The cover-2 defense has become a recurring nightmare for the Ravens.
A lot of teams struggle against this pass coverage, but it seems to have strangled the Ravens during the past three seasons. It would be OK if a team such as the Detroit Lions ran it, but the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals run it.
So did the Pittsburgh Steelers two years ago in the AFC championship game against the Ravens. And now, so will the New England Patriots after they paralyzed the Ravens' offense Sunday in the final quarter of a 23-20 overtime win.
You get the picture. Most of the teams that will be part of the AFC postseason will use it against the Ravens, and Baltimore has to find some answers.
It's like a black cloud hanging over the offense. In some games, the Ravens don't have the right personnel. In others, they don't have the right feel for the game to make the proper adjustments. And then on some occasions, they get so far behind that it doesn't make a difference.
Say "cover-2", and some people start shaking over at The Castle.
There is nothing magical about it. The linebackers take deep drops, the cornerbacks play extremely tough and the safeties smash everything in front of them. The idea is to rush only three or four, and not give up the big pass play.
If played properly, it can take away nearly half of the basic nine routes on the traditional passing tree.
What happened against the Patriots Sunday when the Ravens blew a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter?
"I don't think we didn't attack it in a decent way, we just didn't do it for the entire game," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said.
Translation: The Ravens went conservative.
But in their defense, the Ravens are missing a prime weapon in beating cover-2, regardless if it's zone or man to man. The Ravens don't have a speedy wide receiver that can stretch a defense. They've got possession types in Derrick Mason, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Anquan Boldin, but not a speed guy who can hit a seam, forcing those safeties to turn and run.
Just ask Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. He virtually said it about five weeks ago when asked how the Bengals had been successful in shutting down the Ravens offense, and he said the key was stopping Ray Rice. In other words, the Ravens didn't have anyone who could beat them deep.
The Ravens might have the answer in vertical threat Donte Stallworth, but there is no time frame for his return from an ankle injury. Plus, Stallworth hasn't played a regular-season game in two years.
Another key weapon in beating the coverage is the tight end, and the Patriots took Todd Heap out of the game for the second half by doubling him and not allowing him to cleanly get off the line of scrimmage.
"You have to put a string on the safeties, hurt them down the middle and see if those linebackers who are dropping so deep will be able to cover the underneath stuff," Flacco said. "There is a hole in the middle of the field, a hole on the outside. You have to be able to get the play action going a little bit, and suck those linebackers up or make them hesitant."
There are times when the Ravens seem fearful of turning Flacco loose. If a team is going to have success passing, it's going to have to be with 18 to 22 yard passes behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties. Or maybe use some flood patterns to the weak side, or use a few screens.
The Ravens didn't use any of that late in the game against the Patriots, possibly because Flacco threw four interceptions against Cincinnati.
Running the football is the best strategy to get a team out of the coverage, but the Ravens couldn't run block New England's three- and four-man front. And they stayed with the running game even though it didn't work.
The Ravens have to find some answers, because it's out there now. The Ravens couldn't beat the cover-2 against Cincinnati because they gave up on the run too soon. Against New England, they stayed with it too long. When they play the Colts they usually get behind early, and have to play catch-up, which is exactly what the Colts want.
It's not just one thing you can pinpoint. There's one more thing: The Ravens have spent a lot of time getting Flacco to release the ball early, but against this coverage, he has to become more patient because teams are only rushing three or four players. There is no hurry to go to the check-down receiver.
"Sometimes you have to be aggressive, attack, and there is also a time for me to be more patient depending what kind of route is on the outside and so forth," Flacco said. "The last two years, compared to my rookie season, teams try to disguise things more, and wait later to let you see what they're doing. There has been a couple of times when they have switched up on us before the snap, and we just have to figure out how they are playing our receivers and which guys they want to take away."
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