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Coach's game plan Ravens need to pound runners, then let 'D' take over
Updated: Friday January 26, 2001 2:57 PM
Former NFL coach Ron Meyer, an analyst for the CNN/Sports Illustrated television network, discusses some likely game plans for the Baltimore Ravens in their Sunday showdown with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. When a head coach sits down and gets into his planning, he has to figure what his team's strength is and what the strength of his opponent is. Obviously, the strength of the Giants is their defense. So Brian Billick has to have his Ravens ready for that. The Giants' defense has created havoc all season long. With that said, if I were Billick I would try to go with an extremely conservative game plan. I would slam Jamal Lewis at them. Use him and Priest Holmes. They'll be rejected at first. But they cannot lose patience.
If they go to it, the Ravens have to stick with the short, quick game so as to avoid the big sacks and not let Giants defensive end Michael Strahan get to Dilfer. Play action will work and it still gives you the best chance at protecting your quarterback because it slows the rush, if only for a second. They should use some of that, too. If the Ravens are forced into going long, the Giants' secondary might be susceptible to double moves. I wouldn't even screw around with the intermediate routes. Go long and scare the heck out of them. Move Sharpe around. Give the Giants a different look. Something you might see is a flea-flicker, or something like that, after the Giants' defense jams Lewis at the line. Mainly, what Billick is looking for is one or two scores so his defense can take over. Defensively for the Ravens ... well, don't change a thing. Giants quarterback Kerry Collins woke everyone up last week. Still, Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis is thinking one thing: Take Giants running back Tiki Barber out of the game. I don't think the Giants' other back, Ron Dayne, scares him. He's just not a game-breaker. He doesn't have the speed. But stopping Barber is the game. In short, you want Collins to throw. Once you get the Giants one-dimensional, you just keep the pass coverage in a zone, keep everything in front of you. If I'm Billick, I take the tape of the Minnesota-New York game and show it to my defense and say, "Hey, this is what the Giants can do to you if you screw up coverage like the Vikings did." The Giants' receivers like to do double moves, especially Ike Hilliard, and they'll get the ball to the backs in the flat routes, too. Billick and Marvin Lewis have done a wonderful job of keeping the Ravens from getting way out there, in terms of swagger and over-confidence. They have the mindset that they know they have a terrific unit, but they don't let their bulldog mouths overcome their Chihuahua butts. The other part of this game that is key for the Ravens is special teams. You will probably see them take a shot at a punt block early. That will get the Giants' punter worried about getting good protection, and then the Ravens can set up Jermaine Lewis with a return. Lewis is one of their best weapons. They also have to make sure they're solid on their own kick game, so they need to get that Tennessee game film out, when the Ravens had two punts blocked by the Titans. You know the Giants will be looking hard at that.
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