The Ravens open the regular-season against the host Miami Dolphins on Sept. 8.
Here’s a look at how they can kick off the year with a win.
Offense
1) Establish the Run
If you haven’t heard by now, the Miami Dolphins are in the midst of a full blown rebuild. In addition to getting a king’s ransom from the Houston Texans in exchange for top flight left tackle Laremy Tunsil in a deal that also included starting wide receiver Kenny Stills, the Dolphins have made a bevy of additional roster moves in the past week. All told, the Dolphins had a dozen new faces in their locker room last weekend. With their opponent experiencing seemingly unprecedented roster turnover just one week before they face off, the Ravens will have absolutely no excuse if they can’t manage a win in Week 1.
One of the Dolphins weakest spots is their defensive front seven. Alongside talented rookie DT Christian Wilkins and improving young OLB Charles Harris, the Dolphins front seven is full of relative unknowns. A power rushing game behind the right Marshal Yanda and Orlando Brown Jr. is going to be incredibly difficult for that group to stop, will take some pressure off of Lamar Jackson and help whoever the Ravens start at LG feel comfortable. With a healthy mix of Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards & Justice Hill, Week 1 could be the perfect warmup for the Ravens rushing attack.
2) Get Lamar Jackson into a Rhythm
In his half season as the Ravens starting QB in 2018, Lamar Jackson was often uncomfortable, inaccurate and inconsistent. He struggled with most of the things (footwork, mechanics, etc.) that made him my fifth-ranked QB in the 2018 NFL Draft. He threw off his back foot, struggled to drive the ball to the sidelines and didn’t throw very many spirals.
Now, Jackson is the full time starter with a full offseason under his belt and has the chance to correct some of those issues in 2019. After looking much improved during training camp and in preseason games, expectations are high for Jackson.
Against Miami, Greg Roman should focus initially on getting his second-year QB comfortable. An easy completion to his favorite TE Mark Andrews, or a screen pass to Hollywood Brown on the first series should help Jackson’s confidence. In a game where Jackson shouldn’t need to do too much with his arm to come away with a victory, a steady diet of high percentage passes should be the goal.
3) Don’t Fall Victim to Xavien Howard
While the Dolphins front seven is most devoid of players that would start elsewhere around the NFL, their secondary is a different story altogether. Fourth year CB Xavien Howard is undoubtedly a Top 5 player at his position and he appears to be getting better every season. In fact, the Dolphins made the third round pick out of Baylor the highest paid CB in the league this offseason.
Howard has plenty of size to play with bigger receivers, the speed needed to run with faster receivers and the ball skills to lead the league in interceptions in 2018. To go along with his seven interceptions, Howard gave up a measly 38.1% completion percentage (3rd in the NFL) when he was in man coverage in 2018. Against a defense that’s lacking a lot of elite talent, it’d be wise for Lamar Jackson to be very careful about challenging Howard. Being locked out of one third of the field by an elite CB isn’t ideal, but giving away an interception or two is a great way to let an inferior team hang around.
Ryan Fitzpatrick pimps his press conference.” width=”748″ height=”418″ />
Defense
1) Prevent the Big Play
Despite the offseason addition of promising young QB Josh Rosen, the Miami Dolphins have announced that Ryan Fitzpatrick will be their starting QB in Week 1. Fitzpatrick has been the NFL’s preeminent “boom-or-bust” QB over the last few seasons. He’s a gunslinger to such a degree that Ravens coach John Harbaugh called him a “swashbuckler” in a press conference earlier in the week.
When Fitzpatrick is off, he’s painfully average. There is a reason that the 15 year veteran is on his eighth NFL franchise and it has nothing to do with his personality or his magnificent beard. His career completion rate is 60.1% & his TD to INT ratio is 1.28.
But when Fitzpatrick is good, he’s very good. Watching Fitzpatrick on a good day is like watching a really good game of backyard football. He runs all over the place and slings the ball all over the field like a true swashbuckler. In his Week 1 start against the New Orleans Saints in 2018, Fitzpatrick led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a stunning upset by completing 75% of his passes to go along with 417 yards passing, four touchdown passes and ran for a score just for fun.
The Dolphins lack offensive talent across the board and will not be beating the Ravens on Sunday with their run game. The only way that they’ll succeed is through the big play. If the Ravens can communicate effectively & not give up any busted coverage big plays to the Dolphins, they’ll be just fine.
2) Cover Running Backs with Safeties in the Passing Game
There is an argument to be made that the Dolphins running backs are more dangerous in the passing game than they are in the running game. In 2018, Alabama product Kenyan Drake ran for 535 yards and added 437 receiving on 53 receptions (9 yards per catch). He also had more touchdowns through the air (5) than he did on the ground (4).
Drake is joined in the Fins backfield by 2018 fourth round draft pick, Kalen Ballage. While Ballage had a limited role for the Dolphins in 2018, he averaged 8.3 yards per reception at Arizona State and is arguably better as a receiving option than as a runner. In this contest, the Ravens would do well to sacrifice an ILB (Chris Board) for an extra safety (Anthony Levine, DeShon Elliott or Chuck Clark) to limit the damage that Drake and Ballage can do as receivers.
3) Bring Exotic Blitzes
The biggest piece in the Dolphins recent roster shuffle involved sending Tunsil to the Houston Texans. In one week, the Dolphins are going from having one of the better young blindside protectors in the game to shuffling bodies and bringing in new players that may start on Sunday. The Dolphins are expected to start 2018 starting RG Jesse Davis or the newly acquired Julien Davenport at LT on Sunday.
On an offensive line, talent is one thing. Continuity is another. A successful unit has good, practiced communication that allows them to execute combination blocks in the running game and pick up blitzes. The Ravens are the absolute last team in the NFL that an offensive line wants to be working out their communication against. Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale in an expert in using unconventional personnel groupings and blitzes to create “exotic” pressures. Martindale should have an absolute field day on Sunday as he brings blitzes from everywhere & forces the newly constructed Miami offensive line to learn on the job.
One-on-One Matchup to Watch
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson vs. Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick is one of the best young defensive backs in the NFL. The Crimson Tide product is an athletic and extremely versatile student of the game. He can play every single position in the secondary (outside CB, Slot, FS, SS) well enough that he’s actually been the subject of constant & very public debate about his best position in the NFL.
First-year Miami Head coach Brian Flores is a bright defensive mind who I suspect will move Fitzpatrick around to confuse coverage and potentially as a spy to counter Jackson’s rushing ability. Knowing where exactly Fitzpatrick is lining up for the Dolphins from snap to snap on Sunday should be a priority for Jackson.
