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Forsett was the most natural zone runner in Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking scheme and provided a consistent rushing threat as well as providing a spark out of the backfield as a receiver too. Clearly then, Forsett was a key component to the Ravens successes this season. But Forsett was only signed to a one-year contract last April, leaving him as an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The question now becomes, should the Ravens re-sign him and if so, at what price?

The argument for re-signing him is obvious and largely stated above. He was the heart of the offense, keeping things moving on first and second down, making it easier for Joe Flacco on third. His natural zone-running instincts make him a threat that the defense has to account for.

Here’s a perfect example of Forsett running a typical stretch play in the zone scheme.

He begins his run to the outside, but makes quick reads. A lot of backs might have kept this run going outside, but Forsett sees the Saints defender on the second level over-pursuing to the outside.

So Forsett makes a quick decision to work back inside and immediately finds a hole.

Forsett shows how shifty he can be, eluding Saints defenders to squeeze through a small hole to make it to the second level.

From there, Forsett has a simple walk into the end zone for a touchdown.

Obviously, Baltimore would like to retain Forsett. But coming off a career year, Forsett may be looking for a sizeable contract offer to come back. Baltimore’s loss of Kubiak might also hurt their chances of holding on to Forsett. Kubiak brought Forsett to Houston, and then to Baltimore this past season. It’s not too much of a stretch to believe that Kubiak might want to take him to Denver next season too.

On top of this, Forsett is 29 and will be 30 by the middle of next season. Granted, Forsett doesn’t have too much tread on the tyres (only 582 career rushes), but he’s a small back at just 5-foot-8, 197 pounds. This was the first season in his career that he was the workhorse back, so it’s difficult to say he’s durable enough to hold up through multiple seasons with 20 carries a game, which is what you’d want from a running back you’re giving a significant contract to.

Cheaper alternatives will most certainly be out there. Kubiak and his old boss Mike Shanahan were experts at finding running backs late in the draft that fit the zone scheme perfectly and were just as productive as Forsett was this season. Shanahan most recently had success with Roy Helu (fourth round, and also an unrestricted free agent) and Alfred Morris (sixth round). Going back to Kubiak’s time as an offensive coordinator in Denver under Shanahan, the Broncos found a multiple productive running backs in the later rounds; Terrell Davis (sixth round), Olandis Gray (fourth round), Mike Anderson (sixth round) all had 1000+ yard seasons early in their careers in the zone scheme.

For the long-term future of the Ravens, they might be better off letting Forsett walk and finding a younger, cheaper back in the later rounds of the draft. They have the offensive line in place that will create lanes for any zone back that knows how to make the correct reads. But with that said, Forsett did get the most out of the lanes provided by the Ravens offensive line and as previously mentioned, was a key part of the success Baltimore had this season.

Would you re-sign Forsett? How much would you be willing to pay him? Join in on the discussion on the BSL forums here.

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Smith has emerged as a leader for the Ravens off the field; having been most recently nominated for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award for his outstanding community service off the field. He’s exactly the type of character you want in a locker room, but the Ravens, as yet, haven’t re-signed him.

That’s because of his performance on the field. Smith struggled, particularly early in the season. In previous seasons, Smith has always been a deep threat, which matches quarterback Joe Flacco’s big arm. But he wasn’t able to be a great deal more than that. The Ravens started the season somewhat limiting his route tree. In the first few games, Smith mostly ran just three routes.

One of the more common was slant patterns.

He also ran quick outs from the slot.

And then of course, he ran his share of go routes.

But as the season went on, Smith sharpened his route running and found the same page as his quarterback. Baltimore started to trust him more with other routes. One of the biggest steps was getting him to run the thunder route more consistently.

The thunder route is a west coast offense staple. It requires the receiver and quarterback to be on the same wavelength and read the defense. The receiver has three routes he can run, based on the coverage. Against Cover 2, the receiver runs a fade. Against off-man coverage, Smith should run a five-yard hitch route. But here against press, Smith runs a seven-yard stop route.

Flacco spots the press coverage and trusts Smith to run the correct route, releasing the ball before Smith has made his cut.

Smith repays Flacco’s faith in him by making the cut on time to come back for the ball. The coverage recognition, the route and the timing of the throw gain Smith plenty of separation, making this an easy completion.

