How did the Ravens cut the Giants by 249 fast yards?
Many moves were won before the ball snapped because defensive players were in the wrong spaces.
“Depending on a particular defensive call, in any play, certain guys had to leverage certain players,” said linebacker Blake Martinez. “Be the receiver # 2, # 3, the final guy in the scrimmage line, whatever.
“Suddenly, they started making their changes and movements – all the things they did before the snap – which then changed their pre-snap alignment. Once you were gone, they suddenly took the ball. You are now two points behind, instead of being in the right place to start. “
Ravens use more pre-snap moves than any attack in the NFL, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. In addition to having the defense warn you of coverage for either a man-to-man or zone pass, the move helps to time your attack with a single run-pass option.
“In my view, you have 11 against 11,” said Martinez. “A guy has to be holding the ball, so there are 10 against 11 to block. If we can fit right in, a guy must be free and we just don’t do our job in each of these moves in order to have that free guy being the advantage. “
The Giants lost an unusually high number of tackles and always seemed to be chasing the ball carriers from behind. Martinez gave credit to coordinator Patrick Graham’s game adjustments, listening to players’ feedback on why the accelerated defense improved over the course of the game, but the 14-0 hole in the first quarter (behind 95 yards in the run) was too big to dig.
“You couldn’t go over or over the attacker or the defender, whoever you were,” said Martinez. “It allowed them to just have that race track open.”
When a coach is directly questioned about a player’s future, he sometimes has no choice but to get the truth out of his mouth. See what 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said about quarterback Jimmy Garappolo as an example of creating room for maneuver: “I believe Jimmy will be our quarterback next year.”
This is different from the spontaneous vote of confidence by Giants coach Joe Judge for defender Daniel Jones, who was voluntarily placed in response to a question on Monday about penalties on the offensive line. The referee pointed to the safety of the ball and Jones’ decision making as reasons why he is a “key player” for the future.
“Do you always want to know about ‘Daniel is our guy? Shall we proceed with Daniel? ‘The answer is absolute, ”said Judge.
“What gives us that confidence is even in games like [Sunday] where it didn’t come out perfectly … you watch the tape and see that guy there operating, running, understanding the pressure – and not just standing there with courage like he did all the time and getting hit, but understanding how to get hit and hit precise pass and move the sticks across the field ”.
TE Evan Engram left the game Sunday afternoon due to an injury and met with the doctors on Monday night. The referee is “optimistic” as the Pro Bowler will be able to play in all 16 games for the first time in his four-year career.