I thought they just had to get more "Tough Guys" on their team... [rolls eyes]

It's amazing that after weeks, no, YEARS of film study and research and game planning, so many NFL coaches fail to come up with a successful offensive plan when facing the Ravens, yet you can sit in your comfy chair and figure out the Ultimate Game Plan all by yourself.

The Fins were starting to figure this out in the second half. If they hadn't shot themselves in the foot, fumbling themselves out of FG range, they would have made it a much tighter game. Since the Titans already know this, do the Ravens have an answer?
We'll see won't we.

The league offensive coordinators must not be as smart as you are Mike.

well, mike, i guess we're just gonna have to score more points then so a team doesn't have the time to nickle-dime/ dink and dunk.

"The formula for beating this defense is fairly easy." That is a classic line Mike. So what you are saying is that you have it all figured out but that the rest of the NFL hasn't figured it out yet? Maybe your old buddy Billick will hire you as his offensive coordinator when he gets a new job.

Why would someone want to broadcast this information to the whole world. Whose side are you on anyway Preston?

That's also where Suggs and Ray get their interceptions. I think teams can get the middle passes for only so long before Rex pulls the rug out from under them. Both the Steelers and Titans had their luck against the Prevent defense that has plauged our season.

The Titans, if smart, will try to employ that stategy...short quick passes over the middle while in a no-huddle offense.

However it's not the short, quick passes that beat the Ravens defense. During Miami's drive down the field where they had success witht those passes Rex again stopped our pass rush. Each play we had 3 or 4 guys on the line rush while 3 or 4 linebackers dropped back. This defense is dominant b/c we rush the QB. When you take that away and give the QB time they are able to pick apart our secondary with short passes.

Rex, if you read this, for pete's sake please send blitzes against the Titans until the 4th Q clock reads 0:00.

you are right about the short sideline passes,but also they cant defend against a hurry up offense and please scrap the prevent defense. we lose every time we use it.the game in miami was a defensive win,we will need to generate a lot more offense than we did in the miami game, to beat the titans.

I do think that works great for teams between the 20's, but once you get inside the 20 those plays dont work anymore because its a short field at that point.

Why in the h--- would you want to print something like that!, Or, are you trying to use reverse psychology to get the personnel at the "Castle" to work on tightenting up the defense on short passes??

Why woudl you even write something like this? Why don't you just send an email directly to Jeff Fisher because you clearly want to see the raven lose.

As much as I don't like to look at a glass as being half empty, I think tackling has been a problem with the defensive backs for the Ravens. While watching the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday I noticed that whenever a receiver caught a short pass he was tackled almost immediately. I have to agree that short passes may be the key to solving the Ravens defense...presuming those passes don't lead the receiver into Ray Lewis.

yup.

Doing the same thing over and over all day is a recipe for disaster. As with any play, there's a risk involved. Short passes require quick decision making, along with solid pass protection. Ask a guy to do that all day long against a base defense, THIS base defense, and he'll throw 3 or 4 INTs and take a handful of sacks by the end of the day. The Titans and Steelers comebacks were against a soft zone that Rex switched to late (as he often does). And still, each team got the benefit of a very fortunate ref's decision to pull out the win.

Mike,

I have noticed this too about the Ravens defense. However, late in the game, when Miami was gaining some momentum (down 11 with the ball), Rex Ryan made a great defensive adjustment. For two plays in a row they went with only two defensive lineman. This completely took away the short passing game, and ending up sealing that victory. This is the sort of thing that will propel Rex Ryan to a head coaching job next year.

Doesn't that primarily work in a no-huddle?

Can't the LB's just shift back and getting into the passing lanes?

I always feel the best way to beat the Ravens' D is to have a quasi-mobile QB and let him roll out. Peyton Manning and Roethlisberger are great at that. Also, the D tends to overpursue so hitting a RB in the flat usually leads to bigger plays. Maurice Jones-Drew had some success doing this as well.

Agreed. The Ravens weren't doing a whole lot on offense yesterday to warrant the Dolphins going into panic mode as early as they did. If Pennington had been patient and been content to take some 3-and-out punts instead of forcing throws down the field repeatedly, the game would still have been up for grabs in the second half. I'm not saying the Dolphins would have won, but Pennington and the Dolphins' OC certainly played into the Ravens' hands by not going with a short, ball-control passing game when the score was 3-3 and even after the first Reed interception made it 10-3.

Please share some more info on how to beat the hometown team Mike. Love to see this kind of stuff.

You mean the Billick Offense would beat the Ravens defense?

