Ebony Bird
FanSided

Baltimore Ravens: Reasons for Optimism after TNF Loss

By Nicholas Gardner

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 9: Terrell Suggs #55 of the Baltimore Ravens takes the field prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills at M&T Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 9: Terrell Suggs #55 of the Baltimore Ravens takes the field prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills at M&T Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 29: Defensive tackle Brandon Williams #98 of the Baltimore Ravens is introduced prior to the start of a preseason game against the Washington Redskins at M&T Bank Stadium on August 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/ Getty Images) ***Local Caption*** Brandon Williams
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 29: Defensive tackle Brandon Williams #98 of the Baltimore Ravens is introduced prior to the start of a preseason game against the Washington Redskins at M&T Bank Stadium on August 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/ Getty Images) ***Local Caption*** Brandon Williams /

2) The Interior Defensive Line Play

Joe Mixon was potent on Thursday Night, so this one may have you scratching your head. However, the Defensive Line did actually play well. To be clear, this excludes the OLB group. The interior defensive line group got good push on the Cincinnati offensive line, and was effective stoping the initial run of Mixon, it was on the cut backs and bouncing outside where he did his damage.

More from Ebony Bird

Brandon Williams, Michael Pierce, Chris Wormley, Brent Urban, and Pat Ricard all had strong outings on the interior, however, much of their work doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. Whenever Mixon would try his luck on an inside zone it was stuffed, but the cut backs is where the Ravens got torched.

Obviously, the loss of CJ Mosley is what killed the Ravens run defense. He not only communicates the play to the entire defense, but he makes a lot of the plays for the Ravens, so losing him was crucial. To place it in perspective, the Ravens run defense works in layers. The first layer, the defensive line, stuffs the initial run and gives the Linebackers time to come up and make the play on the ball carrier, and Mosley is one of the best at doing that. If he’s not there, or his replacement isn’t there to react around the same speed that Mosley would, that creates gaps for a shifty, speedy back like Joe Mixon to run through.

Seeing the interior of the defense still perform and stuff the run is encouraging, as we can expect Patrick Onwuasor and Kenny Young to play a lot more disciplined in Week 3 with some time off to breakdown film and prepare, if Mosley is forced to miss time.

Home/Ravens News