The Chicago Bears knew that their passing attack wouldn’t beat the Baltimore Ravens. They ran the ball 50 times in one game to get a win. Let me explain how the Ravens can learn from this:
The Chicago Bears understood that they had to control the ball and wear out the Baltimore Ravens defense. They understood that their passing attack could get them in trouble with their rookie quarterback. It’s not often that a team wins a game with only eight complete passes. It’s rare to see 50 rushing attempts by one team in one game. The Bears understood their weakness and they steered hard to their strength.
The Bears ran the ball 50 times on a Ravens defense that didn’t have Brandon Williams or Brent Urban. Jordan Howard ran the ball 36 times for 167 yards. Tarik Cohen was given 14 carries as well. Cohen even tossed a touchdown pass. The Bears plan was genius. While the defense needs to work on stopping the run, that’s not the point of this article. The point of this article is that the Ravens can learn from the Bears.
Ravens have to treat the passing attack as a weakness:
Joe Flacco isn’t a rookie quarterback. In fact he is a Super Bowl MVP, who is paid like an elite passer. The problem is that Flacco is playing like a rookie quarterback in a lot of ways. He makes poor decisions, his mechanics are awful and he throws at interceptions like free t-shirts at a promotional event.
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On top of that, Flacco has no legitimate number one receiver and a bunch of mediocre receivers. Jeremy Maclin was out of the game and it looked like they were filming a sequel to The Replacements.
The Ravens had Flacco throw the ball 41 times. When has that ever been a formula for a win? The Ravens only ran the ball 25 times. The Ravens had 25 passing plays in the first half alone. I don’t want to hear that the game got out of hand and that the Ravens had to throw the football. The game got out of hand because the offense didn’t do anything in the first place. If Marty Mornhinweg and company came into the game planning on running the ball down the Bears’ throat, things could have turned out differently.
The Ravens had their two main running backs average 4.9 yards per carry. At no point did anyone watching this game say to themselves, that the Ravens can’t run the ball. The problem is that we know the Ravens can get the job done on the ground. When they run the ball over 30 times they win. When they pass the ball over 30 times, they typically lose. What is so hard to understand about this? That is a serious question, because I will never understand Mornhinweg or even John Harbaugh’s logic when it comes to play selection.
The Bottom Line:
Both teams had reasons to limit their passing attack. The Bears wanted to let Mitchell Trubisky manage the game and avoid turnovers. The Ravens should have accounted for their lack of weapons. The Bears stopped Mike Wallace and asked if the other receivers could beat them. Guess what? They didn’t.
Next: Breaking down the Joe Flacco problem
The Ravens should take note of what the Bears were able to accomplish. They didn’t go into this game with a typical game plan. They went into the game using the only method that could have led to a win. The Bears shielded themselves from their weakness. The Ravens steered right into theirs.