Let’s take a look at a couple of the passing plays that went bad for the Ravens against Washington.
Picking up the Safety Blitz
On the first play for the offense, the Joe Flacco threw a short pass over the middle to Kyle Juszczyk. Juszczyk than ran for a 23 yard gain.
Flacco was actually hurried on the throw due to a miss block by Bernard Pierce on a Safety blitz by Brandon Meriweather. This was an excellent throw by Flacco in the face of a blitzing defender.
A QB Sack due to Coverage
On 3rd and 7 with 9:01 left in the first quarter, Flacco was sacked by J. Hatcher for -12 yards. This was a coverage sack. All of the receivers were covered and Flacco ran out of time.
A Sack from a Bull Rush
In the second quarter in 1st and 10 at the Baltimore 43 yard line, Joe Flacco was sacked by R.Kerrigan for a 6 yard loss. Kerrigan beats the RT Wagner with a bull rush. This is a relatively simple rush, where Kerrigan attempts to run through Wagner. Wagner does not react quick enough to Kerrigan’s initial rush and loses leverage and ground as Kerrigan pushes towards Flacco. This forces Flacco to step up into a collapsing pocket where Kerrigan is able to bring him down for a loss of yards.
Protecting Against a Zone Blitz
On 1st and 10 on the Washington 21 yard line, Washington’s defense ran a zone blitz against the Ravens offense. The zone blitz scheme rushes 5 defenders leaving 6 defenders to drop into coverage. Both of Washington’s middle linebackers lean forward before the ball is snapped providing an indication that they are rushing the passer. The outside linebackers will drop into coverage after the ball is snapped. Unfortunately, Flacco missed this sign and was unable to communicate to his receivers to expect the ball immediately after the ball was snapped. Typically a quarterback will call a ‘hot route’ when he gets to the line and determines that a blitz is coming. A Hot Route is a short passing route designed to beat the blitz.
On a zone blitz the ‘hot route’ is typically a route in the flat. A flat route is where the receiver gains 3 yards and then breaks to the sideline. Since Joe Flacco did not detect the zone blitz, he did not communicate a hot route to his receiver jacoby Jones. WR Jacoby Jones does not detect the zone blitz and he runs his determined route. Flacco is left holding the ball waiting for a receiver to get open.
On the offensive line LT Monroe and TE Gilmore double team the Washington defender. Monroe detects a blitzing linebacker but does not see the RB in position to provide the block. Monroe then leaves his assignment in an attempt to block the linebacker. Unfortunately, Gilmore does not have leverage on his blocker and he is able to shed Gilmore and pursue Flacco. The result is a near sack. However, Flacco does an incredible job of throwing the ball away.
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