OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The Baltimore Ravens have no plans to change their blitz-heavy ways against Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who was among the best at handling pressure this season.
Heading into Saturday’s AFC division game, the Ravens kicked an NFL high 41% of the time. Allen thrived against the blitz, throwing 19 touchdown passes against the pressure.
This may be cause for concern for some defenses, but apparently not for Baltimore.
“He knows there will be pressure, that’s for sure,” defense coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale van Ravens said on Wednesday. “That’s who we are. That’s what we’ve done.”
Allen was named in his first Pro Bowl this season after becoming the first quarterback to pass 4,500 yards, surpass 35 touchdown passes, and five rushed touchdowns in one season. Weighing in at 1.85 yards, 237 pounds, Allen has the ability to shake off pass rushers and beat the defense with deep passes on the field.
Discussing Allen with his defensive coaching staff, Martindale described the challenge of facing the quarterback as follows: “He’s a young Ben Roethlisberger because of his size and how he expands the game by [Dan] Marino’s arm. ‘
Allen had one of the worst games of his three-year career against Baltimore in December 2019, when the Bills lost 24-17 to the Ravens. He was held to the second lowest completion rate of his career (43.6%) at 17 of 39 deaths and was fired six times.
But Martindale was delighted with Allen’s improvement since that last matchup. Allen has dramatically increased his accuracy this season, going from a 58.8% completion rate in 2019 to 69.2% this season.
“When you judge a quarterback and he’s not accurate, it’s usually hard for them to get rid of that tag,” said Martindale. “What he’s done off-season and what he’s done this year is amazing to see. It’s accuracy along the way. It’s accuracy out of the bag. Everything he’s done, he’s gotten more accurate with it.”
The trouble with Allen is that he can beat you with his legs and his arm. Allen has run the bills by rushing in both of his playoff games. The only Super Bowl-era quarterbacks to lead their teams in three consecutive post-season games are Steve Young and Lamar Jackson.
A week after Martindale kept hasty champion Derrick Henry on a low season, Martindale said it would take a similar physical effort to slow Allen down.
“For me, if you take him … you better throw big bodies at him, because he’s a big body,” Martindale said. “I said to the defense earlier, ‘We have to handle him like you do Henry, because that’s how he runs.’ He’s a tough challenge we have. “