I thought I’d try something different this week.  The idea is to take a single play from the game and break down the timing of it.  In this case, I used the DVR timing method (30 clicks per second) to measure the time from the snap of the football to a number of in-play actions.  For judging false starts, it’s very nice to have a timing device accurate to .03 seconds, but once we get further into the play, I’m going to round to the nearest .1 seconds.  The play I decided to do this week was Flacco’s 36-yard completion to Mason (Q4, 5:36).

Overview of the play:  Flacco took a 10-yard drop off play action and looked first to the middle of the field, then threw a low-trajectory bullet to Mason near the right sideline who brought it in cleanly, then ran for 6 YAC before being taken down by McKelvin.  Joe got good blocking and ample time/space to throw.

Birk initially moves ball: 0 clicks

RDE Dwan Edwards out of stance (3 years ago in Baltimore he’d still be in his stance):  6 clicks (.2 seconds)

Flacco pulls back play action handoff:  33 clicks (1.1 seconds)

McClain engages Edward on left side:  48 clicks (1.6 seconds)

Flacco reads deep middle/left as he continues to drop back: 64 clicks (2.1 seconds)

Flacco completes 10-yard drop (including the play action, this took 9 steps):  78 clicks (2.6 seconds)

Edwards gets by McClain to the outside (none of the other rushers made any progress):  96 clicks (3.2 seconds)

Flacco cocks arm:  110 clicks (3.7 seconds)

Flacco releases:  117 clicks (3.9 seconds)

Mason catches the ball at the Ravens’ 48-yard line: 170 clicks (5.7 seconds)

Mason is taken down at the Buffalo 46: 197 clicks (6.6 seconds)

One note to make is that this won’t synch up with the game clock exactly since the clock manager does not start the clock until slightly after the snap.  If you want to follow along with your own DVR, I’d suggest you try to calibrate it first to make sure yours is also 30 clicks per second.

The Ravens ran 62 offensive plays Sunday.

Oher:  Coming off his disastrous game at New England, Oher played well.  He avoided negative plays until getting a share of the OT sack, but missed 6 blocks.  He made 4 blocks in level 2 and made 2 pancakes by my count.  Scoring:  54 blocks, 6 missed, 1/3 sack, 52 points (.84 per play). 

Grubbs:  Ben’s streak of 18 consecutive successful pulls came to an end on his 2^nd attempt Sunday (Q1, 0:40).  For the game he found a block on 7 of 9 pulls.  He was also flagged for the first time this season (false start, Q1, 10:48).   He had 5 blocks in level 2.  On the McGahee/Flacco fumbled exchanged (Q4, 15:00), he was beaten for a penetration that would have resulted in a loss even if there had been no fumble.  I also gave him 1/3 of the jailbreak sack (OT, 14:20).  Scoring: 57 blocks, 2 missed, 1 penetration, 1/3 sack, 1 false start, 50 points (.82 per play).

Birk:  Matt turned in another fine game Sunday, blocking effectively on both run and pass plays.  He missed just 2 blocks while recording no negative plays.  He pulled twice successfully and had 6 blocks in level 2.  Scoring: 59 blocks, 2 missed, 59 points (.97 per play).

Chester:  Chris was having one of his best games until overtime when he allowed a PD to Edwards (OT, 14:24), shared in the jailbreak sack (OT, 14:20), and was pancaked while pulling (OT, 11:38). For the game, he completed 8 of 10 pulls and had 3 blocks in level 2.  Scoring:  53 blocks, 6 missed, 1 penetration, 1/3 sack, 49 points (.80 per play).

Yanda:  Marshal had another good game at RT despite a full sack allowed (Q2, 1:24).  On that play, he allowed the initial hit although Edwards would clean up.  He otherwise missed just 1 block and made 2 blocks in level 2. Scoring: 59 blocks, 1 missed, 1 sack, 53 points (.87 per play).

Cousins:  Oniel entered for 6 plays as a 6^th lineman and made a block on 4 of those.  He and Oher both contributed to the failed 3^rd-down conversion (OT, 11:38) which preceded Cundiff’s game-winning FG.  Had the kick been missed, we might still be talking about the failed 3^rd down conversion.  Scoring: 4 blocks, 2 missed (.67 per play).

Individual Offensive Notes:

·         The Ravens offensive line has played every snap of the season together through 7 games.

·         Edwards’ sack was the 3rd of his career.  He had 7 tackles and a PD.  It appears last season may have been the turning point for Dwan.  He got a big payday for it, but the Ravens got just 1 good season of 6 he played here.

·         Billy Cundiff was the Ravens’ offensive MVP with kickoffs that resulted in starting field position of the 28, 18, fumble (lost), 20, 20, 20, 20, as well as a 3 for 3 on field goals.

·         McGahee’s touchdown (Q3, 1:04) differed from his usual field-vision efforts on the Ravens regular stretch plays to the strong side.  This time Flacco pitched right allowing Willis to operate in space where he beat Posluszny and McKelvin to the goal line.

·         Flacco had a poor game based on the time he had in the pocket.  He had ample time and space (ATS) to throw on 23 of 33 drop backs (70%).  That’s his highest percentage of ATS this season.  On those plays he completed 12 of 23 passes for 189 yards, 3 TDs and 0 interceptions.  The 8.2 YPP when given time is disappointing.  With the Bills rushed 4 so regularly, they had more men in coverage.  We’ve seen the Ravens have success, however, running 2 man patterns with Flacco’s arm. 

Let’s take a closer look at Flacco’s 11 incomplete passes with ATS:

·         (Q1, 14:51) Had good time in pocket, then pressured left where he threw incomplete to Heap on the sideline

·         (Q1, 8:38) Joe threw Complete to Boldin out of end zone deep right.  There was a safety approaching, but as John Gruden says, “the ball has to land in the field of play.”

·         (Q1, 8:31) Overthrew Houshmandzadeh deep between the hashes in triple coverage

·         (Q2, 14:52) On target to Houshmandzadeh deep middle who was separated from the football by Posluszny

·         (Q2, 9:42) Overthrew Rice short right on what would have been a loss of 5 had it been caught with Posluszny approaching

·         (Q2, 3:59) Flacco was on target for Boldin perhaps 15 yards downfield on the sideline, but stared down the route and Whitner barely missed an easy pick 6.

·         (Q2, 2:50) Overthrew Boldin deep middle.  Boldin was covered by Byrd to his left, but had room to his right.

·         (Q2, 0:41) Underthrew Boldin deep right on Reggie Corner’s near INT.  Watching that several times, I think both players were guilty of pass interference.  I’d really love to know if Boldin was thinking about getting Corner off the field of play.  In any case, that was a terrific play.

·         (Q4, 9:53) Overthrew Boldin deep left as Anquan was single covered.  Ideally the ball would be on target and Boldin would simply out jump Florence (I think) for the ball, but had the ball been slightly underthrown there would have been a high probability of pass interference.

·         (Q4, 5:40) Threw too low for Todd Heap short left between the hash and numbers.  Heap was quickly sandwiched by 2 defenders.

·         (Q4, 3:37) Overthrew Boldin short left against tight coverage