After having success with the thunder route, Baltimore started trusting him with more short timing routes.

Here, Smith is simply spotting up in between defenders.

Smith quickly finds the gap in the zone coverage and turns back to Flacco, who is already beginning to throw.

The ball reaches Smith before the defender can close, leading to another easy completion.

One other big step the Ravens took with Smith was using his speed off play-action.

One of the big plays in the Gary Kubiak offense is the bootleg play-action fake. Smith had previously been used as the deep route on the outside running a go route to clear the path behind him. But here, Smith runs the intermediate crosser.

Quite often this season, Flacco came out of the bootleg and simply dumped it off to the tight end or fullback in the flat. But here, Smith’s speed allows him to cross from the other side of the field and get a couple of steps in front of his defender. Rather than a three or four yard dump off pass, Flacco looks for Smith over the middle.

It’s another relatively simple throw for Flacco and Smith has plenty of space to work in. He makes the catch for a first down and has potential to use his speed and momentum to turn up the field and pick up extra yards after the catch.

But perhaps the most effective play they called for Smith was a play-action post.

This play is a staple in Mike and Kyle Shanahan offenses, which Kubiak also runs. The Ravens show a run-heavy look and fake the run while Smith runs a post route on the outside.

The linebackers are drawn in by the run fake, creating a huge hole in the defense for Smith to work with. Flacco has as easy a pass as he’ll get in the NFL, throwing over the middle with no linebackers to worry about.

Smith makes the catch and then has room to pick up extra yards.

Smith uses his speed and elusiveness to turn a 14-yard catch into a 40-yard gain, running across the field and up the sideline to pick up an additional 26 yards after the catch.

Once the Ravens diversified Smith’s route tree, he became less predictable. Corners couldn’t just guess the route he was running, giving him a bigger impact on the offense. There is certainly a role for him in this offense, and I’m not sure the Ravens maximized his potential in it this season.

But ultimately, Smith still had a down year. He had career lows in receptions (49), receiving yards (767) and yards per catch (15.7). Pro Football Focus also had Smith tied second worst in the NFL in dropped catches (11), while only managing to catch 55.1% of the passes thrown his way.

While you’d like to see the catch percentage higher, his deeper routes tend to be less successful. The numbers he put up are still solid numbers and are good numbers for a number two receiver. Clearly the Ravens would like Torrey Smith back and clearly he would like to be back, but it has to be at the right price. Smith isn’t in a position to demand to be paid like Calvin Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald. But he should still merit a sizable contract, which could be worthwhile if the Ravens can utilize him correctly. With a strong looking free agent class and another deep receiver class in the draft; it will be an interesting decision for the Ravens and one of their tougher ones this offseason.

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In their week 16 match up against the Jets, New England line up Gronkowski outside as a receiver. They love to move him around the formation, lining him up outside, in the slot or as a traditional in-line tight end. But here they have him outside running a simple slant route. The Jets treat him as a receiver, using a corner to play off-man coverage.

But with a free release off the line of scrimmage, Gronkowski can work easily into his route and find an open space for quarterback Tom Brady to throw him the ball.

That’s how the Patriots love to use Gronkowski. Get the ball in his hands quickly and then let him go to work. At 6’6”, 265 pounds, Gronkowski uses his size to help him pick up chunks of yards after the catch. Here, he manages to turn up the field and run over the corner covering him to pick up 10 yards on the play.

If the Ravens allow Gronkowski time and space to work, then he will tear the defense apart and the Patriots will move the ball and score points. But the Jets did show that you can limit Gronkowski’s effectiveness. When they played physical with Gronkowski, jamming him at the line of scrimmage and not allowing him a free release, they were able to have some success.

This time, the Patriots use Gronkowski as an in-line tight end. He runs a simple stick route.

But the Jets linebacker doesn’t allow Gronkowski to freely run his route. He initiates contact within five yards of the line of scrimmage.

That contact from the linebacker jams Gronkowski and throws off the timing of the route.

Brady has to wait an extra second to throw the ball, allowing the linebacker to undercut the pass and nearly intercept it. By having to wait an extra second, Brady also takes a big hit from an oncoming defensive lineman.

