Can the Raiders expose the Ravens' linebackers in coverage?
The Chiefs put on a clinic last week in making the Ravens' linebackers uncomfortable.
I hope that Luke Getsy and co. are reviewing this film because while Baltimore has some hard-nosed, hard-hitting linebackers that swarm the ball and make great tackles, they struggle tremendously in coverage.
Most notably, Malik Harrison was picked on all night and could not stick with his own shadow it seemed. According to PFF, Harrison was the worst player on Baltimore's defense, earning a grade of 28.4.
Roquan Smith was not too far behind him, collecting a grade of 29.4 against the Chiefs. Four of the seven worst players by PFF rating on the Ravens' defense were linebackers, including three of the bottom four.
The Raiders have an exceptional young tight end duo in Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers, and a slew of pass-catching threats out of the backfield like Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah. The coaching staff said this week that they would "ride the hot hand" at running back, and this could be a huge week for these pass-catching backs.
If Luke Getsy can scheme up one-on-one matchups against these linebackers with the team's tight ends and running backs, the Raiders should be able to move the ball downfield more effectively, even if it is incrementally.