Offensive Keys
Run the ball
If you take anything from this Battle Plan, please take away that this Bengals defense is a different beast, we are looking at an entirely different unit from the past two years.
Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard impress as the edge defenders in a base 3-4 defense but with the versatility to morph into 4-3 over and under fronts at times when required.
DJ Reader came over from the Texans in free agency and was always going to prove a bargain as one of the best run-stuffing Nose Tackles in the league.
The Ravens do need to use the run to setup the pass this week as the Bengals likely won’t sell out to stop the run, I think it’s entirely the wrong course of action for a team that’s shown a real propensity to stop the run so far.
The one thing this Bengals defense hasn’t seen yet is a running scheme like the Ravens deploy. That’s why the Ravens should place their bets on the running game early and running their usual pullers from all angles.
Pass out of heavy formations
The Ravens have faced a lot of similar coverages this season, with many teams favoring a Cover 3 approach against this passing game.
I can understand why teams have been trying this, Lamar has struggled with heavy underneath zones in the past and forcing it to his favorite targets. But it hasn’t worked this year with Lamar’s development.
The Bengals run a lot of MOFC (middle of the field closed) coverages basing mostly out of Cover 3 and Cover 1 this season.
You don’t always want to face Cover 3, you want to be able to take some shots against other coverages. The Bengals are also predisposed to running Cover 1, using a heavy formation could force the Bengals to deploy this coverage.
Once they do, a passing concept that could be run as a Cover 1 beater out of a heavier formation, would be the Yankee concept.
The play stresses the defense when in MOFC coverage, and could be especially useful with Marquise Brown’s speed on the deep post route combined with Rashod Bateman’s relative speed and route precision on the deep over.
Protection
Hendrickson and Hubbard have proven disruptive through six weeks of the season. This defense that was so abjectly bad at getting pressure on opposing Quarterbacks last season is surprisingly more effective this year.
The Ravens need to ensure they protect Lamar Jackson as he continues to develop as a passer from the pocket.
BJ Hill is the Bengals third DT and he has been disruptive with his snap count, up to 3 sacks on the season now, so there is a threat from the interior but Hendrickson is the big danger. Getting some help for Villanueva in my matchup of the week against Hendrickson is a must.
Defensive Keys
Pressure Burrow
The Offensive Line remains the main weakness of this team and any preview of the defensive keys for Sunday afternoon needs to start here.
While they’ve been efficient in terms of allowing pressures, they’re top ten in allowing sacks and haven’t yet been blitzed at a particularly high rate.
The Bengals offense is designed to get one-on-one matchups for its impressive wide receiver corps, but it also ends up allowing many one-on-one matchups for its deficient Offensive Line.
But the Bengals still scheme to allow BOB (big on big – when 5 OL block 5 pass-rushers), and the Ravens finally have the horses to win those one-on-one matchups with Burrow less able to hurt them if he escapes when they do.
The more creative defenses can also scheme up pressure more easily against this offense. Either with stunts or showing overload blitz to one side, you can mess with the Bengals slide protection which has looked suspect at times this year.
Disguise coverage
The Bengals have assembled a diverse and tough to stop receiving corps and put them in passing concepts that play to their strengths.
The Bengals scheme up packages to work Higgins and Tyler Boyd in combination. The Race concept which gets Higgins on a dig route and Boyd on a whip route can be dangerous.
One other staple passing concept is the Double Go which the Bengals run regularly with Chase and Higgins working the outside and Boyd working underneath.
The Ravens should mix up single high and split-safety looks, pre snap, to roll into and out of both MOFO (middle of the field open) and MOFC (middle of the field closed) coverage.
A particular coverage package I’d like to see from the Ravens this week, to counter the double deep route passing concepts, would be the inverted Cover 2.
Ja’Marr Chase (@Real10jayy__) mic’d up is PURE GOLD! ?
?: #CINvsBAL – 10/24 on CBS pic.twitter.com/PGbTOHGcPy
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 21, 2021
Cover Jamar Chase
Chase is in the midst of a special rookie season and he’s coming for the Ravens secondary in what will surely be the first of many battles between he and Marlon Humphrey.
The Ravens need to abide by some early rules for covering Jamar Chase based on what he’s put on tape so far in the NFL.
The jam at the line should be used sparingly against Chase and only really as a change of pace.
He has a variety of releases and can beat inside and outside leverage from the Cornerback. This means that this needs to be varied, you can’t simply sit with outside leverage all day, knowing you have inside help.
Stay away from too much off coverage as Chase can work into the defender’s blind spot and win at the top of the route against this type of coverage too.
Chase is a skilled receiver and alignment, technique and leverage need to be mixed up to keep him guessing and keep him needing to use every tool in his bag.
If I’m to rely on one technique more often than not though, I’d like to see heavier usage of catch-man, disrupting the receiver’s timing but also adds another element of deception to the coverage in general as this technique looks more like a soft or zone coverage.
Matchup to Watch
Alejandro Villanueva vs Trey Hendrickson
Villanueva will have his hands full in pass protection but will also need to dominate Hendrickson as a run blocker with the right edge of the defense being the Bengals main weakness in run defense.
