Belichick diagrams 2 steps for Broncos, ‘Baby J.J. Watt’ to contain Ravens

The Broncos have heard it all week: They haven’t beaten a team with a winning record and, while their defense has played well, Denver hasn’t shut down offenses the caliber of Baltimore’s. However, Bill Belichick said this week that if the Broncos address two areas defensively, they’re very capable of handing the Ravens a second consecutive loss.

Game-planning on the CW Network’s Inside the NFL, Belichick spliced together a pair of similar plays opponents have used to hurt Denver this season, both wheel routes. First, he showed Geno Smith’s 30-yard touchdown pass to running back Zach Charbonnet in the Broncos’ Week 1 loss at Seattle. He then compared that to Justin Herbert’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Kimani Vidal in Denver’s home loss to the Chargers just three weeks ago.

“One of the things the Broncos have had trouble with are these wheel routes out of the backfield,” Belichick said, diagramming plays on this week’s edition of Inside the NFL. “No. 1 and No. 2 receiver are close together, they both come inside, there’s the wheel out of the backfield. Honest to God, it looks like they’re out to practice early; there’s nobody there covering him.”

Baltimore (5-3) has hit that play several times and no doubt will call it against Denver (5-3) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). The Ravens also entered this week with the AFC’s top offense (30.3 points per game) while the Broncos rank third in the NFL in scoring defense (15.0 points per game allowed). In NFL games Week 9 or later, Sunday’s matchup is the first between a club averaging 30-plus points and an opponent giving up 15-or-fewer points since Baltimore beat San Francisco in a thriller, 20-17, on Dec. 1, 2019.

If Denver can keep the Ravens in check like the 49ers that day, the other key to beating the Ravens, Belichick said, is something that robs sleep from every opposing defensive coordinator preparing for Lamar Jackson. Last week, Jackson became the first in NFL annals with 500 rushing yards in seven straight seasons

“Denver is really susceptible if there’s any breakdown in the rush lane,” Belichick said, showing Smith’s 34-yard touchdown run against man-to-man coverage that helped Seattle beat Denver. “You’ve got to maintain your rush-lane integrity against a quarterback like Lamar Jackson.

“If you split the seam here, it’s all over.”

All over is where Denver’s Zach Allen has been this season. The sixth-year defensive end is tied for second in the NFL with 10 tackles for loss. And according to former Super Bowl-winning defensive end Chris Long, Allen can play an important role in containing both Jackson and leading NFL rusher Derrick Henry on Sunday. Long broke down a key red-zone snap against the Chargers in which Allen diagnosed the play and quickly shut down a sure Herbert touchdown.

“Obviously, Zach Allen doing what Zach Allen does,” Long said on the show. “He’s like a baby J.J. Watt. He’s got the arm brace and everything.”

Allen and All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain are arguably the only two “big names” on Vance Joseph’s Broncos defense. But Joseph has gotten strong effort from a host of selfless contributors.

They’ll need more of that over the season’s second half. After the Ravens, the Broncos make their annual visit to Arrowhead Stadium against the league’s only undefeated team, Kansas City (7-0). In fact, per Pro Football Focus, from this point forward, Denver has the NFL’s third-toughest schedule.

King Raven: Derrick Henry leads the league with 11 scrimmage touchdowns, including an NFL-best nine rushing scores. In last week’s loss, he became the first player ever with touchdowns in each of his first eight games with a team. Should he reach the end zone on the ground Sunday, Henry will join Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson (nine seasons) and Emmitt Smith (eight) as well as Adrian Peterson (eight) as the fourth ever to reach 10 rushing touchdowns in seven career seasons.

Elite company: Denver will take every opportunity to run up the score this week. The Ravens are just the fourth offense ever to score 20 points and compile 375 total yards in each of its first eight games of a season, following the 2013 Denver Broncos, 2007 New England Patriots and 2000 St. Louis Rams.