Archives for January 2021

‘“People always – just talking about Josh – say, ‘His big arm,’ but he’s doing it all out there,” Jackson said. “He’s getting out of the pocket, taking advantage of what the defense gives him, throwing the ball on a rope, and he’s slinging the ball, like a [Chiefs quarterback] Patrick Mahomes. He’s just helping his team out a lot. He’s one of the key reasons they’re putting up so many points and winning games. Hats off to Josh, because he’s been doing it since his rookie season.”’

‘“They have a lot of skill, a lot of speed,” said Smith, a 10th-year veteran. “All of their guys are really good. … It’s going to be a tough challenge for us. We’re a man-to-man team, and we’re going to have to get our hands on these guys and try to slow them down.”’

‘“To paint a picture, he’s like young Ben Roethlisberger because of his size and how he extends plays with Marino’s arm,” Martindale said he told the defensive coaches.’

‘“I tell this to everybody I talk to about him — he is one of the greatest dudes you can be around. He really is,” Allen said. “And for him to kind of have the adversity of coming out the first year and people doubted him, and then go out and explode on the scene last year and just be this dynamic quarterback. You see the impact that he makes in his communities on Instagram and stuff like that. He’s just one of those special guys. Obviously, they’ve been having success, he’s had a lot of success early in his career.”‘

‘”It makes you have to cover longer. You’ve heard the terminology ‘plaster’ before. Big Ben’s a person we had to do that a lot with when he had Antonio (Brown) and all those guys back in the day. But when they extend plays, he has fast guys running all over the field and you have to plaster them for four, five, six seconds while an athlete like Josh Allen can still launch the ball 50 to 60 yards down the field,” Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith said.’

‘”It’s not going to be the initial play that kills you. It’s going to be the secondary scramble… and I think that’s the factor that you can’t account for,” Sherman said. “And at least when we played him, we had him. We had their plays buttoned up… and they ended up being explosive plays because he casually extended the play. He didn’t panic, he didn’t say ‘hey, I’m gonna scram, I’m gonna run.’ He said, ‘hey, this is my outlet, I’m going to move and create three more seconds for this guy…”

‘Brian also mentioned how coming into the postseason, he felt like Buffalo really needed to avoid the Ravens if at all possible because he doesn’t think it’s a good matchup for them because of their problems within their rushing defense.’

‘“He has receivers that can get open. After that first 2 1/2 seconds, three seconds, boom. He went through his couple reads, it’s not there, and he breaks that pocket,” said Smith about preparing for Allen. “That’s something that you kind of have to practice in practice a little bit, just ‘plastering’ [receivers] and making sure that he doesn’t have anywhere to throw it. Try to force him to throw it out of bounds.”‘

‘”Most of the time when you evaluate the quarterback and he’s not accurate, it’s hard for them to shed that tag,” Martindale said. “What he’s done in the offseason and what he’s done this season, it’s amazing to see. His accuracy on the move, his accuracy in the pocket, everything he’s done, he’s done accurately.”‘

‘I expect the Ravens will use a variety of blitzes and coverages to keep Allen guessing. The last thing they want to do is let him get comfortable because he has the talent, and weapons, to carve up a defense. Last year, Baltimore held Allen to 17 completions on 39 attempts for just 146 yards and one touchdown. The Ravens sacked him six times and forced two fumbles. They’d like to do that again.’