Peter King breaks down the last sequence

iLL49er · 2013-02-04T07:03:04-08:00

I felt like we should've been in a jumbo package as they were all out blitzing every play and we could've had vernon or sopoaga or someone leak out for the game winning td...we didn't use any of those olineman leak out plays or anytihng would've been nice to be in jumbo packages to keep them honest at the goal line..here is the peter king bit on it. so painful...really feel for gore and justin smith. The larger story here is how smart the Baltimore coaches were on the play. One of our SI reporters at the game, Matt Gagne, talked to coaches and found out the Ravens' plan on those last four plays, all from inside the 7-yard line, was simple: If Kaepernick was going to beat them, he was going to have to do it with his arm and not his legs. Kaepernick still rushed seven times for 62 yards -- his fourth-highest output on the ground this season -- and he scrambled for a 15-yard touchdown with 10 minutes to play. But faced with making a goal-line stand as they clung to a 34-29 lead at the end, the Ravens were determined to make Kaepernick throw the ball. On first and goal from Baltimore's 7-yard line, LaMichael James took a handoff but ran straight into a zero blitz, picking up just two yards before the two-minute warning. The zero blitz, or an all-out blitz, is the most effective way to disrupt the read-option. The offensive scheme operates like the pick-and-roll in basketball. Depending on how an isolated defender reacts, Kaepernick can either keep the ball like a point guard driving the lane or hand it off to a running back who has more room to operate. Zero blitz takes away that wiggle room, with several defenders converging on the mesh point -- the few feet of space where it's not clear if the quarterback will keep the ball or hand it off. The downside, of course, is that an all-out blitz leaves the secondary in man coverage and wideouts will typically get open. This, however, wasn't a typical situation. A short field hems in the receivers, making the coverage effective even if the blitz is slow. On three of their last four plays, the Ravens pinned their ears back and went after Kaepernick. But, as Gagne discovered, not on 2nd-and-goal from the 5. That's when a chess match was just as effective as a street fight. During the two-minute warning, John Harbaugh asked for zero blitz, telling defensive coordinator Dan Pees through the headset, "I do not want them to run the ball right here." Pees had already called for a base defense, zone coverage, but Harbaugh had him rethinking the plan. "At the last minute he was going to change his call to zero blitz," Matt Weiss, the Ravens defensive quality control coach who was listening in on the conversation, told Gagne. "But he didn't, and that turned out to be a great call. Dean almost got talked out of his instinct, which would have been bad for us. If we're in zero blitz there, there's a good chance they score a touchdown." That's because Kaepernick took the snap and sprinted to his right -- a move designed to beat the blitz that never came -- and was forced to throw into tight coverage. The ball to Michael Crabtree fell incomplete. The Ravens weren't disguising anymore blitzes, only to back off. Pees called for zero blitzes on the next two plays, and the pressure forced two more incomplete passes to Crabtree. "They were smart enough not to run the pistol. Dean did a great job of showing them zero blitz," Weiss said. "We basically just said, 'If you're going to score this touchdown, Colin Kaepernick is going to have to throw the ball in the end zone.' " It worked, and Baltimore won. Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130204/baltimore-ravens-win-super-bowl-xlvii-peter-king-monday-morning-quarterback/#ixzz2JwVacVJj

Feb 4, 2013 at 7:09 AM

suckafree17
Veteran
Posts: 475

I was hoping at the 2 min warning that G-Ro would either spread it out to thin thier D or pack it in and go old school and try to grind out 5 yards in 3 plays.....we played right into thier hands and did exactly what they thought......

Feb 4, 2013 at 7:12 AM

iLL49er
Veteran
Posts: 5,768

yeah man...jumbo package 7 olineman....have soap and vd or delanie or bruce miller or staley or someone leak out....SOMETHING.

painful

Feb 4, 2013 at 7:16 AM

blizzuntz
Veteran
Posts: 55,347

1st and 7.....

If you run an average 1.8 yards a carry in 4 tries its a Touchdown.

Feb 4, 2013 at 8:29 AM

Joecool
Veteran
Posts: 70,984

We really need that hot route type of TE or WR. We get killed on these types of situations where it's a split second throw.

Feb 4, 2013 at 8:32 AM

paperplanemedia
Member
Posts: 1,289

Originally posted by Joecool:
We really need that hot route type of TE or WR. We get killed on these types of situations where it's a split second throw.

I thought we've always had these and it's up to the QB to call the hot routes?

Feb 4, 2013 at 8:36 AM

crabman82
Veteran
Posts: 17,024

its always sad in sports when a team known for something goes away from it at the most crucial point of the season. i could understand 1 pass maybe on a boot leg or something. but gore not touching it down there, its just sad.

