Much more was right than wrong with the Ravens’ offense Sunday vs. the Panthers. 

Flacco had ample time and space (ATS) on 16 of 36 drop backs (44%) and was successful both with and without pressure.  On 16 ATS plays he completed 12 of 15 passes (1 sack) for 187 yards (181 net), and 1 TD without an INT.  That’s 12.1 YPP with ATS including on-the-money balls of 56, 23, 23, 26, and 18 yards, 4 of which allowed for YAC.  All 5 of those throws came in the first half when the Panthers were not gambling with pressure (5 times they rushed 5 and once they rushed 8 among 19 pass plays).  Amazingly, the Panthers’ 8-man rush (Q1, 3:05) was picked up nicely (7 blocked 8) and allowed ATS, but was completed for a gain of just 2 to Heap.

Without ATS, Flacco was 12 of 18 for 114 yards (97 net), 0 TD, 0 INT, and 2 sacks for 17 yards (5.4 YPP).  As was the case in Atlanta, those are excellent statistics with pressure.  In the second half the Panthers converted to more pressure with numbers (4 5s, 3 6s, and 3 7s among 17 pass plays) and the Ravens ran a very conservative passing attack with the clear objective of avoiding mistakes.  Heap’s 29-yard catch and run (Q4, 8:28) was the only big play.

The Ravens ran 67offensive plays, all of which were competitive.

Oher:  Michael struggled with the dynamic duo of Tyler Brayton and Everette Brown who combined to beat him for 3 pressures.  Brayton beat him for 2 sacks in the preseason, but has not had a sack since the games started counting.  Brown has 2 sacks.  It’s very common that pressures are shared because the integrity of the line breaks down with an unexpected blitz or someone beats a double, but all 3 of these were 1-on-1.  I did not charge him with a penetration on the stuff of McGahee (Q2, 5:03) when Brown appeared to beat him inside.  Sherrod Martin came unblocked off the edge and took down McGahee, Oher would have had him out of position for a run left had the DB been picked up.  Scoring:  59 blocks, 5 missed, 3 pressures, 53 points (.79 per play).

Grubbs:  I’m impressed with how his field vision has improved and how often he’s able to find a block when pulling for someone who is still not a consistent run blocker.  He connected on 8 of 9 pulls had 5 blocks in level 2 and 1 pancake.  Beginning week 5, he has made 38 of 44 pulls.  Most of those are high-value blocks in the running game, but when he pulls in pass-blocking it’s usually to the weak side of an unbalanced formation, so his initial positioning and quickness helps the Ravens to disguise their play selection.  On Sunday he was beaten twice for penetration/pressure.  The first came on Flacco’s brain cramp fumbled handoff (Q2, 7:26).  He was also pushed backwards into Flacco by Hardy (Q3, 2:17) on a play that was completed for 16 yards.  Scoring:  63 blocks, 2 missed, 2 penetrations/pressures, 59 points (.88 per play).

Birk:  He had the only sack charged to a lineman (Q3, 1:50) as he was beaten to his right by Neblett for the initial pressure (Brown cleaned up).  He otherwise had an effective run-blocking game with 4 blocks in level 2 and 1 pancake.  Scoring:  64 blocks, 2 missed, 1 sack, 58 points, .87 per play.  The first Panthers sack developed slowly on an ATS play as Heap blocked Charles Johnson all the way around the pocket before losing him on the Ravens 1^st offensive snap.  The last sack (Q4, 6:38) was a cleanup effort by Hardy, but the initial pressure came from a free runner when 6 were kept in to block 7.

Moll:  While several other teams, including the Panthers have a QB controversy, the Ravens biggest current topic of discussion is who to play at RG.  Chester’s skin ailment may keep the point moot for several weeks, but when he returns he may be a backup if Moll plays as well as he did vs. Carolina.  Tony contributing to the good ATS results while making just 1 tough mistake in garbage time.  On the Ravens’ 2^nd to last offensive play (Q4, 1:44), Hardy took down Rice for a loss of 1.  Moll had pressure applied from 2 players, so it’s understandable that he got off balance and gave ground.  I scored him for 2 blocks in level 2 and 2 pancakes.  He attempted just 1 pull (on the last play) which he made successfully and he otherwise looks like a tackle playing guard.  Essentially, the Ravens sacrifice some mobility for a better pass blocker.  It’s not obvious to me yet that Chester is a better straight-ahead run blocker.  Scoring:  62 blocks, 4 missed, 1 penetration, 60 points (.90 per play).  If you credit him with a block on the late penetration, his score would have been .94.

Yanda:  Marshal had 2 significant mistakes.  He was beaten inside by Johnson for the initial pressure which resulted in Hayden’s QH (Q3, 2:23) and committed a false start (Q1, 6:13) to turn a 3^rd and 14 into 3^rd and 19. 

We were hosted in Carolina by our friend and Panthers’ fan Mark, who really knows his football.  You’ve heard the stories about the sea of purple and saw the many empty seats at the game.  What struck me was how the Panthers’ fans are feeding off the negativity about their team.  Case in point…the gentleman in front of us mentioned that the Panthers have a habit of allowing conversions on 3^rd and long.  The aforementioned 3^rd and 19 was converted with an illegal use of hands penalty and a later 3^rd and 16 (Q2, 3:45) was completed for 18 yards to Rice.  I think the fan in front of us took more pleasure in being right about those 2 results than Gettis’ TD.  Mark and I went through the Panthers’ roster for young players with a hope of contributing to the Panthers’ next contender.  Despite the fact that the roster has been gutted in anticipation of a 2011 lockout, he identified only 10 or so young players with upside.  It’s bad to have your team go 1-9.  It’s worse when management doesn’t give you hope of a rebuild. 

Back to Yanda...as the game wore on Marshal delivered a number of run blocks where he pushed his opponent several yards into level 2.  Those are scored as 1 for 1 by my simplified system, but they’re obviously worth more.  Scoring:  64 blocks, 2 missed, 1 QH, 1 false start, 58 points (.87 per play).

Cousins:  Oniel entered for the last 5 plays as a TE in the 6-man line.  He delivered a solid block each play.  Scoring 5 points (1.00 per play).