Baltimore has Haloti Ngata. He's a beast. But it's true, Rex's scheme doesn't put as much pressure on the NT as the Mangini system did. It's Jenkins ability to draw double and triple teams that open things up for others to shoot/fill gaps and make plays. Hardhitta, every time I see ur avatar, I keep thinking it's Jim from The Office. Haha. Oh, and Br4dw4y5ux pretty much hit the nail on the head. They did okay at times, but at others times, the Raiders gained a chunk of yards right up the gut. Next week is the real test and I'm not liking our odds.
I thought the DL played pretty well, although they won't be as good against the Phins. Green was able to provide a good push up the middle and Devito is as versatile a DL depth lineman as you could ask for. He was playing interior and exterior lineman in many different situations. I continue to be disappointed in Pouha, and I hate the idea of Rex having to depend on him in the middle. He has zero leverage and gets his ass kicked all over the place. If Devito and Green continue to perform near the level they did yesterday against stiffer competition, we may have a chance to finish above .500. I'm not going to say anything about the playoffs, though, we are playing in probably the most competitive division in football right now.
They didn't really give me much confidence that they're going to be able to stop the wildcunt. We need to figure out a way to get up early on the fins.
we need to sustain long drives and eat up the clock. Basically use the Dolphin's formula to win games.....we need to turn the tables, IMO.
If we win the coin-toss, we should also opt to receive the ball. Schotty should mastermind a fool-proof drive that will generate points right off the bat. I doubt they dump the run since R&R are their best players, but if they have to play from behind the entire game, they'll be pressured to score points against the clock in a (hopefully) hostile environment making our odds a bit better.
Let's not forget, It was the Rayduhs and they were missing a few linemen themselves. I think we played better from the DE positions and that helped. It seems as though there was a fire lit under Pace & Eliss' asses because they were all over it when they were in. One thing to notice also. I bitched often about dropping Thomas & Pace into coverage. Seems they were attacking and @ the LOS more yesterday and it made a big difference. I understand they can't rush every play but I think the difference is having Jenkins out and Strickland back...
If you actually watch many ravens games you would know that Nagata has lined up at end more than NT for them. Nice try though.
