Dolphins Coach Says Ravens Have 'Spawned Ton of Ideas'
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has studied the Ravens and has been able to gather many strategies for running the football.
Miami will get an up-close look in Week 2 at the Ravens' rushing attack, which struggled to get rolling in the opener against the New York Jets.
McDaniel is not putting much stock into that initial performance.
“It’s as good of a challenge as you get in the National Football League," McDaniel said about playing the Ravens. "I’ve been following – that team has spawned a ton of ideas for me personally in the run game. They do an unbelievable job at forcing you to defend all gaps and be sound and then they do a good job in the pass game, too, with things to balance that out. So you have to account for all 11 players on every down. You really do. You have to have a plan for all the different bells and whistles that they run."
The Ravens managed just 64 yards rushing against New York. Newly signed Kenyan Drake got most of the workload and he finished with 31 yards on 11 carries.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson had just 17 yards on six carries but he had a deft scamper where he avoided several defenders and earned a first down.
The goal for the Ravens is to get the running game revved up against Miami.
The Jets stacked the box and dared Jackson to beat them through the air, and that's what he did, throwing three touchdown passes in the 24-9 victory.
Last season, the Dolphins employed a Cover 0 defensive scheme that took the Ravens out of their game. Miami won that matchup 22-10.
Baltimore had 94 yards on 23 carries in that game. Jackson led the team with 39 yards rushing on nine carries.
McDaniel is expecting the Ravens to play much better, especially in their home opener.
Baltimore did break the single-season rushing record in 2019 with 3,296 rushing yards.
"They’re very physical when moving players and that’s one of their challenges," McDaniel said. "And you can’t take anything for granted really when you play a dynamic playmaker at the quarterback position like they have Lamar Jackson so it’s going to be a fun game, a challenging game, one that we’re going to have to leave no stone unturned in the entire process for us to come out the way we want to come out this coming Sunday.”
