Inside the matchup: Patriots at Ravens – Extra Points – Boston.com

Great stuff as always from the lethal combination of Alen Dumonjic and The Wet Blanket of Reason.

There are a couple of players and areas on the Ravens defense that New England could look to target, so I’m going to put them together in this one category. Inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe is a two-down player that’s primarily out there for run defense. If the Patriots can isolate him in coverage on early downs, they could find it to be more successful than attempting to run the ball. It should also be noted the Ravens play a 3-3-5 package that consists of Lewis-Ellerbe-McClain, so there’s another opportunity to isolate and attack the linebackers. Two other players that may be able to be attacked for different reasons are cornerbacks Cary Williams and Jimmy Smith. Williams plays a lot of soft coverage and will give up easy yards underneath while Smith is very aggressive and can be caught on double moves. Last, the one area that may be able to be attacked is the middle of the field. The Ravens have played a lot of Cover 2 this season and Ray Lewis, who is not as fleet of foot as he once was, is policing the seam. When they play man coverage against empty sets, Lewis will walk out with the running back often.