When the Jets began to play physical with Gronkowski, he started to get frustrated. The very next play, you could see that frustration boil over.

This time Gronkowski lines up as stand-up tight end. He runs a hook route over the middle.

Gronkowski spots the defender coming up to jam him, so he goes after him. He gets past the five yards allowed for contact and shoves the defender backwards before breaking inside.

Gronkowski then proceeds to push another defender in the back to knock him over and create space. His frustration got the better of him and he drew an offensive pass interference penalty.

By playing physical, the Jets limited Gronkowski to six catches for just 31 yards. At 5.2 yards per catch, that was by far his least effective performance of the season. But can and will the Ravens be able to replicate the physicality that the Jets defense displayed?

When Baltimore matched up against a similarly formidable tight end in Jimmy Graham, they showed they can be just as physical, if not more so, than the Jets were against Gronkowski.

Very early on in the game, the Ravens made a statement to Graham and the Saints. They came to be physical and weren’t going to make it easy for them. This was one of the Saints first passing plays. Graham runs a simple underneath crossing route. Safety Will Hill, who had a man coverage assignment against Graham for most of the game, lines up across from Graham on the line of scrimmage.

But it wasn’t Hill who jammed Graham at the line. Linebacker Terrell Suggs surprised Graham off the snap by getting right into his chest and knocking him back.

But the physicality didn’t stop there. As Graham crossed the middle of the field, linebacker Daryl Smith stepped up and laid a hit on Graham to further knock him off his route.

In the end, quarterback Drew Brees went elsewhere with the football. But that set the tone for the game. Baltimore were going to finds ways of impacting Graham’s routes and weren’t going to allow him a free release.

This time Hill lines up in off-coverage from Graham.

But that doesn’t mean they were going to allow Graham a free release. C.J. Mosley made sure to make contact on Graham before working towards his coverage assignment.

Even Courtney Upshaw got in on the act of jamming Graham.

Here the Saints try to get Graham running up the seam. The Ravens are in a zone coverage, so don’t have Hill lined up over Graham this time.

But they have Upshaw stay inside to get his hand on Graham and disrupt his route before breaking to the flat for his own coverage assignment.

To try and get Graham away from the linebackers, they spread him out wide and attempted to hid him in stack sets.

Graham starts outside, closely followed by Hill.

But the Saints motion Graham into a stack set, forcing Hill to play off the line of scrimmage.

But Hill sets himself at the limit of the allowed distance of contact and waits for Graham to close the gap. Hill explodes into Graham, keeping his pad level low and getting his hands inside. That knocks Graham back and off his route.

Graham was held to a similar stat-line that the Jets held Gronkowski to; six receptions for 47 yards. If Baltimore can play in a similarly aggressive fashion against Gronkowski and limit his effectiveness, then they will be in a good position to come away from New England with a positive result.

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When you look at the joint total, the Ravens posted a combined 220 yards from 54 carries, averaging a shade over four yards per carry. That’s a solid performance. However, when you look at each game individually, you’ll see that the Ravens went from 4.4 yards per carry in their week two game at home, to 3.5 yards per carry in the week nine match up in Pittsburgh. That’s nearly a yard per carry worse.

In their first match up, Baltimore struggled to get their blockers to the second level to block linebackers.

Here, Bernard Pierce takes the hand-off on a stretch play to the right.

The Ravens work their combination blocks up front. Left guard Kelechi Osemele and center Jeremy Zuttah work together on the nose tackle, while right guard Marshal Yanda and right tackle Ricky Wagner work on the defensive end.

But the Ravens offensive line fails to work off the tandem-blocks to pick up the roaming linebackers. They fill the holes quickly. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk manages to block one, but the other inside linebacker comes flying in on the back side of the run and makes the tackle.

It didn’t matter if the run was to the right or the left.

This time, the Ravens run to their left.

Like before, both linebackers are unblocked and free to roam. The back cuts inside to follow Juszczyk, who is able to block one linebacker.

But again, the other linebacker is left free to make the tackle.

This was a common theme throughout the game. The Steelers inside linebackers were allowed to roam too easily and get to the running back without much effort.

This time, the Ravens don’t help themselves with the call. Running to the left here means Yanda has to quickly get to the nose tackle to allow Zuttah to work to the linebacker.

