How Will Bucs Deal With Ravens’ Heavy Personnel?

One of the most intriguing matchups between the Bucs and Ravens on Monday Night Football will be how Bucs head coach Todd Bowles decides how to attack the Ravens’ favorite talent group. The Ravens prefer to use 12 players as early as possible, consisting of one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers.

The Ravens focus on first downs and utilize at least two tight ends, or a tight end and a fullback, over 70% of the time. They rank 7th in EPA and first down plays in the NFL. +0.057 mark. Last week against the Washington Commanders, he was able to take advantage of a defense that likes to play nickel by forcing him to play mostly on base. 25 times Just like they were before for the rest of the season.

To be Tyky or not, that’s the question

Bucs DB Tykee Smith – Photo courtesy of USA Today

This poses an interesting problem for the Bucks. Nickelback Tykie Smith is a top-five player on the Bucs defense. But will he see the field early? Or will he be relegated to third-down duties as the Ravens typically field three receivers in their 11-man lineup?

Most would argue that Smith should be on the field instead of KJ Britt, but the decision is not one or both of the two. When Smith takes the field, it’s not Britt who clears the field. I’m a defensive lineman. Most of the time, it’s Logan Hall.

At 12p the Ravens average weight per player is 267lbs. The Bucks can then choose to operate their base personnel at an average of 244 pounds per player or use nickels to reduce that mass by a total of 78 pounds. The Bucks’ base staff can fit the size better, but they will undoubtedly lose one of their best players from the field.

Now, Smith is a great run defender, so perhaps Bowles will choose to keep him on the field in this situation. But it would mark a big change in his tendencies this season.

Ravens unique use of 12 points

Bucks HC Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of USA Today

Not only does Baltimore have a heavy workforce in general, but especially how They take advantage of that and make it difficult for opposing defenses to match up.

Most teams will have 12 under center and both tight ends inline. However, the Ravens do have a piece in tight end Isaiah Riley, who has played in the slot or wide on 132 of his 256 snaps this season. They also spend over 70% of their snapshots with either shotguns or pistols.

If the Bucs choose to go nickel and also move either KJ Britt or Lavonte David to the line of scrimmage to counter the Ravens’ run game with a strong five-man front, they will You will choose to keep one backer. You can also force a second level, or single-high, pre-snap look.

This will make it difficult for the Bucs to play Cover 4, but Bowles will run Cover 4 more than ever this year, using backup cornerbacks Tyreke Funderburk or Josh Hayes to take snaps. It will be difficult unless you are comfortable running the later exotic rotations. All of them are attractive.

Bucs run defense this year

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and ILB Lavonte David – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR

Normally the linchpin of Todd Bowles’ defense, Tampa Bay hasn’t been as strong against the run this year. They currently rank 30th in EPA/rush permits. But when you parse these numbers, you see that the Bucs are still pretty good against the ground game on first downs. Currently, such situations allow -0.13 EPA per play and a success rate of only 30.9%.

On first down this season, the gulf between base and nickel is clear as far as the Bucs’ run defense is concerned. The additional defensive backs made the Bucs the fifth-worst run defense in the NFL, allowing 6.2 yards per carry and +0.07 EPA per play. Once on base, he ranks third with 3.7 yards per carry allowed and -0.37 EPA per play allowed.

There are no ideal situations. If Tampa Bay gets shutout early against Baltimore’s heavyweights, it will sacrifice size and put itself in a position where it’s not very good against the run. But if they remain heavy, they will open themselves up to play-action, especially in the middle of the field, where Lamar Jackson has been great this year.

around pro football focus, Jackson has completed 73 percent of his passes this year, averaging 10 yards per attempt with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. According to this year’s scoring criteria, he received a score of 90.5. And targeting the middle center of the field, which the Bucs have had a really hard time covering this year, he completed 23 of 26 for 369 yards and four touchdowns. That’s an 88.5 completion percentage, 14.2 yards per attempt, and an unheard of 97.2 grade in PFF.

Win or lose, result The outcome of the Bucks’ matchup against the Ravens on Monday night will likely depend largely on Bowles’ answers to the Ravens’ unique matchup questions.