Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey talks about knowing the Steelers' plays

[stillthere]

https://www.renegadeblitz.com/post/rave ... lers-plays

Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey talks about knowing the Steelers' plays

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey was on The Lefkoe Show recently with Adam Lefkoe and he made some interesting comments regarding knowing what the Steelers are running before the ball is even snapped. Even going back to when Antonio Brown was with the Steelers.

"AB, even with the Steelers, every time he's about to get the ball, he undoes his gloves and straps them back," Humphrey said, which was also highlighted by Cris Collinsworth when he would call Steelers games. "So when he was at the Steelers, any time you see him (undoing his gloves and strapping them back), you get a little more ready."

Humphrey went on to say that very rarely do you have something that tells you exactly what the offense is going to do, but with mostly empty stadiums this past year due to no fans allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a different ball game.

"The craziest thing about this year: We played with no fans, and we played the Steelers. We walk on the field, and of course, it's no fans, so it's kinda quiet. I'm on the field, and like, I heard Big Ben say something to the wide receivers. And I'm, like, listening, and I'm like: 'Is he telling me the play?' Did he just tell him the route he's about to run?" Humphrey said. "And he does it again like the next play, and I'm just like, I couldn't believe it. Like, I don't know if they were in hurry-up, and that's how they'd always done it or what, but he was just verbally telling them. And I was like, crap, I think I should be able to cover this route. And that happened a few times in the game. He didn't throw it to me when he told them, but I couldn't believe it that, like, that's what happened."

This past December following the Steelers-Colts Week 16 game, during a segment on the NFL Network, Michael Silver said that JuJu Smith-Schuster told him pre-snap the Colts' defense was calling out their plays in the first half. Ben Roethlisberger was 11 of 20 for 98 yards and the offense scored just seven points in the first half, and that was because T.J. Watt had a strip-sack and Mike Hilton recovered the fumble and returned it 14 yards to the Colts' 3-yard line to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by James Conner.

In the second half, the Steelers scored 21 points and came back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Colts, 28-24. The offense switched things up in the second half to a no-huddle attack and Roethlisberger started to call the plays instead of offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner.

"Ben's mind is super creative he was calling out plays in the second half that we did not practice, just pulling things from the past," Smith-Schuster told Silver.

Mike Tomlin was asked about Smith-Schuster's statement at his weekly press conference, and Tomlin said they were calling the Colts plays out as well.

"We were calling out their plays, too," he said. "Philip Rivers was calling out our adjustments. I think it's one of the things that kind of goes on in 2020 during the global pandemic when you're playing in crickets, in eerily quiet stadiums.

"I think it's just one of the adjustable things that we all globally have to deal with in the 2020 environment because of the level of communication and the amount of communication that's heard between units prior to a snap in 2020's environment."

Randy apparently was very predictable.

[Ice]

Also, pretty sure Arians was the last Steelers OC who really was any good at designing and calling plays to scheme players open in the pass game. Kind of sad when you consider how long ago that was.

[Jobu]

1- The Steelers beat the Rats both times they played last season, Marlon...
2- What was said about Ben in the Colts game couldn’t possibly be true, because we all know he’s dumber than a box of rocks and doesn’t work at the game.
3- Mike Tomlin is still clueless.

[ToddHaleysNineIron]

I think Randy's offense was so bad, so unimaginative, that what we saw starting with this Ravens game is Ben calling random routes and combinations. Communicating that was probably impossible, so he started just yelling the routes to the WR, probably with zero intention of throwing that direction as we saw how quickly the ball was getting out.

[VeritasSteel]

The entire Ravens team knows the Steelers plays. Randy can take part in the blame, but there is something more here. Ravens are the vanguard of analytics in football. IMO they have attempted to computerize the NE boogeyman- Ernie Adams to help out their defense. The have put a system in place that predicts a play based on tendency, alignment, personnel and calls a defense to stop it. It is very effective against teams who don't know the Ravens defensive tendencies because you feel like they are in your huddle.

But to his credit, Ben hacked their defense. Biggest example was that Ebron play for a TD. Ben knew the coverage responsibility of the LB and knew when Ebron crossed his face, the defender would stay there passing him off to air. Because on the other side he told the opposite side WRs to clear out. So you have a LB passing a receiving threat off to ghosts and no one in the zone with their heads turned to know that there was a catch or a guy walking in for a TD. That's not supposed to happen vs a zone concept unless you're manipulating guys based on their responsibilities. Them knowing the play means nothing. I am hoping we start running a lot of plays out of a standard set to get them and other teams back to guessing.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULivIL1QjrQ

[Pabst]

James Harrison talks about knowing Cardinals plays: https://theathletic.com/1716702/2020/04 ... on-return/


Here's an 8 minute video of Tony Romo correctly guessing plays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cjxhu1N8oA



NFL coaches and players watch more film in a week than we do in our lifetimes. Guessing the opposing team's plays is commonplace in the NFL.
I'm not saying this to defend the Steelers playcalling, because it absolutely became stagnant and they failed to adjust to what defenses are doing.

