While the Ravens brass held the post season meeting in the Bahamas, it was reported that the team parted ways with their defensive coordinator for the last four years, Don Martindale. DC for four, on staff for 10 years. The decision seemed mutual after many discussions between he and coach Harbaugh, and what sounded like some philosophical differences going forward.
The game is evolving. If you don’t change with it, you end up with the 32nd ranked pass defense.
Okay, sure, that’s not fair. It’s an overly simplistic statement about a team in a sport with variables constantly changing. But sometimes I feel older coaches tend to think they know everything, their scheme is the best, they don’t develop players as well because they might not fit what you want to do, and the team suffers for that. When you hear that it took many discussions between Harbaugh and Martindale to finally reach this parting of ways, it tells me that Harbaugh, or the powers above, wanted to change to things philosophically, and Martindale wasn’t having any of it. Perhaps his stubbornness showed him the door.
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It’s not breaking news that Ravens defense hasn’t been as good as it should be. We have started to see players leave here and find more success elsewhere (Matt Judon, Za’Darius Smith) which was never a staple of this franchise who is known for it’s defensive prowess over the decades. They gave up more big plays and yards after catch in the first half of the 2021 season than most teams do in a full year. Joe Burrow threw for over 1,000 yards against them alone. Once with a practice squad secondary, but the first meeting was all the starters’ sans Marcus Peters, while Marlon Humphrey may have had the worst game of his life.
It comes down to this for me. During Martindale’s tenure, he’s never had an answer for Patrick Mahomes, and doesn’t have an answer for Joe Burrow if you toss out his lone start against the Ravens as a rookie. As the two QBs leading their teams to the AFC Championship game, they are currently the class of the conference. God help us if Aaron Rodgers becomes a Steeler this offseason. You must have an answer if you want to surpass them. Josh Allen could just as easily be in this conversation as well. You can point to injuries or other variables, but the fact is, all teams go through things.
The 49ers just beat statistically that best offense in football in the Cowboys, and their defense limited Aaron Rodgers to a level that they didn’t need an offensive touchdown to beat the Packers in the divisional round. They did this with two guys playing corner named Emmanuel Moseley and Ambry Thomas. Moseley was an undrafted FA in 2018, who was given a two-year, $10.1M extension prior to this season. Thomas is a rookie third round pick who has only played 334 snaps this year, missing weeks 2 through 9. He was inactive against the Packers, meaning veteran Dontae Johnson, who Thomas played more snaps than, stepped in. Josh Norman who was once a shutdown corner, played three snaps in two postseason games.
I’m sure you’ve noticed the surge in young hires at head coaching positions. A lot of creative offenses are run by young coaches, some implementing things from the college ranks as trips, bunch formations, spread, read option, RPO, are all the norm for opposing NFL defenses to see now a days. You can’t just run a bunch of cover 0, cover 1, play press man coverage on the outside against receivers that are better. That seemed to be a stubborn, elder Martindale’s downfall. A depleted secondary like the Ravens needed to be playing cover 3, cover 4, trying to generate pressure with a four-man rush. They often had trouble generating pressure from a six-man rush. Bringing safeties into the box to disguise who was rushing. It’s a game of risk versus reward at that point as the back end becomes extremely vulnerable. You can get away with that against maybe Baker Mayfield, Kirk Cousins. Other more talented QBs and more creative offensive coordinators will pick that apart every time.
Call it ageism. I want youth to replace Martindale as our defensive coordinator. A creative mind. The 49ers defense is led by 37-year-old Demeco Ryans. While he left Alabama for the NFL the year before Nick Saban became the Crimson Tide head coach, as an Alabama man, I’d be willing to bet he’s met Saban, and talked defense. Saban of course famously was Bill Belichick’s DC for four seasons in Cleveland where their Rip/Liz Match scheme is still as successful in the game today as it was 30+ years ago because it’s a man/zone hybrid. It looks like zone pre-snap, then turns into man when the routes begin if a receiver enters a defender’s zone. The defenders “match” them, rather than just assume the next guy in line will help, which is how straight zone coverage is exploited by receivers with a knack for settling in the hole in the coverage. When players on offense go in motion, the defense doesn’t give anything away pre-snap.
Ryans also understands the limitations of his defense. According to PFF, without standout corners on the field like say, the Ravens Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, the 49ers only ran cover 1 22.2% of the time from week 1-11. From weeks 12 on through the playoffs, it’s down to only 13.9%. Cover 1 leaves your corners on an island and only 1 safety as just that, a safety net deep if someone blows their coverage. If you don’t have stellar corners, you just shouldn’t run it, and they rarely do.
The Ravens blitzed 31.1% of the time (6th in the NFL) and only generated pressure 23% of the time (24th in the NFL) that kind of disparity is inefficient. About as inefficient as the Ravens offense under Marty Mornhinweg when they led the league in pass attempts and were dead last in yards per attempt. You have to do something else. For comparison’s sake, the 49ers blitzed only 19.8% of the time this season, and generated pressure more often than the Ravens at a 24.1% clip.
Successful defenses generate pressure without having to sell out the blitz. Martindale could never deliver that. The 2022 season lends itself to a near overhaul of the Ravens defensive front. Brandon Williams, Calais Campbell, and Justin Houston’s contracts are expiring. Expectations are going to be high for Odafe Oweh entering year two. Williams was never a pass rusher, more of a run stuffer, but this is a passing league. If the Chiefs/Bills classic taught us anything, it’s that stopping the run is secondary to being able to stop the pass. Any action in free agency, and the top picks in the draft, should all be players on the defensive front that can get to the quarterback.
A young coach, willing to adapt, who can scheme up pressure without putting 10 guys in the box is what I’m looking for in this next hire. One name that comes to mind is 49ers defensive line coach, Kris Kocurek. He’s been a defensive line coach in the NFL for 12 years, the last three in San Francisco. He could bring an element of what makes the 49ers successful on defense against the NFCs version of Mahomes, Burrow, and Allen (Rodgers, Prescott, Stafford) here.
Another name is Travis Smith. Assistant Defensive line coach on the Las Vegas Raiders. He’s been with the Raiders for 10 years, and 3rd year assisting Rod Marinelli who has 26 years of NFL experience. Maybe a large jump from assistant position coach to defensive coordinator, but it’s quite the internship under Marinelli. The Raiders blitzed less than anyone else in the league (12.1%), and generated pressure 24.6% of the time. The duo of Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell was one of the dominant pass rush duos in the league. To be fair, I think Crosby generated about 46 pressures against Alejandro Villanueva in week 1, so maybe that skews the numbers. Smith could have a keen eye for guys in the draft that compare to Crosby and Ferrell, could possibly develop Oweh into a stud that Martindale wouldn’t haven been able to.
Ravens Analyst
Mike was born on the Eastern Shore, raised in Finksburg, and currently resides in Parkville. In 2009, Mike graduated from the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. Mike became a Baltimore City Fire Fighter in late 2010. Mike has appeared as a guest on Q1370, and FOX45. Now a Sr. Ravens Analyst for BSL, he can be reached at mike.randall@baltimoresportsandlife.com.