Film Study: Five Missed Opportunities for Torrey Smith

Ravens Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak stated that the Ravens had five opportunities for Torrey Smith to have big plays in the game against the Cleveland Browns. Let’s take a look at the five missed opportunities for Torrey Smith and understand what happened on each play.

Situation: 1st Quarter 15:00 remaining, 1st and 10 on the Baltimore 25 yard line

On the first play of the game Flacco targets Torrey Smith running a 3 step out route. On a 3 step out route, Torrey Smith will take two vertical steps and then plant his third step at a 45° angle and round out as he is running to the sideline.

The pass is off target due to an unblocked pass rusher placing pressure on Flacco who hurries the throw.

Situation: 4th Quarter 14:55 remaining, 3rd and 12 on the Baltimore 18 yard line

Down 21-17, Joe Flacco attempts to keep Baltimore’s drive alive by trying to convert on a 3rd down. On an obvious passing down, the Browns bring pressure on a blitz. In the secondary, the Safety dropped into the underneath coverage, leaving Torrey Smith in one on one coverage by a Cornerback. Torrey Smith runs a post route and Flacco attempts to throw the ball as Torrey Smith breaks to the post.

The result of the play is an interception as former Raven, Paul Kruger, is able to beat RG Marshal Yanda and hits Flacco as he is throwing. The hit causes the ball to travel much shorter resulting in an easy interception for the Browns.

Situation: 4th Quarter 5:56 remaining, 3rd and 4 on the Cleveland 36 yard line

After blocking a Billy Cundiff field goal attempt on the Browns previous drive, the Ravens were still down 21-17 and looked to take the lead on this drive. In an attempt to put pressure on Flacco, the Browns use a cover 0 defensive scheme. In a Cover Zero, all the defensive backs have an assigned Receiver and so there is no Safety providing help. The Browns rush 8 defenders and all are picked up by the Ravens offense pass protection. Torrey Smith runs a Go route where he runs a vertical route on the outside of the receiver. This allows Flacco to throw the ball towards the sideline where only Torrey Smith can get the ball.

The result of the play is a Pass Interference call on the Cornerback Justin Gilbert. He was beaten in coverage and pulled Torrey Smith down preventing him from catching the ball.

Situation: 4th Quarter 5:12 remaining, 2nd and Goal on the Cleveland 3 yard line

After the Pass Interference call on Justin Gilbert, the Ravens were three yards away from taking the lead still down 21-17. The Ravens run a play action pass getting the Browns Linebackers and Safety to commit to stopping the run. This leaves Torrey Smith one on one with the cornerback. Torrey Smith gains separation when the Cornerback stumbles in his coverage.

Unfortunately, Joe Flacco is late on throwing the ball to Torrey Smith. This allows the defender time to make the recovery and provide coverage on the throw. Flacco also overthrows Torrey Smith on the play as well.

Situation: 4th Quarter 1:58 remaining, 1st and 10 on the 50 yard line

Down 21-20, the Ravens are on their final drive with 1:58 left in the game and no timeouts remaining. The Browns coverage scheme is in a Cover 1 Robber formation. In a cover 1 robber, the Free Safety will drop into deep coverage while the Strong Safety drops into underneath coverage. The goal is to defend the deep pass by the Free Safety while the Strong Safety attempts to defend any crossing routes in the middle of the field. The Browns also rush five defenders in an attempt to put pressure on Flacco. The Ravens took advantage of this formation by stretching the field horizontally using 4 receivers running the snag concept on either side of the field. Similar to the smash route, the Snag concept involves the outside receiver to break inside while the second receiver runs a corner route. Typically, a third receiver, the running back runs to the flat. However, the Running Back remained for pass protection. The quarterback reads the play high-to-low.

Both corners play soft coverage, so the pass should go to the receivers running the underneath routes. Steve Smith Sr is open first and is lined up to the right of Flacco. During the 2014 season, Flacco has been throwing to the right  2 to 1 times more than the left. Although Torrey Smith is open shortly after Steve Smith Sr, Flacco had begun the process of throwing the ball to Smith Sr.