How did the Ravens break the Giants for 249 meters in a hurry?
A lot of games were won before the ball was broken, because the defensive players were in the wrong goals.
“Depending on certain defensive calls, for each given game, certain boys had to capitalize on certain players,” said Blake Martinez, the inside defender. “Whether it is the receiver no. 2, no. 3, the final type on the line of scrimmage, whatever it is.
“Suddenly they started to make changes and movements – all the things they did before the grip – which then changed some of your pre-grip alignments. Once you were on the spot, they suddenly broke the ball. Now you are two places behind, instead of being in the right place to start. “
The Ravens use more pre-snap moves than any NFL offense, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise. In addition to getting defense to remove human-to-human coverage or the area, the move helps synchronize their unique offense of passing option.
“The way I look at him is that you’re 11 to 11,” Martinez said. “A guy has to hold the ball, so he has to block 10 against 11. If we can match properly, a guy should be free and we just didn’t do our homework for each of those plays in order to have that free guy to be the advantage. “
The giants missed an unusually large number of approaches and seemed to always run after the ball carriers. Martinez credited coordinator Patrick Graham’s in-game adjustments, listening to player feedback, why the rushed defense improved as the game went on, but the first-quarter 14-0 hole (on the back of the 95 rushed yards) was too big to dig.
“You couldn’t fight or get past the offensive officers or the defender, whoever it was,” Martinez said. “It only allowed them to have the treadmill open.”
When a coach is asked directly about a player’s future, sometimes he feels no choice but to dance around the truth with his lips. Take what 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said about defender Jimmy Garappolo as an example of creating space for movement: “I think Jimmy will be our defender next year.”
It’s different from Giants coach Joe Judge’s uninterrupted vote of confidence for defender Daniel Jones, who was voluntarily introduced in response to a question about offensive penalties. The judge said Jones’ security and decision-making is why it is a “key piece” for the future.
“Do you always want to know about ‘Daniel is our guy?’ Are we moving forward with Daniel? The answer is absolute, “said the judge.
“What gives us that confidence is even in games like that [Sunday] where it didn’t come out perfectly … you look at the tape and you see the guy over there operating, running, understanding the pressure – and not just sitting there bravely like he did it all the time and hitting, but understanding how to take the hit and give a precise pass and move the sticks to the field. “
TE Evan Engram left the game late Sunday due to injury and met with doctors on Monday night. The judge is “optimistic” that Pro Bowler will be able to play in all 16 games for the first time in his four-year career.