Breaking down run defense: Baltimore Ravens vs. Derrick Henry

Breaking down every part of the job:

What do I mean by gap sound defense? It’s one of those things that I think a lot of times, we just expect you to get. So let’s talk about what is required by the Ravens starters and the rest of the defensive linemen who shuffle into the game. This is just a simple walkthrough because for this game it’s important.

Every defensive lineman is responsible for a gap. In a system with three down defensive linemen, they are often required to take care of two gaps. The gaps between the center are the A gaps. The gaps between the guards and the tackles are the B gaps. The gap between the tackle and the tight end is the C gap.

So Brandon Williams has the task of getting into the center’s shoulder pads, holding him up, and taking away the entry point for anything through him or to his immediate sides. That’s two gapping in a nutshell. It’s not complicated, it just sounds that way if you are not familiar with it. If the Titans want to run it up the gut and Williams does his job, the advantage goes to the Ravens.

By doing his job, Williams has become the immovable object, a closed-door in the middle of the defense. If Henry bounces it out to Wolfe’s gaps it should be the same story. The run is bounced to the outside, the linebackers flow to the football (with one looking for that cutback) and that’s essentially the simple version of how the run defense is supposed to work in between the tackles.

Let’s talk about life for the outside linebackers. What does Matt Judon have to do to contain Henry? Well, contain is the keyword. Judon has to engage with his blocker in a way where he can keep himself in the play. The tackle or tight end that’s trying to block Judon will be trying to move him off the edge, the entire point is to take him out of the play.

Judon can’t get lost in the battle with the man across from him, he has to anchor down and seal the edge. He has to engage in a way where he can disengage if that makes sense. He can clobber an offensive tackle but that’s not the end game.  A gap sound defense with nobody setting the edge is like an oven without a door. You may get it hot enough but all the heat is escaping to daylight.

The overall goal for the defensive linemen isn’t to come crashing into the backfield. Not in this case. The goal for the defensive linemen in the battle against the locomotive that is Henry is to create a new line of scrimmage in the backfield.

Henry is dangerous when he gets a full head of steam. That’s his thing. If he charges up without contact or obstruction and gets into the second level he can be the punishing running back that makes memes out of linebackers and defensive backs.

It all starts with locking up the gaps. Linebackers have to attack the football and they have to tackle. They have to finish. None of it matters without gap sound defense.

So we know the basic job of Williams, Campbell, and Wolfe. We get what the outside linebackers have to do. Now let’s touch on the life of an L.J. Fort or a Patrick Queen in run defense. Run blocks are easy to understand. We’re not going into the difference between zone blocking and big on big today. That’s a different post and you don’t need to understand it to get what I’m giving you here.

Run blocks are always trying to create a lane for the ball carrier. Remember a left guard knows where the running back is going. That means his actions tell the linebacker where the left guard doesn’t want him to be.

The key is to watch the feet and shoulders of the offensive linemen. A good linebacker reads his keys well. Half of the block shedding game is just knowing where to be.