No NFL quarterback has been blitzed as often as Josh Allen has this year. Per data from SportsRadar, Allen took 254 blitzes this year, but was only pressured on 20.4% of them. A big factor in Allen’s maturation this year has been the fact that he drastically cut his sack rate.
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| Josh Allen | Sacks | Sack Rate |
| 2018 | 28 | 8.00% |
| 2019 | 38 | 7.60% |
| 2020 | 26 | 4.30% |
Meanwhile, the Ravens sent more blitzes in 2020 than any other team in the NFL. They sent more blitzes in 2019 than any other team in the NFL. In 2018 they … sent more blitzes than any other team in the NFL Under Wink Martindale they are a team that wants to win on defense by getting off the field with quarterback mistakes.
| Ravens Defense | Blitz rate | Rank | Pressure Rate | Rank |
| 2018 | 39.60% | 1 | 28.90% | 3 |
| 2019 | 54.90% | 1 | 23.40% | 15 |
| 2020 | 45.10% | 1 | 25.90% | 5 |
Josh Allen actually has one of the highest DVOAs under pressure of anyone this season. The NFL average when a quarterback is pressured is -70.6% DVOA — what that essentially means is that, compared to normal stats and averages over the course of the last 20 years or so of football history, quarterbacks perform about 70% worse when than that when pressured. When Allen is pressured this year, though, his DVOA is only -11.3%. And if you watched the Bills-Colts game there were several moments where the Colts got a free rusher and it wound up not mattering much:
If you look for games where a defense kept Allen down and the Bills didn’t run on the opponent in response, the only time that takes place all season really is in Week 6 against the Chiefs — a game that happened after the Titans forced a weird week for the Bills post-COVID-19. In that game, Allen was blitzed 14 times and pressured 11 times, and it mostly came down to him missing deeper throws with John Brown.
I think perhaps the best thing the Ravens have in their favor as a defense for this one is their ability to create turnovers. Allen has only thrown 10 picks, but he’s also fumbled nine times when hit, leaving the Bills with a middle-of-the-pack turnover rate, coughing it up on 11.8% of their drives. Marlon Humphrey was the big statistical difference maker for the Ravens in that regard with a wildly great ability to force fumbles — they created 12 fumbles lost, third in the NFL.
The Ravens this year per Sports Info Solutions data were one of the worst in the NFL when rushing five — they generated a DVOA allowed of 21.1% when they sent five players against an average of 21.1%. When they instead blitzed six players, their DVOA was -27.0%. It’s odd to say this but it almost feels like the way this game sets up is that when the Ravens do blitz, they need to blitz boldly and accept the results.
While the Ravens defense has had a bit of an oddball year — up sometimes, down others — I think the Ravens stand poised to make-or-break Martindale’s potential head coaching chops against the Bills and, should they both survive, the Chiefs next week. Two of the top four passing quarterbacks in the NFL await. Both of them are better against the blitz than the average quarterback. So it becomes about adjustments like the overhang defenders that Martindale pulled out for the Titans game and how they sat at Ryan Tannehill’s general passing hot spots: How they finally stopped Derrick Henry, and so on.
The Ravens are going to run on everyone. The pass offense is probably going to remain inconsistent. This is going to require a defense that keeps things on the right script or close to it. It’s a lot of pressure on Martindale to put a lot of pressure on Allen.
Ravens Analyst
Rivers McCown is a writer and editor who has written for ESPN.com, Bleacher Report, USA Today, and Deadspin, among other places. He’s edited for Football Outsiders, Rookie Scouting Portfolio, and Pre-Snap Reads Quarterback Catalogue.