CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
When we first announced the "Gang of Three" show last week, where I tried to manage a conversation with football brainiacs Pete Smith and Land Adkins, one of the pieces of feedback we got was that I would make a good host because I have an "everyman" knowledge of football. In other words, I know enough to sustain a conversation over a couple of beers, but if you're looking for genuine insight at a real detailed level, look elsewhere. I took this as a challenge to ask our experts questions to make their intricate thoughts accessible.
After thirty-some years of doing this, one would think that I'd pick up a modicum of knowledge just by osmosis, but, no, my brain remains resistant to learning the game at the level expressed by the other writers on the site.
So, when I conceived of writing a piece about stopping (or slowing down) Lamar Jackson, I probably understated how complex the answers would be. But I'll try anyway. Here we go.
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
Change and adapt. Change and adapt. Change and adapt. And so on.
The NFL doesn't take a unique talent like the Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Lamar Jackson in stride. They try different ways to stop him. If they're effective, the Ravens will adapt, forcing the NFL to try new and different things once more. The Ravens then react to these.
Such has been the case since Jackson entered the league in 2018, making an immediate mark by leading the Ravens to the playoffs early in his career. During his first few years, Jackson relied heavily on TE Mark Andrews, and teams felt that taking away Andrews was a key to stopping Jackson, so they would bracket the tight end and give him short throws, but prevent him from breaking big gains downfield, for the most part.
To stop the run, defenses focused on "hard edges" to try to keep Jackson in the pocket. A hard edge, against a mobile quarterback like Jackson, means several things with respect to alignment and technique, but among these is not running past the quarterback to let him outflank you.
This approach met with some moderate success on a game-by-game basis. But the theory that Jackson could be contained by making him a pocket passer failed because Jackson is effective doing that as well.
A couple of years later, another theory emerged to try to contain Jackson: blitz the hell out of him, sometimes using Cover 0. This worked from time to time, but the Ravens would work around it with screens and other techniques used to counter the blitz. Plus, well, if Jackson escaped the blitz, he could really make a team pay downfield, making it a boom-or-bust approach. Playing man coverage, as Pete pointed out during the Gang of Three show, seems to be a bad idea.
A more sophisticated answer would later emerge that was simulated press (look like you're rushing six, but back off and rush four), combined with quarterback spies who would keep an eye on the quarterback to try to stop him from breaking containment.
Fortunately for the Browns and other teams, offensive coordinator Mark Roman took over the Ravens offense in the early 2020s and set it up in a way that it was somewhat easier to contain. Based on articles at the time, defensive coordinators shifted to trying to load the box and take away middle-of-the-field throws along with edge containment. Also fortunate for other teams, the Ravens' offense struggled to field effective wide receivers during this period, making it easier to take away Andrews and slow the Ravens' attack.
Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson (Photo: Getty)
Unfortunately for the Browns and other teams, the Ravens reacted again, dumping Roman and bringing in Todd Monken to lead the Ravens offense. They also landed some more effective wide receivers, namely Zay Flowers, and became even more dangerous. All-out blitzes quickly proved futile, and defensers shifted to a strategy of trying to take away explosive plays, forcing the Ravens to put together longer drives.
The league seems to have settled on (for now) four-man rushes with a focus on compressing the pocket rather than chasing Jackson all over. Simulated pressures, as mentioned above, seem to be in vogue as well as zone looks, as Pete pointed out during the show.
The narrative about containing Lamar Jackson has changed over time. Long gone are the days when teams believed he would be confused by the blitz or tried to make him a pocket passer. Now, the theory seems to be not that Jackson can be stopped, but that he can be forced to string together a dozen or more positive plays to score. He can do this, of course, but fans watching the Browns play Baltimore should be able to judge the team's defensive effectiveness by how they limit the significant gains and explosive plays that fire up the Ravens team and crowd. The Browns did this at Baltimore in 2023. Since we're living 2023 again via Joe Flacco, perhaps lightning will strike twice.
Oh, and make tackles.
Oh, and force turnovers.
No big deal, right?
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
Kentucky Nurse Revives Drunk Raccoon Found in Dumpster with CPR - (goodnewsnetwork.org)
I enjoyed this story of a nurse at a health department, which happens to be located next door to a distillery. This seems convenient for drunks, and indeed turned out to be convenient for some raccoons who got into fermented peaches that had been left in the dumpster.
Despite her fear of rabies or getting bitten/scratched, the nurse saved the raccoons by performing CPR on them, saving them so they could sober up at a local veterinarian office and later be returned to the populace.
If this Ravens game doesn't go well, I may need similar services.
WRAPPING UP
When not trying to figure out football, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and spouts this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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