Yanda takes his drop step to get the angle he wants for the block. But that gives the linebacker time to diagnose the play and approach the line of scrimmage.

In the end, Yanda couldn’t get over in time to allow Zuttah to peal off and block the linebacker. Pierce does his best to cut back inside and avoid the tackle, but is unsuccessful and brought down for a loss.

This was Baltimore’s biggest problem when they went into their week nine game against the Steelers. The put more of an emphasis on getting to the second level and getting blockers on the Steelers inside linebackers. But this came at a cost, giving the Steelers defensive lineman a better match up.

This was the first play of the game in Pittsburgh. Cameron Heyward lines up as a inside 4-tech defensive end in the Steelers 3-4. Osemele and left tackle Eugene Monroe combine, at least initially, to block him.

But Heyward does an excellent job splitting the block, which stops the Ravens pair from gaining leverage and driving him back.

Despite failing to gain control of the Heyward block, Monroe works to the second level, knowing he has to get to those inside linebackers. But that leaves Heyward one-on-one with Osemele, who gets himself in a bad position.

Heyward bursts past Osemele and makes the tackle on Justin Forsett in the backfield before he can even react.

The other problem the Ravens encountered was Zuttah being left to block the nose tackle on his own. Zuttah has been one of the Ravens most impressive acquisitions from the offseason, transitioning to a zone-blocking center excellently. But he excels at tandem blocks and using his athleticism to work to the second level. Against this Steelers 3-4 defense, he has found himself isolated on the nose tackle and struggled as a result.

Here we see Zuttah lined up against nose tackle Steve McLendon, and undrafted free agent in 2009.

Zuttah is left one-on-one with McLendon as the rest of the offensive line work their combination blocks. Zuttah gets driven back off the line of scrimmage as he attempts to find any form of leverage against McLendon.

But McLendon keeps Zuttah at arms length before peeling off to make the tackle for no gain.

With defensive lineman making plays in the backfield, the Ravens were forced to shift their focus back to the defensive line with their combination blocks, and worry about getting to the second level after that.

Later on in the game, the Ravens hand off to Pierce to the right.

Just like we saw in the first game, the Ravens work good tandem-blocks up front.

But they fail to reach the linebackers on the second level. Wagner can’t peel off his block and get to Lawrence Timmons, who bursts through.

Timmons chases down Pierce, forcing him out to the sideline before tackling him for a minimal gain.

This creates quite the problem for the Ravens heading into their playoff game this week. The Ravens had more success when they focused on getting the initial blocks upfront under control. If they can do that, and have their tight ends do a better job holding the edge, then Forsett might be able to get the inside linebackers to over-pursue to the outside and open up cut-back lanes, effectively blocking them without having a physical blocker on them. Clearly, they can’t afford to allow what happened in the second game, where the Steelers defensive lineman played in the backfield and kept the Ravens to 3.5 yards per carry. For an offense that is built around running the ball, that simply cannot happen.

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Pro Football Focus actually grades McPhee as their third overall 3-4 outside linebacker, above both Suggs (fourth) and Dumervil (fifth). While McPhee only has six sacks to his name, with Dumervil on 19 and Suggs on 13, PFF has McPhee leading the Ravens in hurries and quarterback hits (33 and 20, respectively).

Most of McPhee’s snaps have come as a third rusher in obvious passing situations. He has great size and athleticism, allowing him to shift inside and give Dumervil and Suggs the edges. He’s been very effective pushing the pocket from the inside.

Here, McPhee hovers over the center and right guard, trying not to tip his intentions.

Fron the snap, McPhee sells a hard rush towards the center, getting the right guard to commit inside to help out the center.

After getting the guard to commit inside, McPhee shifts outside and uses an excellent swim move to elude the guard.

The guard falls to his knees, desperately trying to grab on to McPhee to slow down the rush.

But McPhee is too quick and strong. He breaks free off the guard and charges down quarterback Andrew Luck in the pocket for a sack.

But McPhee is also plenty capable on the outside. When Dumervil or Suggs needs a breather, the Ravens can and have trusted McPhee to go in and still get after the quarterback off the edge.

This time McPhee lines up on the edge against the Falcons left tackle.

He takes a strong step up the field on his edge rush, but notices that left tackle Jake Matthews over-sets to the outside.

