Matching Wits with McVay

RSR’s Dev Panchwagh and Nikhil Mehta are tag-teaming Battle Plans for the 2023 season.

Defense

Motion I: Pre Snap Action to Open Up the Running Game and Passing Windows 

The staple of a Sean McVay offense is pre-snap motion and movement, and post-snap misdirection. In McVay’s scheme, motion is a tool not only to get defensive players out of position, but to also create mismatch opportunities in the passing game and the running game (more on that in a bit).

First, let’s tackle how motion is designed to get the defense out of position. McVay will have his receivers heavily involved in the run game, whether on a fly sweep or jet sweep, as decoys to get the defense to move with them, or as handoff recipients.

Lately, especially on early downs, McVay has been using a fair amount of sweep action to get the defense out of position to create lanes in the running game. The slightest move out of place and the backs can hit wider gaps and the line can work to the second level. That action was effective last week against Cleveland to open up holes on run plays.

Baltimore will have to be keenly aware and prepared to decipher between motion action that is a fake versus the actual handoffs. This will take gap discipline in particular from the backers and edge defenders to make sure they are strictly playing their responsibilities and funneling the action back to help.

Motion II: Isolate and Create Mismatch Opportunities for the Pass Catchers, Ball Carriers

The other side of the motion coin is getting the targets in advantageous positions to exploit certain matchups. For example, Cooper Kupp moving before the snap to motion to the slot. Or rookie phenom Puka Nacua motion releasing into a block (yes, a block) to spring tailback Kyren Williams.

The receivers are weapons as pass catchers, blockers, and in the case of Nucua, as running backs too. It can all be set up through motion.

In the passing game, the difficult part about handling the pre-snap motion is that it can really kill man coverage. If for instance Kupp is all of a sudden motioning from a condensed look to a wide look, and he lands in the slot, he could be facing a linebacker, like we saw two years ago when he was aligned against Patrick Queen.

On the other hand, zone can help to mitigate these motion switches, but Kupp and Nacua eat up zone coverage. Nucua is among the best in the league against zone, averaging 3.03 YPRR, second to only Tyreek Hill.

That’s why it would make sense for defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to consider match coverages so he can play a hybrid or mix between man and zone when it makes sense. It’s also a way to keep quarterback Matthew Stafford guessing on coverages, as disguise will remain a vital key to trip up the Super Bowl-winning QB.  

Anticipating play fakes, ball fakes and Stafford magic tricks

We discussed motion at length, but again, all this motion is tied to how the run game and play action is executed. It creates a very difficult illusion for the defense to decipher at the snap. And Stafford’s ability to sell run from under center is part of the magic show – it’s reminiscent of what we saw from Peyton Manning years ago.

The play action passing game is particularly devastating because of how committed the Rams are to running the ball on early downs, especially as they have shown more zone concepts to pair with their play action passing game. McVay understands that this is the ideal time to attack a defense through play or run action to get the backers to bite, creating those wide inside passing windows his offense is known to exploit.

Play action and any form of movement attached to the run game is also a great way to mask the deficiencies of an offensive line that has been mostly shaky in pure pass pro scenarios. They have been particularly better the last three games, during their winning streak, but the talent is simply not up to snuff to handle consistent pure drop-back pass pro sets.

The linebackers and defensive backs need to be on top of their keys and understand that they can’t be overly aggressive or Stafford will take advantage. Maintaining eye discipline and playing assignment-sound football will make all the difference in this matchup.

Offense

Taking Donald Out of the Game

In past years, the Rams defense has featured multiple superstars like Von Miller, Jalen Ramsey and Bobby Wagner. Now, the last remaining bastion is Aaron Donald, whom John Harbaugh praised as the best defensive tackle of all-time this week. He leads the team with six sacks and 63 pressures, the latter of which is 6th-most among all NFL defenders entering Week 14, so keeping him from having an outsized impact on the game should be priority no. 1 for the Ravens offense to run smoothly.

