Russell Street Report Street Talk FINAL WORD: Ravens Are Being Out-Coached

It was interesting to hear Ben Roethlisberger talk about the adjustment the Steelers made in their blocking scheme after the Ravens notched three sacks in a row during a single drive in the first quarter. He pointed out that Pittsburgh went to more max protection to deal with the Baltimore assault.

The move paid off in a big way, as the Steelers’ kept tight ends Matt Spaeth and Heath Miller in to chip and protect the OTs against Suggs and Dumervil. The Colts employed a similar game plan weeks ago to reduce the heat around the corner.

Meanwhile, Gary Kubiak went in the opposite direction and decided to open up his formations to deal with the Steelers’ pass rush. He repeatedly showed empty looks, and the Steelers countered with overloads and stunts. Pittsburgh was consistently able to get free rushers in the face of Joe Flacco. And Kubiak never adjusted.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the offense besieged by a blitzing attack, and it won’t be the last time if Kubiak and Juan Castillo don’t come up with a better strategy…

As I’m watching Monday Night Football right now, Jon Gruden just mentioned that the Steelers used the bunch formation to cause the Colts to back off their tight press coverage and create free release opportunities for their WRs.

I wrote in Battle Plans late last week that Kubiak should employ more bunches, stacks, and rubs to help a WR group that has been struggling to win against bump-and-run technique.

Instead, we saw the receivers continue to flounder playing in normal splits when they’ve had to fight through contact to gain separation…

It’s not a coincidence that in the four games the Ravens have lost, the pass rush has been sub-par.

The D has generated just six sacks against the Bengals, Steelers, and Colts. And while sacks aren’t everything, the hurries and QB hits haven’t been as prevalent either.

There are a few factors contributing to the rush having such little impact.

For one thing, Dean Pees’ has run some poorly-timed, poorly-disguised blitzes that have been dissected before the snap.

In addition, opposing QBs have released the ball quickly and their receivers have had free releases against soft underneath coverage.

As I mentioned up top, the Ravens have also dealt with a lot of max protection.

But besides being out-schemed, the rushers haven’t been able to consistently win their one-on-one matchups.

Given how much money has been invested in the front line, the lack of production in these big games is magnified tenfold.