McPhee quickly moves inside and makes the most of Matthews’ mistake.

The left guard is forced to come across and help out his left tackle, but McPhee keeps his pad level low and uses his momentum to help drive the guard back.

McPhee then sets his sights on quarterback Matt Ryan.

McPhee disengages with the guard and quickly closes the gap to Ryan, registering his second sack of that game.

While McPhee has just six sacks, he has been a consistent pass-rushing threat, generating pressure and working well in tandem with Suggs and Dumervil to rush the passer.

Here, McPhee lines up inside again. He stunts inside across the face of the center.

McPhee uses a quick club and rip move to get the better of the Texans center.

He arrives immediately at the quarterback and forces a hurried throw that falls incomplete. While he couldn’t get the sack, he got the next best result, an incomplete pass.

Clearly then, McPhee brings a lot to the table for the Ravens pass-rush. But being a free agent and coming off a strong season, McPhee will want a much bigger contract than his rookie deal that paid him just $681,140 this year. The Ravens already have large cap commitments at the outside linebacker position, with Dumervil and Suggs set to take up over $12.5 million combined. Ideally, Baltimore find a way to bring McPhee back, but a pass-rusher with the versatile skill-set that McPhee offers could command a bigger contract on the open market than the Ravens can afford to match.

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Watt has become the best defensive player in the NFL and is a dominant pass rusher. Houston runs a base 3-4 defense, but they have multiple nickel and sub-packages that move Watt around to find his best match up for each game.

His athleticism reminds you of the defensive equivalent to an athletic tight end. When you talk about the likes of Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham, you say they’re too big and strong for corners to cover, but too quick for linebackers and safeties to keep up with. Watt is the same on defense. He’s too strong for offensive tackles to block on the edge, and too quick for guards and centers to block inside.

Here, Watt lines up as a 4-3 defensive end against the Giants right tackle.

From the snap, Watt wins leverage. Despite being 6’5” and 289 pounds, Watt manages to keep his pad level lower than the tackle. He quickly gets his hands inside onto the body of the tackle. With quick hand placement and low pad level, Watt gains all the leverage in the block before the tackle even has a chance to get himself set.

Watt uses that leverage to his full advantage. He shoves the tackle to the outside.

The tackle can’t deal with Watt’s strength and is forced to try and almost tackle Watt to save the sack.

But Watt makes a great diving effort to get to quarterback Eli Manning and make the sack.

As I mentioned above, the Texans will move Watt all around the defensive line to find his best match up. He’s comfortable playing in just about every technique.

But if the Texans don’t line him up outside the tackle, he’ll most often be found as a 3-technique defensive tackle, as he was here against the Titans.

Watt uses his quickness on the inside against guards. On this rush, he fakes a rush into the A gap before working back to the B gap outside right guard Chance Warmack.

Watt uses a quick club and swim move, his most effective move, to fight through the block attempt from Warmack.

He quickly works past Warmack and closes in on the quarterback.

Watt wraps up the quarterback for another sack.

But Watt has more strings to his bow than just being a terrific pass rusher. He can be a stout run defender too. He often blows up blocks and finds himself in the backfield, making tackles for loss.

The Eagles are one of the best running teams in the NFL and have been since Chip Kelly was appointed head coach. Kelly was wise to run the ball away from Watt on a zone play intended to go towards the right tackle.

But Watt uses his quickness off the snap to get play-side of his blocker and then uses his strength to stand him up.

Watt quickly works pass the guard in to the backfield. Running back LeSean McCoy spots Watt breaking through the line and knows he has to cut back his run quickly.

But before McCoy can start his trademark juking moves, Watt closes the gap and dives to make the play. He even manages to get his hand on the football, nearly knocking it loose. McCoy is forced to accept a loss on the play.

Watt is in terrific form at the moment, with seven sacks in his last three games. But he has the complete game to back up his pass rushing skills. He’s a force to be reckoned with in the run game, as we’ve seen above, and is always alert to quick passes and screens, getting his hands in passing lanes to deflect passes. He has an impact on almost every snap. The Ravens will have to prioritise Watt, identifying exactly where he lines up on every play and have a game plan to deal with him.