Feb 4, 2013 at 8:39 AM

Young2Rice
Veteran
Posts: 71,704

Yeah we have the best player on the team in pass protection in the most critical plays of their careers

Feb 4, 2013 at 10:10 AM

tsty
Veteran
Posts: 121

Originally posted by blizzuntz:
1st and 7.....

If you run an average 1.8 yards a carry in 4 tries its a Touchdown.

With all the analysis,I've been making this same point all night and day,even if Kaep calls his own number three straight plays,on 2nd and goal,all he needed to do was touch the white line "breaking the plain"...........

Feb 4, 2013 at 10:12 AM

captveg
Veteran
Posts: 29,288

Running would have been smarter for potential post-TD reasons, too: the incompletions made it so that even if we score a TD on the 4th down Baltimore had almost a full 2 minutes to do something when they got the ball back, in which they would only need a FG to win or tie the game based on what SF did with the 2-pt conversion.

Feb 4, 2013 at 10:13 AM

#10

tsty
Veteran
Posts: 121

Originally posted by iLL49er:
yeah man...jumbo package 7 olineman....have soap and vd or delanie or bruce miller or staley or someone leak out....SOMETHING.

painful

This was a great quote,one that I totally agree with because with the goal-line stance to stop Kaep fron running it in,Miller/Davis/Walker could've went endzone.

Feb 4, 2013 at 10:49 AM

#11

Loco49er
Veteran
Posts: 2,815

Originally posted by crabman82:
its always sad in sports when a team known for something goes away from it at the most crucial point of the season. i could understand 1 pass maybe on a boot leg or something. but gore not touching it down there, its just sad.

I have no doubt that if Gore had been given 3 tries he would have found the end zone. The fact that he didn't even touch the ball is an epic fail that I will never forgive.

Feb 4, 2013 at 10:55 AM

#12

SealTeam6
Member
Posts: 3,554

Originally posted by Loco49er:
Originally posted by crabman82:
its always sad in sports when a team known for something goes away from it at the most crucial point of the season. i could understand 1 pass maybe on a boot leg or something. but gore not touching it down there, its just sad.

I have no doubt that if Gore had been given 3 tries he would have found the end zone. The fact that he didn't even touch the ball is an epic fail that I will never forgive.

Ask Chicago fans what they think of Ditka for not giving Walter a TD, ask Ditka what he still thinks.

Not going to Gore IMHO is a fireable offense.

If something comes from this loss, Jim will learn from John and fire his OC

[ Edited by SealTeam6 on Feb 4, 2013 at 10:56 AM ]

Feb 4, 2013 at 11:09 AM

#13

mrwoodz
Veteran
Posts: 196

Originally posted by SealTeam6:
Ask Chicago fans what they think of Ditka for not giving Walter a TD, ask Ditka what he still thinks.

Not going to Gore IMHO is a fireable offense.

If something comes from this loss, Jim will learn from John and fire his OC

Fire his OC? I agree it was a BIG mistake not to try to run, after the success we'd had running - but surely we don't fire the OC because of that. We had 2 100 yard receivers, and a 100 yard rusher.

We will lose Roman to a Head Coach role soon enough, but there is no need to show him the door. Surely we learned from our previous revolving door of coaches that change is not always good.

The coaches will all need to look at themselves after this loss - but it's small changes that need to be made. Not coach firings. (Admittedly I wouldn't be disappointed with a change in the Secondary, but I think the issue there may be the players more than Donatell. I'd sooner see Culliver and Whitner replaced than any of our coaches.

Feb 4, 2013 at 11:33 AM

#14

cciowa
Veteran
Posts: 60,541

Originally posted by mrwoodz:

Originally posted by SealTeam6:
Ask Chicago fans what they think of Ditka for not giving Walter a TD, ask Ditka what he still thinks.

Not going to Gore IMHO is a fireable offense.

If something comes from this loss, Jim will learn from John and fire his OC

Fire his OC? I agree it was a BIG mistake not to try to run, after the success we'd had running - but surely we don't fire the OC because of that. We had 2 100 yard receivers, and a 100 yard rusher.

We will lose Roman to a Head Coach role soon enough, but there is no need to show him the door. Surely we learned from our previous revolving door of coaches that change is not always good.

The coaches will all need to look at themselves after this loss - but it's small changes that need to be made. Not coach firings. (Admittedly I wouldn't be disappointed with a change in the Secondary, but I think the issue there may be the players more than Donatell. I'd sooner see Culliver and Whitner replaced than any of our coaches.

stats are for losers and we are today because of roman. you run gore you win the game,, you can spin or try to protect roman and Jh all you want but i will always say we went soft , and got out coached and outbullied in the end,, it should make you all f**king sick