Mike, you certainly are an offensive genius.... except that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have already discovered this "secret" technique, and have beaten everybody in the NFL to death with it over the last 5 years.

It is not the approach, it is the execution, and sooner or later the average quarterback{like Pennington}will throw one to someone with the wrong color jersey. I would include Kerry Collins in the "average"category, so your little coaching tip won't help him a lot.

Mike, the short timing passes that have worked against the Ravens usually are happening when we go to 5 defensive backs and play soft. ( Rushing 3)

When we get a pass rush and drop line backers the receivers usually get alligator arms. I seem to remember
a lot of passes blocked at the line as well.

I couldn't agree with you more. With Mac and Landry out, the reserves have to pick up the slack to make the plays. So far they have done a respectable job but they need to play smarter and tackle better if they are to make it past the Titans.

Mike, are you looking for a DC job? If it was so easy to beat them with it, believe me it would be done each week. Those teams beat the Ravens D because of the situation and the time of the game. Whenever the Ravens have a lead- whether its 3 points or 7 or more, they allow that over the middle crap and short outs. They expect that when it comes to the red zone they think they are going to stop anybody. It hasn't worked 2 times this season, Pitt#2 and Tenn game. With ? zebra calls in both games we ended up on the wrong side of things. I dare Tenn to try that this week. Ravens are on a mission for true greatness this year.

hey Mike:

If you are such a genius with this stuff, why don't you just go ahead and interview for the head coaching job with the Jets? Those short passes worked in the 3rd quarter because we sagged and traded time for yards. Same as the titan game and steeler game. Why? No idea, you would have to ask rex. But you know it all, why dont you become the defensive coordinator when rex leaves?

The short passes and the hurry up offense that teams go to in the fourth always seem to give the Ravens problems

Mike:

I admire your outspokenness, and in this case I've been frustrated by the same weakness - it was the only thing that stopped the Miami game from being a total blowout (and lost them the last Steelers game on the final drive). What can the Ravens do about it? And are you prepared for a backlash for bringing it up? J/k....

Way to celebrate the win Mike! I always look forward to you pouring cold water on a great win and what continues to be a great season...

....can always count on you to highlight the 1 negative in a sea of positives.....

Wanna talk about Ed Reed gambling too much after this one? 2 INTs a little too risky for ya Mike? Yeah your probably right I'd much rather him gamble less.

it's well known that these types of pass patterns work well against zone defenses. The problem for opposing teams is that they can only do it in the 4th quarter when our D is under strict orders not to gamble if the score is close. During the first 3 qtrs of the game, our secondary knows which plays are coming from specific formations, and will pounce at the first opportunity (see Reed's 2nd INT vs Phins).

Our key to wins has been to have the points in hand (7 or more) in the 4th. Flacco is under less pressure, we can still stick with our strength (run), and we can take away precious time off the clock.

Kerry Collins will NOT beat us again, but our offense better play better than they did against Miami!

Shhhhhh!

Mike,

I am in agreement with you. However by the time Miami went to Dink And Dunk it was the 4th quarter and we were up by two scores. Dink and dunk takes time off the clock and that plays into our hands.

I guess what I am saying is that as long as we have a lead of 9 or better and its the fourth quarter we usually will be victorious.

Mike

Do you really think it is just that easy to beat the D?
I do agree that on that Steeler Drive and Titan Drive they did spread us out but you would think every O coordinator would have seen that and run that Offense all day against us

why oh why wouldnt you wait until the offseason or somewhere out of the playoffs to write such a sacreligious post

It's tough to do consistently. Timing patterns require pinpoint accuracy, from the quarterback and receivers, and sure hands. Run too many of them and someone like Ed Reed jumps the route and gets a pick, which is exactly what happened to snuff out a drive yesterday.

In the past going deep has killed the Ravens (see Colts and pretty much anyone last year), but not so much this year.

A member of the local media? Being critical about the home team?

ZOMG THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!!!1!1111ONEONE!!11!

Hey guys relax it's not like this was a homeland security issue. I am pretty sure my four year old knew this. Fisher has been coaching, succesfully, since before the Ravens came to town, I am confident he knew this . Bottom line whoever has the most points at the end of the game will win, Flacco learns from off games and the "D" is tough and experienced. If we play our kind of "D" and don't turn the ball over-we win.

Look, I honestly don't have the time to read all of these posts so I'm not sure if this idea has been brought up--the qb still needs time to make the short passes. Pennington didn't have time to make them and what happened? interception after interception. So the "formula" is not "fairly easy."

And please show me where Miami had "some success"--do you mean the pass or two that was actually completed to a player in an aqua jersey?

