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OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The Baltimore Ravens have no plans to change the way they blitz Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who was among the best in managerial pressure this season.
Heading into Saturday’s AFC divisional game, the Ravens broke an NFL record 41 percent of the time. Allen thrived against the blitz, throwing a record 19 touchdown passes against pressure.
For some defenses this could be of concern – but apparently not for Baltimore.
“He knows there is going to be pressure for sure,” Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale said Wednesday. “That’s who we are. That’s what we did.”
Allen was named to his first Pro Bowl this season after becoming the first quarterback to pass 4,500 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns in a single season. At 6-5, 237 pounds, Allen has the ability to get rid of passers and beat defenses with deep passes.
In 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 the way he extends the game. with. [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 to the Ravens 24-17. He was maintained at the second-lowest completion rate of his career (43.6%) on 17 of 39 assists and was sacked six times.
But Martindale has been delighted with Allen’s improvement since that last game. Allen has significantly increased his accuracy this season, going from a completion rate of 58.8% in 2019 to 69.2% this season.
“Usually when you’re evaluating a quarterback and it’s not precise it’s hard for them to get rid of that tag,” said Martindale. “What he’s done in the offseason and what he’s done this year is amazing to see. It’s precision in motion. It’s precision out of pocket. Everything he has done , he became more precise with it. “
The problem with Allen is that he can beat you with his legs and arm. Allen led the Bills in rushing through his two playoff games. The only Super Bowl-era quarterbacks to lead their teams to rush into three straight playoff games are Steve Young and Lamar Jackson.
A week after keeping running champion Derrick Henry at a season-long 40-yard low, Martindale said it would take a similar physical effort to slow Allen down.
“For me, tackle him … you better throw big body at him because he’s a big body,” Martindale said. “I said to the defense earlier, ‘We have to tackle him like you do against Henry because that’s how he runs. “It’s a tough challenge we have.”
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