Todd Monken has been hesitant to devote too much attention to any one opposing defender this season. He threw the kitchen sink at Myles Garrett in Week 4, but declined to do the same in Baltimore’s rematch with Cleveland or their matchup with the Chargers and Khalil Mack.

Garrett and Mack were able to impact those latter games, and their defenses fed off of their playmaking abilities as the games went on. The Ravens have to keep Donald from being a catalyst for the rest of his defense by avoiding 1-on-1 matchups and keeping him from getting into the backfield consistently.

That’s going to start with Tyler Linderbaum, whose pass protection has improved notably this year. He’s yet to allow a sack in 2023, but Monken should still avoid leaving him 1-on-1 with Donald when possible. John Simpson and Kevin Zeitler can help Linderbaum with Donald, so the Rams are forced to win 1-on-1 matchups elsewhere to get to Jackson.

But mere double teams won’t necessarily be enough for the fearsome Donald. It’s harder to use motion and misdirection to slow down an interior defender, but there are other ways to schematically slow Donald down. Using pullers in pass protection can set up double-teams when Donald isn’t expecting it, and moving the pocket can increase the distance Donald has to cover to get to Jackson.

The potential for rain and wind to impact Sunday’s matchup should also inform the Ravens’ strategy against Donald. Monken should throw some Duo runs at the Rams front, double-teaming both Donald and rookie Kobie Turner, who has been one of L.A.’s better defenders this year. That will force the Rams linebackers to step up and tackle Gus Edwards and Keaton Mitchell, who are difficult to bring down even in normal weather.

Some outside zone and sweep concepts will also force Donald to defend laterally instead of attacking downhill where he’s most effective. Mitchell has been especially devastating on such concepts where he can get into the open field and force impossible pursuit angles for defenders.

Blitz Beaters: How to Exploit the Rams in Certain Down and Distance

The Rams have a middling 24% blitz rate, but a pressure rate of just 18.2%, the sixth-lowest in the league. Even with Donald’s presence, they still need to send extra rushers to get pressure on opposing QBs.

The Rams blitz out of dime packages at nearly double the rate they do out of nickel, and that’s most often on third down, which accounts for 90% of their dime usage.

If the Rams are blitzing with six defensive backs on the field, Jackson needs to get the ball out quickly and let his pass-catchers pick up yards after the catch. The Ravens targeted the flats with Isaiah Likely in the first half of the Chargers game, something they should look to again on Sunday. Odell Beckham Jr. is still one of the league’s best receivers on slant routes, and Jackson has been more and more willing to look for the reliable hands of Rashod Bateman when he’s under pressure.

Screens are another way to counter pressure, especially against the interior pressure Donald can bring. But the screen game has been inconsistent this year, with receivers struggling to find open space when targeted on screens. Instead, another tight end screen to Likely or a variation on the play-action screen that worked against the Browns could be on tap to force L.A.’s defensive backs to tackle in the open field.

Matchup: Marlon Humphrey versus Cooper Kupp

Marlon Humphrey is set to return to the field on Sunday after a brief absence, and it couldn’t come at a better time against one of the best WR1/WR2 combos in the NFL right now. Rookie Puka Nacua has been a revelation this season, but Cooper Kupp still presents plenty of danger. Having Humphrey back will be key, especially if the Ravens want to run match coverages that can maintain man principles against the Rams’ use of pre-snap motion. That’s especially useful against Kupp, whose 0.91 yards per route run against man coverage is in the company of Quentin Johnston and Allen Lazard.

Kupp still has every bit of route-running savvy and zone awareness that he did in previous campaigns, but between last year’s injury and the ankle knock he picked up in late November, he may not be at 100% physically. Humphrey gives Macdonald options to harass Kupp all over the field: he can follow Kupp into the slot, pick him up coming across formations, or press him off the line of scrimmage.