The Baltimore Ravens shifting from Wink Martindale as their defensive coordinator to Mike MacDonald was a huge shift overall. They went from the old veteran who has years in the NFL to the young college coach who is going to need to get used to the NFL.
Beyond that, the two have different styles of how to play defense. It should be no surprise that the defense took a few weeks to adjust to the new look, but once they understood their roles, the unit improved as the year went on. Now that MacDonald has been able to install his principles for a second OTA session, what are things that will become staples of the unit?
3. Baltimore Ravens will blitz a lot less
When you think of Wink Martindale, you think about his blitzing. He essentially did not even worry about the personnel, the down and distance, and other factors, he was sending the house. Actually, it is true that he would blitz even more on third down, so down and distance did play a role.
On the flip side, Mike MacDonald is going to run a much more conservative defense. Last year, the Ravens blitzed on 21.3% of their snaps. This ranked 21st in the NFL. For comparison, the Giants ranked first in the NFL in the percentage of snaps they blitzed.
The Ravens ranked first in the NFL in 2020. However, if you remember, it started to catch up with them a bit. In 2021, the Ravens tried to dial it back, but Martindale still blitzed 31% of the time, which was good for eighth in the NFL.
The Ravens got burnt even worse by not having a strong enough back end to blitz that often, and that ended up being part of why the team split ways with Martindale. So, from 44% in 2020 to 31% in 2021, down to 21% last year, the blitz rate by the Ravens has dropped substantially in the past few years.
The realization is that MacDonald may have eased back the usage from last year, and 2023 may have them bottom five in the NFL in blitz rate. The question will be if he can get pressure with four. They struggled to do so last year, but they are also expecting big years from Odafe Oweh, and David Ojabo. Can this duo make the Ravens even less blitz happy?
2. Baltimore Ravens are playing more zone coverage
What made a Wink Martindale such a signature defense was the combination of blitzing with man coverage. He came at you up front, and he left his guys on islands in the back end. The thought was that the blitz would make life easier for those cornerbacks.
However, when Ja'Marr Chase can win in a split second, and Joe Burrow can beat the blitz, any cornerback stuck on an island is liable to give up a huge play. This is what ended up costing the Ravens recently. So, the team is moving towards more zone coverage.
In the last season with Martindale as defensive coordinator, the Ravens had 40% man coverage, one of the highest rates in the NFL. Essentially, only Brian Flores was running more man on the back end over that time. Last season, the Ravens' man-coverage rate dropped down to 24%, which is closer to the bottom 10 in the NFL. Again, that is a pretty big flip.
The New York Giants were one of the highest-rated man coverage teams last year, so it is clear that this was Martindale leading the push, and perhaps John Harbaugh wanted to see more zone.
Still, to go from a top five-man coverage team to the bottom ten over the course of a season is a significant jump. There is a real chance that the Ravens will be one of the most zone-heavy teams in the NFL next year, as the transition becomes more complete.
1. Baltimore Ravens play two-high safeties more often
The last signature of a Wink Martindale defense is running single-high coverage, or middle-of-the-field-closed (MOFC). Martindale would add an extra layer of run support, and he packed the boxes, making the box safety a threat to blitz at any time. Of course, as we keep noting the big plays can come from the defense thanks to this style, but the back end can be burnt just as easily.
Mike MacDonald has adopted more of a two-high shell, or middle-of-the-field open (MOFO). This has been a trend that has started to take over in the NFL. The thought is that when the best teams have Tyreek Hill and Ja'Marr Chase, you have to be able to accept a run for a few yards if it means those names do not get loose for huge plays.
So, teams are bringing their safety out of the box, and leaving the short areas of the field more open. However, both safeties will then form a two-high shell over the defense that prevents the big plays toward both sidelines.
The middle of the field is more open, but the shell allows the defense to tackle the catch, and keep things in front. This is what MacDonald has done. Last year, the Ravens were MOFC on about 50% of their snaps. This year, that number is down to 40%. The rate is about the drop from 12th in the NFL to 29th. So, the Ravens were already average in this area, making it easier to drop to the bottom five.
This does show that even in the areas where Martindale leads the league, those shifts closer to 20th in the NFL may be transitions that lead to MacDonald being bottom five in all of those categories. It is pretty clear that MacDonald will call things completely differently from Martindale, and the differences are likely to only grow over the next few years.
Martindale was all about his blitzing, and playing man and one-high, while MacDonald is going to rush four, play zone, and run two-high. We will see how much more the sides diverge in 2023.