manning is yet again in control of an offense in which the passing game is centered on short, high-percentage throws to minimize risk and maximize the amount of positive-yardage plays.
For Baltimore’s secondary, the toughest task will be to challenge the receivers at the line of scrimmage and take away as many short-yardage options as possible, forcing Manning to make accurate throws into coverage instead of easy completions all afternoon.
During the preseason, Manning and Co. gave a glimpse of the simplicity of the short passing game, something the Ravens must neutralize in order to leave Denver with their first win of the season.
Not even bothering to test the defense downfield, Manning has five viable options on this play, all operating close to the line of scrimmage.
With four of the five receiving options seemingly open, Manning zeroes in on wide receiver Cody Lattimer, who positions himself comfortably in the middle of the field for about as high percentage of a throw that Manning will come by this season.
Passing to Lattimer only nets the Broncos four yards on the play, but completions like these consistently keep the offense moving toward the end zone, and can deteriorate a defense’s patience over the course of a game.
Allowing wide receivers to find easy cushions for simple pitch-and-catch chances for Manning is one thing the Ravens defense must avoid on Sunday.
The most basic fix to this problem is giving the receivers as little of a cushion off the line of scrimmage as possible.
In the second preseason game, the Houston Texans did just the opposite, letting Manning do what he does best.
Manning has three receiving options on the play, and his first read is the only one with a defender in position to make a play.
That forces Manning to turn to his left-side options – Owen Daniels and Demaryius Thomas – who are far from tightly covered.
It seems as simple as telling defenders to jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage, but as seen through Houston’s setup, that is not always the case.
Manning locks in on the ever-so-open Daniels, whose short out route leads to a high-percentage throw for his quarterback.
Daniels picks up only a small chunk of yardage on the reception, but for a first-down play, especially backed up to their own end zone, this is an ideal result to get a drive going.
Allowing the Broncos offense to pick up essentially free yardage on first down is a recipe for disaster, and will keep the Ravens defense on the field much longer than it should be.
With the “Mile High” altitude playing a factor, every snap counts in terms of keeping Baltimore’s defense fresh. The more dink-and-dunk throws the secondary allows, the longer the defense stays on the field.
Handling Denver’s offense is much more complex than shutting down the short passing game; however, the pass offense is predicated on Manning’s ability to pick apart a defense with short, methodical completions.
If the Ravens secondary can neutralize Denver’s receivers at the line of scrimmage with tight, clean coverage, then Baltimore should be able to stay in contention for a season-opening win.
