Saints On SI: Consorting w/ the Enemy at Ravens On SI

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Each week, we speak with the folks from the dark side of the force to get their views of the teams they cover. This week, Ravens On SI lead writer Jason La Confora answers our questions about Baltimore ahead of Sunday's Noon kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium.

It seems like Jesse Minter has the Ravens turning the page on John Harbaugh. Tell Saints fans a little about him and how he has blended in at his old stomping grounds with the fans and the players.

They are moving to an under center offense and it's huge for them. The interior offensive line is not that good. Derrick Henry was the NFL leader in most under center runs while he was in Tennessee and no quarterback was in the gun more than Lamar from the middle of 2018 until the start of this season.

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The play action is so much better under center. Lamar can still scan the field and he's a genius turning his back to the play and still making it. He led the NFL in EPA (Expected Points Added) for drop back under center last year. They just didn't do it nearly enough. Declan Doyle comes from Sean Payton and I talked to Sean about this and wrote a bunch of articles on it this spring. It's a core principle for them and the Ravens have the personnel to do it better than most.

On the defensive side, someone Saints fans know, Trey Hendrickson, then there's Nnamdi Madubuike on the line. That's a powerful 1-2 punch. Could you tell us about what to look for out of the Ravens D?

There's a real chance Nnamdi plays in this game. He'll probably be on a pitch count but I think we see him. Minter is not going to blitz much and he's going to play to his strength which is his secondary. He played 45% dime Week 1 nobody else in the league played more than 25%.

He needs his guys too when up front without numbers. These two allow them to do it. I think we'll see more of Hendrickson in sort of a wide nine situation with nominal D back. Those pass rushes where he twisted inside from an extreme outside position really hurt the Colts last week.

If they keep these two healthy it's a top 3 defense but that could be a big if with their history (of injury).

With this kind of coaching turnover, there is usually an issue, or two, or three. It seems like this staff hasn't missed a beat. Why?

On defense you have to remember Minter got his start here. He is a product of the Harbaugh coaching family tree. Minter left John Harbaugh and worked for his brother for almost a decade. He is already knows this place. He knows everybody in the front office well, knows the evaluators and scouts, and already is from their culture. He also has a fair amount of hardball in them so it's not a total shock to their system and he's basically running a very close derivative of the defense Mike Macdonald ran here just a few years ago and a lot of these players were in that.

On offense it is totally brand new, and you're going to see procedural issues and penalties and offensive lineman not in sync. They're going to lean heavily on the blocking tight end and I bet they run another 8 to 10 plays with an extra tackle on the field. They have some things to overcome on that side of the ball and I do think there will be some hiccups and not everything's going to look like week one obviously.

Is there someone who is surprising you for the Ravens in their performance in Week 1?

I wasn't sure (tight end) Durham Smythe was going to be able to be a true Joker in this offense and wear all those hats and also pick up the lead blocking responsibilities after they let Pat Ricard go.

Now the super jumbo looks with the extra tackle help him as well but he is a really key piece for them right now and especially until 5th round pick Adam Randall comes back because I know they look at him as a potential Joker as well and one who could provide explosive offensive place in a way that's Smythe can't.

You can take the 5th here, but do you have a pick for the game?

I still have a ton of work to do on (researching) the Saints. Haven't even really got there deep in my process yet. But it's going to be hard for them (the Saints) to win a shootout against these guys which I think it will probably take.

Even if Flowers doesn't play and I think there's a very good chance they err on the side of caution here, Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Minter's first home game as a head coach, probably the return of Nnamdi - that's a lot man.

The Saints and Ravens will have a Noon kickoff from Baltimore on Sunday, September 20th.

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