Ravens coach Todd Monken's adjustments versus Texans blitz won the game
The Baltimore Ravens turned a tied game at halftime into a 24-point win with a huge offensive second half versus the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Texans' defense did a great job blitzing Lamar Jackson to contain him in the pocket and speeding up his process in the pocket. Ravens' coach […]
The Baltimore Ravens turned a tied game at halftime into a 24-point win with a huge offensive second half versus the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The Texans' defense did a great job blitzing Lamar Jackson to contain him in the pocket and speeding up his process in the pocket. Ravens' coach Todd Monken went into halftime and made the necessary adjustments to have a dominant second half. Along with Jackson's halftime speech to wake the team up when they needed it most.
Monken saw the effectiveness of the Texans' blitz and pressure packages in limiting his star quarterback. It prevented their offense from gaining any momentum in the first half. After halftime, the Ravens offense went to a more-quick timing-based passing attack, with plays designed to get the ball out of Jackson's hands quickly. This counter was well-timed and executed against the Texans' blitz. They went away from the slow-developing downfield routes and focused more on quicker concepts.
As seen in the tweet below from ESPN's Matt Bowen, Monken replaced the Texans' blitzing defenders with passing threats.
Against zero blitz (man coverage with no deep safeties), getting the ball out quickly to fill the voids left was paramount to moving the ball effectively and efficiently for the Ravens.
Giving Lamar Jackson more ways to win
One of the biggest revelations from the victory over Houston was the Ravens showing offensive versatility. It was not a typical run-dominant performance by the offense. For most of the game, the Ravens' run attack was struggling to find its footing, outside of Jackson running the ball himself. It became more effective once they were in close-out mode.
This season, the Ravens showed their ability to win with their run game, vertical passing, and now quick passing with run-after-catch opportunities. Heading into a legitimate chess match against the Kansas City Chiefs and their defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The ability to shift your offensive focus based on how the opponent is defending you wins difficult games. It could be all of the difference in their ability to win this one and advance to Super Bowl LVIII.