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Dwayne Gratz is the starting left cornerback for the Jaguars. He’s been leaking big plays all season, which the Ravens should look to take advantage of.

Gratz, as the left corner, will spend most of the game dropping to a deep outside third of the field in the Cover-3 scheme. One of the typical Cover-3 beaters is four verticals. But the Eagles throw in a twist, using the tight end and receiver to run a scissor concept to confuse the defense.

Gratz follows the receiver up the field, but then spots the tight end running a wheel route, so peels outside to cover that route. However, his assignment is the deep third of the field. He has to stay deeper than the deepest. He should have stayed running with the receiver.

The receiver runs wide open down the field, but luckily for Gratz, Nick Foles misses him.

Gratz awareness as a deep zone defender is poor. The Eagles picked up on it way back in week one.

Like before, Gratz is assigned with covering the deep third of the field. The Eagles line up all three receivers away from his side of the field, with the tight end and running back a potential threat from his side of the field.

Gratz sticks with the tight end running down the field, but fails to spot the receiver crossing the middle of the field.

Gratz cheats on the tight end, leaving his deep zone open for the receiver crossing to run into.

Foles again misses the throw and gives Gratz a let off, but the Eagles showed the rest of the NFL how to attack the Jaguars defense going forward, and Gratz has failed to adjust.

This was the next week. The Redskins had back up quarterback Kirk Cousins in the game after Robert Griffin III dislocated his ankle, but Washington still had confidence in attacking Gratz. They line up Pierre Garcon in the slot and motion fullback Darrel Young outside. Both Garcon and Young run vertical routes.

Gratz cheats on the route again, but this time taking the inside route of Garcon and leaving Young wide open.

Cousins makes the easy throw and Young, a fullback, has a 20-yard touchdown to his name.

Gratz continued to get beat as the season went on.

This time, Gratz faces a deep route from Dolphins receiver Mike Wallace.

Gratz allows Wallace to easily eat up the cushion and is slow to turn his hips and run with Wallace down the sideline.

Wallace gets a yard on Gratz and makes the catch before falling out of bounds. With a slightly better throw, this could have been a touchdown. But it was still a good enough throw to pick up 50-yards on the play.

Even last week, Gratz was still getting fooled and picked on in coverage.

The Texans lined up DeAndre Hopkins in the slot and had him run a go route up the seam.

The quarterback pump-fakes to the quick hitch route on the outside, which Gratz bites on, give Hopkins a chance to get freely up the seam.

All Hopkins needs is that step and he’s open. The quarterback hits him in stride and all Gratz can do is chase down and make a tackle.

Big plays should be on offer for the Ravens on offense this week. The rest of the NFL has shown how Gratz and the Jaguars defense can be attacked. Torrey and Steve Smith should be in for big games this week if the Ravens use them correctly.

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Ngata is a big miss for Baltimore, but fortunately they have good depth on the defensive line. They drafted Timmy Jernigan back in May in the second round of the NFL draft with the knowledge of Ngata getting older and his contract running down. Jernigan figures to be the most obvious benefactor in terms of playing time. The Ravens had been bringing him along slowly, rotating him in for less than 20 snaps a game on average. But now Jernigan has an opportunity to step up and make a claim for the starting role. He’s shown in his limited snaps this season that he’s a strong run defender.

Here, Jernigan lines up as a defensive end. The Ravens run a stunt, asking Jernigan to stunt inside.

Jernigan gets inside leverage on the defender and holds him at the line of scrimmage as he diagnoses the play.

Once he spots the run going away from him, Jernigan sheds the block and starts his pursuit of the runner.

Jernigan started outside the right hash-marks and chased the runner all the way to outside the left hash-marks. Not only did he do a great job controlling and then shedding his block, he showed excellent desire and pursuit of the play to make the tackle.

Jernigan also displays versatility to play in different positions along the defensive line. He lined up at defensive end on the previous play, but he also takes some snaps at nose tackle.

This time we see Jernigan line up directly over the center. He attacks the A gap to the left side of the offensive line.

He bursts into the left guard, allowing the center to roam freely to the second level. Jernigan has to be able to make the play if he’s going to allow the center to do that, but as soon as he engages with the left guard, he gets his eyes in the backfield and on the running back.