But, every week these guys are given (quite literally) a 100+ page binder of strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, etc of every single opposing player. They are given a detailed breakdown of every play their opponent has run. Tony Romo was correctly guessing Tom Brady/Bill Belichick playcalls in the AFC Championship game - do you honestly think there are only a select few guys in the NFL capable of that?

[Jobu]

James Harrison talks about knowing Cardinals plays: https://theathletic.com/1716702/2020/04 ... on-return/


Here's an 8 minute video of Tony Romo correctly guessing plays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cjxhu1N8oA



NFL coaches and players watch more film in a week than we do in our lifetimes. Guessing the opposing team's plays is commonplace in the NFL.
I'm not saying this to defend the Steelers playcalling, because it absolutely became stagnant and they failed to adjust to what defenses are doing.

But, every week these guys are given (quite literally) a 100+ page binder of strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, etc of every single opposing player. They are given a detailed breakdown of every play their opponent has run. Tony Romo was correctly guessing Tom Brady/Bill Belichick playcalls in the AFC Championship game - do you honestly think there are only a select few guys in the NFL capable of that?

This is, of course, absolutely correct. I’ll take it a step further and state that most of us that watch the Steelers regularly, can call out their plays correctly. I know that I’ve been pretty good at it ever since the Cowher era. As far as predictability goes...the standard is the standard.

[Steelperch]

Imagine having to take over play calling because your OC is a moron, then giving the opposing defense all of your routes and still sweeping them. Roethlisberger is such a stud.

[Ice]

Washed up. Incapable of winning big games

[K_C_]

If only we could play the Ravens 17 times.

[Professor Half Wit]

Is Randy Fichtner easily the worst OC of the Ben Roethlisberger era?

[COR-TEN]

You guys are much more knowledgable, but the steelers aren't good at adjustments, imo. Maybe BR switches things up, but I agree with some here. The last OC that could fuck with the defense and keep them guessing was Arians. Although Haley was good at designing plays, his play calling sucked. I am so glad randy is gone.

[jebrick]

There were games when Ben was just telling the receivers what routes to run. Generally it was the 2 minute offense. Just ignore Randy and call plays to get open. That is when the more intermediate routes were run/thrown.

[Ice]

If only we could play the Ravens 17 times.

And MVP Lamar Jackson? Heavens, no. Sorry, man. Couldn't help it.

[K_C_]

If only we could play the Ravens 17 times.

And MVP Lamar Jackson? Heavens, no. Sorry, man. Couldn't help it.

No excuses for Lamar this year. Not after they added Bateman.

That dude is a fucking stud.

[Ice]

Saw a lot of his games in the B1G last few seasons. Should be one of the best WRs Baltimore has had in years. Ton of potential. Wouldn't surprise me if he turned out better than all the Bama WRs. Definitely depends on Jackson.

[Mick]

Is Randy Fichtner easily the worst OC of the Ben Roethlisberger era?

by a country mile. Haley gets a lot of hate but the offenses under him were very productive.

[bradshaw2ben]

Is Randy Fichtner easily the worst OC of the Ben Roethlisberger era?

by a country mile. Haley gets a lot of hate but the offenses under him were very productive.

He had a stud OL, and the best-at-his-position WR, RB, and quite possibly QB.

[K_C_]

Is Randy Fichtner easily the worst OC of the Ben Roethlisberger era?

by a country mile. Haley gets a lot of hate but the offenses under him were very productive.

He had a stud OL, and the best-at-his-position WR, RB, and quite possibly QB.

....and Haley kept that QB upright by forcing him to get rid of the ball on time.

No way on earth Roethlisberger is still playing had Haley not done that.

[Ice]

The real problem with Haley's offense was that it was basically: we'll line up our guys against your guys, hope somebody can win their 1 on one matchup, and hopefully get it to that guy. It was pretty much an NBA iso offense in the NFL. When it came time to actually scheme someone open against better defenses (i.e. playoffs), Haley had no answers.

[Professor Half Wit]

The real problem with Haley's offense was that it was basically: we'll line up our guys against your guys, hope somebody can win their 1 on one matchup, and hopefully get it to that guy. It was pretty much an NBA iso offense in the NFL. When it came time to actually scheme someone open against better defenses (i.e. playoffs), Haley had no answers.

Meanwhile, come playoff time, offenses seem consistently to know all the answers on the Tomlin-Butler Defense Exam.

[Ice]

The real problem with Haley's offense was that it was basically: we'll line up our guys against your guys, hope somebody can win their 1 on one matchup, and hopefully get it to that guy. It was pretty much an NBA iso offense in the NFL. When it came time to actually scheme someone open against better defenses (i.e. playoffs), Haley had no answers.

Meanwhile, come playoff time, offenses seem consistently to know all the answers on the Tomlin-Butler Defense Exam.

That has, honestly, been the biggest post-season issue of the Ben era, regardless of coordinator. Only the year when the talent was just overwhelming (and healthy) did we manage to cash in. With one of the worst offenses of the Ben/Tomlin era, by the way.