Ravens Coach Jesse Minter Knows Firsthand Colts QB Daniel Jones Can Carve A Defense Without Throwing Deep

Even at his best last season, even when he was generating some early MVP buzz, Colts quarterback Daniel Jones is generally content to take what you give him.

That’s part of what made him so successful the last time he met a Jesse Minter defense - which tends to flood the field with defensive backs in zone looks - and part of what Minter knows must improve dramatically on Sunday as he makes his head coaching debut for the Ravens at Indianapolis. His packages with extra defensive backs on the field got torn apart in ways not often seen (the data here is definitely not lost on this staff). Undoubtedly, Minter is emphasizing keeping pass catchers in front of defenders and eliminating easy yards-after-catch opportunities on checkdowns and screens.

Minter’s Chargers defense, among the NFL’s best in pretty much everything during his two years there, yielded 142 yards of YAC in that 38-24 loss to the Colts, most of the season. Jones, on passes within five yards behind the line of scrimmage and five yards beyond the LOS, was 15/18 for 140 yards, with two touchdowns and a rating of 136.1. Something must improve in this rematch negating that, and Minter very well might adjust some of his coverages and tendencies.

"Yes, that is a major part of how they operate, where they get explosives from,” Minter said Tuesday of the short passing game. “It is boots and short throws to (tight end Tyler) Warren. It is all the little option routes to (receiver Josh) Downs. It is checkdowns to (running back Jonathan) Taylor or designed plays to Taylor and Warren.

“I mean, they do a really good job just kind of trying to figure out what you are in and figuring out where the holes are, figuring out how to put stress on people, create space for the checkdowns by putting routes behind them. So, it is going to be a major emphasis to be able to tackle really well in space and certainly try to limit those opportunities for them to create explosives on throws where they are not really trying to throw the ball down the field."

Dinked And Dunked To Death

In that last game, Warren picked up his biggest gain by feigning engaging at the point of attack, leaking out and rambling with a short pass into a 30-yard gain. Jones produced only one completion on a ball that traveled over 20 yards (he attempted just four)– finding Alec Pierce, just coming back from ankle surgery in Week 1, for a deep shot over the top. But he didn’t have to force anything and largely abstained from testing the shell coverages that are the foundation of Minter’s defense.

In that meeting, 23 of Jones’s 33 attempts were for 10 yards or less, yet he still carved up the defense, and running back Jonathan Taylor rampaged through nickel-and-dime looks for over 7 yards per carry. Over half of Jones’s passes (18) were within five yards of the line of scrimmage. This is not really about air yards with him.

And the Colts still picked up 14 passing first downs, tied for the most Minter’s defense ever allowed in two years in LA.

Last season, Jones was in the top eight among all NFL quarterbacks throwing 38% of hiss passes between 0-5 yards downfield … And he ranked 29th in percentage of his attempts which traveled over 20 yards in the air (8%).

Will Minter need two deep safeties all that much, especially with Jones in his first game back from late-season Achilles surgery? Might he want star hybrid defender Kyle Hamilton manned up on Warren perhaps more than how he approached that battle with the hybrid defensive back he loved so much with the Chargers (Derwin James) last October?

It’s one of the many layers to this strategic chess match that could decide this game.

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