Baltimore Ravens vs. Denver Broncos: Keys to the Game

Due to many Baltimore fans being more worried about the Ravens offense vs the Denver Broncos defense, I’m going to focus my keys to the game on Mark Trestman and the offense. I went back and watched film specifically from Week 1 last year and the year before from Trestman. 

(What keys are looking for from the Ravens Offense, discuss them here.)

For starters a couple things stuck out to me on tape. First, Trestman ran a lot more than I expected in the game in 2014. They ran from a lot of formations though. They’d line up and split a lot out wide, they’d bring the WRs tight and pitch behind it. They’d run on roll out plays and run a delayed handoff. There were definitely times, where you could get the sense the Bears were forcing the run in Trestman’s very first game.

Now the Bengals appeared to play a huge chunk of that game in zone, so it seems like Cutler was keying in on that and either audibling or it was something Trestman wanted to attack. In the Bills game, they got a lot more creative in terms of running the ball. A lot of swing passes, quick passes to the WRs.

Second, I didn’t get the feeling that Trestman was as creative from these two games that he seemed to get some credit for. But it was kind of hard to tell. Partially because Cutler just does a ton of random stuff. And second because his offensive line was terrible. Just flat out awful. Cutler was getting tons of pressure on him all the time. Who knows with a really good line (what the Ravens have) or a really elite QB at reading coverages and adjusting (questionable for the Ravens), I could see Trestman really being able to do some damage.

But I did get the feeling that he put his QB in a position to read the defense. They really seemed to like to use comeback routes underneath zones when they knew it was there. It seemed like Cutler’s reads weren’t complex.

Third, Trestman had a good feel for when to screen. The line didn’t always pull it off because they lacked talent, but I was impressed.

So what were some of the things I saw on film that were keys to what to expect to see from the Ravens?

I think our three keys are one, to isolate easy reads for Joe, two to be creative with multi-TE sets, and finally to use play action to keep Denver completely off balance. These were things that I thought Trestman was very good at in the games I watched of the Bears.

1. Trestman needs to isolate reads for Joe and put him in a spot where he’s throwing on the advantage. Here’s a good example from the 2013 game. I mentioned earlier that the Bengals played a lot of zone.

A side note here, Trestman is a fan of stacking receivers. Over top of each other, going twins on one side with two TEs on another side (you’ll see this later). He was definitely creative in how he attacked this, but it makes for really easy reads for the QB by using formations.

In this play below, you see the twins on the left and you can see a safety lined up against the slot receiver Marshall. If the Broncos flash zone, expect the Ravens to attack in a similar way. It’s an easy deep out, Jeffrey runs a bit underneath. You don’t need a receiver as good as Marshall to know you can beat the safety there. But Steve Smith could easily be this guy too.

2. We need to get creative with two TE sets. Remember when I said Trestman likes to use twins, well here we are again. But this time the read is on the other side of the field. With the inside TE running the seam towards the post and the outside guy flexing out it’s a really easy read for Cutler. Bennett beats his man, but really it’s just a matter of getting inside the guy and being bigger. Seems like Crockett Gillmore / Maxx Williams could run a play just like this very easily.

3. Finally, I think we have to use our play action tendencies in a smart way. One thing I picked up on was how Trestman viewed the play action runner after the pass. There were at least 4 or 5 instances that he threw to that guy. He’d use routes and reads to make sure that the guy was open and give them a lot of space to work. Martelus Bennett has a really easy read here and turns it into a TD as the LB can’t keep up with him. 

Here’s a good example. The Bears run an end around, as soon as the outside CB thinks he’s clear, he drops deep as the whole play is going the other way. It’s an easy key and leaves for a simple pickup along the way.

It will be really interesting to watch Flacco and Trestman work together. I came into watching film with an expectation to see a really creative guy that schemes to get guys open. I don’t think that’s what Trestman is going to do though. I think he’s going to simplify the offense for Joe Flacco, make reads simpler and put his guys in position to attack the one on one battles on the field.