Greg Cosell's Week 13 Review: If Ravens play like this, they can challenge Patriots next week

The Baltimore Ravens play the New England Patriots next Monday night in a game that could be big for the Ravens as they try to win the AFC North.

The Ravens have been pretty good on defense all season, especially against the run. In a 38-6 win against the Miami Dolphins last week, they hit a new gear on offense. And if they can play like that on offense next week at New England, they can give a stiff challenge to the Patriots.

I wanted to take a look inside the Ravens’ game plan and execution against Miami, because both were impressive. Quarterback Joe Flacco was sharp the whole game. The play-calling was smart.

Baltimore decided it could win leaning heavily on its passing game. The first possession was an eight-play, 79-yard touchdown drive that featured quick timing and rhythm throws. That’s what Baltimore did all game; they asked Flacco to get the ball out fast instead of featuring vertical routes. Of the first two Ravens possessions, they had 14 called passes and two called runs. And one of the runs came on fourth-and-1.

What Flacco did very well was beat the Dolphins’ zone concepts with precise timing throws between the numbers and inside the hash marks. A 20-yard pass to Nick Boyle in the first quarter illustrates what the Ravens did well. They ran a tight spread 2×2 set (two receivers on each side) with four vertical routes. Boyle ran the inside seam against “Cover 3” zone. The four verticals put safety Isa Abdul-Quddus in a bind. Abdul-Quddus had to expand with Boyle’s widened stem, then was out-leveraged on the seam route back inside. It was a well-designed play, and Flacco put the pass right on Boyle’s hands.

A touchdown to Dennis Pitta was another great throw on a smart play. With the Dolphins in a red zone “quarters” zone coverage, both inside receivers threatened safeties Baccari Rambo and Abdul-Quddus. Steve Smith’s vertical release threatened Rambo, while Pitta widened his release off the line of scrimmage on a vertical stem to expand Abdul-Quddus. That opened up the middle of the field just long enough for Pitta to flash open, and Flacco drilled another strike to him.

Flacco is a veteran who understands how to play from the pocket, and he was really good at it on Sunday. Here’s a good example of how well he was seeing things. The Dolphins had a zone blitz with defensive end Andre Branch dropping as part of the umbrella zone coverage in the red zone. Pitta ran a shallow crossing route behind the dropping Branch. The blitz beat the protection but the timing of Flacco’s throw beat the blitz. He knew it was unrealistic for Branch to pick up Pitta’s shallow cross from the other side of the formation, and he hit his tight end for a 9-yard touchdown.

Here’s another effective play call that led to a long touchdown. The Ravens had a no-huddle look and Flacco used a quick snap. The Dolphins were in man free blitz, with Breshad Perriman stacked with Pitta. Perriman ran a shallow cross and cornerback Tony Lippett couldn’t get through the traffic to run with Perriman. This was pitch-and-catch with Perriman and he had a lot of room to run on a 53-yard score.

This was a defined game plan that was well executed. When Flacco was in the game, the Ravens called 47 passes and 10 runs. The passing game was almost all timing-based with short throws, and a few intermediate passes mixed in. Flacco saw things with great clarity and threw the ball decisively with velocity and accuracy.

We’ll see next Monday night how the Ravens decide to attack the Patriots, and if they go with another pass-heavy plan. It worked against the Dolphins, as Baltimore had its most impressive game of the season. It makes next Monday night’s matchup a good one to watch.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.