Aqua . . . ha.

I agree with the people who are saying you can't just throw the short passes all the time. Remember in the last regular season game of the Super Bowl Season against the Jets, our man Vinny kept throwing short passes the whole game, and he would move the team down the field, and then throw a pick, over and over, one of which was returned by McAlister for a TD.

You're not cool,Mike;not cool at all.Is'nt the Sun going out of business soon?I hope you're not too proud of this blog today.Humbug!

mike do you live in baltimore and want to see us win ? or give the keys to the opponent. your loyalty to this team has always been in question but to be a traitor, you have reached new depths.

I'm not surprise that you would write something like this. I've read your columns over the years and have come to the conclusion that there is a serious bias towards the Ravens. You accuse us Ravens supporters as drinking the purple kool aid when things are going great. You are quick to interject that you do possess a certain degree of football insight that many of us fans lack when you are challenged. Perhaps the Ravens brass and/or players offended you and you feel that you are exacting retribution by writing such heresy.

Is that how the Giants did it Mike?

All those shore passes and somebody going to get broke off. Can you say short arming it. O yeah, was'nt that a quick short pass that Reed picked off his shoe strings at the end. roll the eyes-nice try Mike.

O yeah, I quess the Raven's defense isn't really that good after all. Hello-Mike-can you hear me-Mike-Mike-can you hear me-Mike are you okay to play-Mike?????

Hey Preston while your at it why not just go down and sneak into headquarters steal cam camerons playbook and send that over to Tennessee too!!!....Smh

Mike is right, but the defense isn't the weak spot for the Ravens, it's the passing game - which scares nobody.

As many columnists have noted, 135 yards passing against an ok defense in Miami isn't going to get it done in Tennessee or Pittsburgh.

It's not Joe's fault, we simply don't have the prototypical NFL receivers. When your #1 guy has only one good arm then you know there's a big problem.

How to beat the Ravens? Shut down the running game and put 2 guys on Mason.

Oh Mike we have a top five DL, with Reed we have a top five scondary.

Our linebackers is not only a topfive unit they are the best. So yes why not make them better and pass.

Yeah like Chad did with a short pass to Suggs last time we met them?.

This is amazingly stupid for two reasons. One, as the hometown writer, even if you were right, (you're not) it is beyond ridiculous to print your theory. Secondly, Rex Ryan employs a different defense to defend against the long pass late in games.

You beat the Ravens by scoring more points than they do. This strategy always works, regardless of down and distance.

In fact, I'm surprised every team hasn't tried it! They must not want that W very badly.

I normally don't do blogs, but come on, short passes on our "D"? Looks like you've been sippin more than purple Kool Aid. Rex does a great job disguising the defense, it's like leading the sheep to the slaughter house. Once the offense thinks it's cool to throw short passes against our "D" bad things start to happen...Ray, Ed, T-Sizzle, Scott, Ngata, Johnson, etc. Mike leave coaching to those who know it best, because it's apparent it has been working for the Ravens. I have to give Joe his due respect, not only did he do a great job of protecting the ball he put points on the board after our defense forced the turnovers. Yeah our top receiver Mason has one arm, but he has been a contributor and when he's not open we still have Clayton and Heap. As long as we can control the game and continue to give our defense some time to rest...WE WILL GO ALL THE WAY!

I am a Titans fan, and to be honest this is the last matchup I wanted to see in the playoffs. When the Titans and Ravens play, it is like WWIII. It will be fun to watch, but if Collins doesn't play his best, the Titans have no chance. All the weight falls onto Collins, he has to limit TOs and manage the game in order for the Titans to win.

Right you are Mikey! Even the Dolphins used the scheme to score on us. Look at the film - it's a no-brainer. Look at my post to you BEFORE the Dolphins game!!! I said the very same thing.

Here are my comments from two weeks ago Mike...

"If the Ravens secondary doesn't tighten up and quit arm-tackling, we're going to be 1-and-done. It seems to me that we wait around for the "big-play pick" to erase all the 7 yard runs and 12 yard pass completions (see Pittsburgh). Leonhard gets a pass on this one though as he is only one willing to put his head down on a big back. Unfortunately, by the time a big back is on Leonhard it's usually a huge gain. For the first time in years I'm actually nervous when the game is on the line and our defense is on the field! How can this be???"

Hey John,

you think the offensive coordinators around the league have not figured this out. yea thats right all the playoff OC just spend the midnight hours searching thru blogs looking for ways to beat that BIG RAVEN DDDDDD. Wake up John. No on second thought go back to bed