Question 3
@cancelpennies asks: Been holding on to this one: what is the deal with our screen defense? It feels like a big soft spot. Most opponents this year have been exploited this successfully. Interested in your thoughts there.
Answer: One of the big problems is that the defense just isn’t reading their keys well enough on these plays. Queen, for example, is a player who isn’t diagnosing plays consistently well. Some of this comes from a lack of experience at the linebacker level other than with L.J. Fort. It’s not just an inside linebacker problem so this is only part of the answer.
I also think teams use screens (especially early) to get the Ravens defense on their heels a little bit. The problem isn’t just with screens. This defense either seems to fly downhill or do the exact opposite and there is absolutely nothing in between. Quite frankly, it’s baffling.
Oddly enough this is a problem that’s been with the Ravens before this installment of Baltimore football. John Harbaugh must give out a handbook for players and coaches instructing them not to recognize a screen pass; this has been a problem long before Don Martindale came to town.
I think one of the components of this is that the defensive line doesn’t supply much pass rush in general. Let’s focus here on running back screen passes. A screen pass is a pass behind the line of scrimmage that sets blockers out in front of the running back. The offense wants the defensive line to come after the quarterback in this instance. Defensive linemen have to catch on to the screen pass, identify the running back, and get in the way of the pass.
Aaron Donald probably can see a screen from a mile away because even for him that’s too easy a path to the quarterback. Campbell excluded, the Ravens’ defensive linemen aren’t used to getting to the quarterback that much. They may not have the light go off in their head that it’s a screen pass, at least not quickly enough.
That’s my crack at answering that question. Hopefully, that helps.