Jernigan shows good technique, keeping his pad level low and using his hands well to keep the guard from gaining any leverage. Jernigan works inside to close the gap for the running back.

Jernigan then sheds the block and fills the gap completely. With the support of the backside edge defender, Jernigan closes the lane and makes the tackle on the runner for a minimal gain.

Perhaps Jernigan’s most impressive play against the run came against the Titans.

The Titans were backed up on their own goalline on this play. Jernigan is back at defensive end, but this time lines up against the right side of the offensive line. The Titans want to run behind their right guard, Chance Warmack, who takes on Jernigan one-on-one.

Right off the snap, Jernigan is ready for Warmack and plays him with excellent technique. Jernigan stays low with a stout base.

He then explodes up into Warmack, pushing him back and holding the point of attack at the line of scrimmage.

Jernigan quickly recognises the play and takes outside leverage, knowing he’s blown up the lane inside.

The back has no choice but to run right at Jernigan, who makes the tackle for another minimal gain and keeps the pressure on the Titans backed up near their own end zone.

In the run game, Jernigan should hold up fine in Ngata’s absense. But he still has plenty of work to do when it comes to his pass rush. The reality is that Jernigan will be rotated out in some pass rushing situations in favor of a better pass rusher; but he’ll still have to show he provide some pressure and push the pocket from the inside. There’s no reason to suggest he couldn’t become a strong interior pass rusher, given his upper body strength and power.

Against the Titans again, Jernigan lines up at defensive end to the left side of the Titans offensive line. Jernigan stunts inside and attacks the A gap between the left guard and center.

Jernigan displays the same technique that he did against the run. He plays with a low pad level and uses that leverage with his upper body strength to push the center up in the air and off-balance.

Jernigan is able to drive the center back before subtly moving his hand to the left shoulder of the center.

He uses that hand to shove the center inside and disengage from the block.

The Titans quarterback attempts to escape the pocket, but Jernigan chases him down and makes the sack.

The potential is there for Jernigan as an interior pass rusher, but he has to show it more consistently. If he is given a bigger role as expected, that playing time might give him the experience that helps him develop quickly. The Ravens will certainly need him to do so in the midst of a play-off race.

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On this play, the Ravens use Elvis Dumervil to jam Saints tight end Jimmy Graham at the line of scrimmage before going onto his rush.

Dumervil gets a great jam on Graham, delaying him from running his route. Dumervil then runs a stunt inside behind Pernell McPhee.

Dumervil comes flying through the A gap unblocked, forcing Drew Brees off his spot.

Dumervil’s pressure causes Brees to scramble to his right, making him miss a potential target running open in the middle of the field. Brees picks up some yards on the scramble, but it’s better to give away a few yards than allow Brees to hit a receiver down the field.

Later in the game, Terrell Suggs had a rush with a similar effect.

Suggs lines up over Saints left tackle Terron Armstead.

Suggs recognises the fullback is coming outside the tackle to chip him. He also notices the tackle over-setting to the outside, so Suggs cuts back inside on his rush.

Suggs inside rush arrives just as Brees was looking to throw. He had a receiver running free up the seam too, but Suggs stops him from making the throw.

Brees attempts to scramble to his left, but is tripped up and tackled by Suggs for the sack.

It’s not just Dumervil and Suggs either, all of the Ravens pass rushers are contributing. Courtney Upshaw played a bit part in the Will Hill pick-six.

Here, the Ravens send a zone blitz, with defensive back Brynden Trawick blitzing from the cornerback position and Suggs rushing from an inside linebacker spot. Upshaw rushes off the edge against the right tackle.

Upshaw gets a great jump and beats the right tackle around the corner. He arrives with quick pressure, forcing Brees to step up into the pocket when he’d rather be throwing to Graham on the crossing route.

Brees can’t get the throw off to Graham at the top of his drop because of Upshaw’s quick pressure. He takes a few hitch steps up into the pocket, where he’s greeted by Suggs, who lands a hit as Brees is throwing the ball. Graham has a step on Hill as the ball is coming out.

The hit from Suggs causes the pass from Brees to lack accuracy and velocity. Hill is able to undercut the throw and intercept it before taking it all the way back for a touchdown.

The Ravens pass rush has really picked up over the last few weeks and it’s paying off in more than just sacks, although Dumervil is currently joint second in sacks with 12.5 so far this season. A strong pass rush doesn’t always result in sacks, sometimes it makes quarterbacks miss open receivers or forces errant throws as we’ve seen here. With the Ravens looking to make a charge to the playoffs in a close division, they’ll need there pass rush to continue playing well.

The post How the Ravens pass rush is helping the secondary appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

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Most players see their play drop off once they reach 30, which is what makes this a difficult decision for the Ravens. They’ve done an excellent job rotating Ngata with their other defensive lineman, keeping him fresh. That’s allowed Ngata to be more effective in the snaps that he is playing.

He’s a complete player. He can line up in virtually any position along the defensive line and play the run and pass equally well.

Here against the Colts, Ngata lines up as a 3-technique defensive tackle. The Colts are running the ball to Ngata’s side.

Ngata penetrates through the double-team block attempt almost immediately and finds himself in the backfield before Andrew Luck has even handed the ball off.

Ngata’s presence in the backfield forces the running back to cut back much earlier than he would have liked to.

While Ngata can’t make the tackle himself, his quick penetration forced the early cutback into the waiting backside defenders, who wrap up the runner for no gain.

Running at Ngata failed for the Colts, so later in the game, they tried to run away from him.

Indy bring in two tight ends and two backs to line up in a very run heavy formation. Ngata aligns himself in the A gap between the left guard and the center. The Colts run the ball to the right, away from Ngata, hoping the left guard can block Ngata on his own.

But Ngata is too good and commands double-teams. He uses an excellent swim move to elude the left guard.

Like before, Ngata quickly finds himself in the backfield. This time, he cuts off the cutback lane, forcing the runner to bounce his run outside.

But the edge is well contained, leaving the runner with nowhere to go as he loses two yards on the play.

Ngata plays the role of penetrating defensive tackle extremely well, but he also knows when to take on the double-teams and free up his linebackers to make the play.

Ngata lines up outside the right guard’s shoulder on this play. The Steelers are in a short yardage situation, so are trying to run the ball to the right.

Both the right guard and right tackle team up to block Ngata and stop him from penetrating into the backfield. Ngata accepts the double team responsibility and occupies both blockers.

By staying stout and occupying both blockers, Ngata keeps rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley free to find the hole and make the play on the runner in the backfield, which is exactly what he does.

Ngata has proven to be an equally strong pass rusher. Like in the run game, he demands double-teams or he’ll drive a single blocker back and get pressure on the quarterback.

Against the Bengals, Ngata found himself one-on-one against the Bengals left guard.

Ngata takes full advantage of the rare one-on-one opportunity, driving the guard back towards quarterback Andy Dalton.

The pressure from Ngata forces Dalton to move off his spot and take his eyes away from down the field. Dalton feels the pressure and immediately reverts to his check down target. He does well to get rid of the ball before Ngata gets there, but still takes a big hit.

Ngata can take on double-teams when pass rushing too.

Back to the Steelers game for this play. Ngata is lined up over the left guard’s outside shoulder.

But Ngata makes sure to engage both the left tackle and the left guard. That leaves Pernell McPhee matched up one-on-one with a tight end, a match up he should win every time.

McPhee does win the match up and the left tackle is forced to peel off Ngata to help his tight end. Ngata is then left one-on-one with the left guard. Ngata controls the block, keeping the pocket contained against a mobile quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger. Ngata keeps his eyes on Roethlisberger, knowing he’s likely to try and escape the pocket under pressure.

Once Roethlisberger makes his move to escape the pocket, Ngata gets off his block in a flash and begins to chase him down.

The left guard and tackle both get back to try and help Roethlisberger recover, but Ngata grabs a hold of him and starts to drag him down, despite being blocked by two lineman. Ngata’s strength wins out and results in Roethlisberger being sacked.

Clearly Ngata is still playing at a high level and has yet to show many signs of age catching up with him. But the Ravens have good young depth on the defensive line, having drafted Timmy Jernigan in the second round of the draft this year and Brandon Williams having a breakout year, among others. The Ravens may decide that signing a defensive lineman in his 30’s to an expensive long-term contract might be too risky and the best decision might be to let Ngata walk and let the younger guys take over his responsibilities.

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