On paper, it’s a matchup the Baltimore Ravens can’t win on Monday Night Football in Week 3. Pro Bowl Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown against cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who is playing like anything but an All-Pro because of one major issue.
Humphrey, who has called out the Ravens’ defense already this season, has his own “issues with preventing chunk yardage. He has allowed four receptions of 15 or more yards and a 139.1 passer rating into his coverage,” according to Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus.
Those numbers add up to trouble against St. Brown, who’s averaging 12.3 yards per reception, per Pro Football Reference. The back-to-back first-team All-Pro was better than ever during the 52-21 beatdown of the Chicago Bears in Week 2.
Brown’s return to his best is more bad news for Humphrey, especially when, as Cameron pointed out, the veteran is “dealing with a groin injury.” Humphrey being less than 100 percent and playing some way off his personal best, means the Ravens would be wise to come up with a more creative plan for keeping the Lions’ most dynamic pass-catcher under wraps.
Ravens Need Creative Approach vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown
Having Humphrey shadow St. Brown would be a risk, and not just because Baltimore’s usual shutdown corner is off his game. For one thing, the Lions love to move St. Brown all across formations, evidenced by his 14.4 percent motion rate, per Player Profiler.
Engineering the right matchups for St. Brown is what makes Detroit’s passing game work. Never more so than when the 25-year-old is isolated one-on-one outside the numbers.
It’s usually the moment when St. Brown attacks coverage on a stick or comeback route in the corner of the end zone. As Coach Dan Casey of The Play Caller’s Club put it, “No one runs this Route better.”
Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr should not want to see Humphrey trying to defend this route in his current form. Nor should Orr overlook the risks playing man coverage against St. Brown can have in the running game.
Those risks come from how the Lions force defenses into blocking mismatches by stashing St. Brown in the backfield. The Bears fell into the trap when St. Brown took an inside handoff to run a counter, “putting a CB (#24) in the box having to take on a pulling OT,” per Nate Tice of Yahoo! Sports.
Orr’s defense can’t be manipulated in this way, so the Ravens will need a committee focusing on St. Brown. Starting with helping Humphrey.
Marlon Humphrey Needs Help
The Ravens would be best served showing St. Brown different looks. Both by switching between off- and press-coverage, boxing him in with zone shells and putting a safety over the top of Humphrey.
Fortunately, Orr is armed with perhaps the best safety in football, Kyle Hamilton, the highest-paid in history at his position. The former Notre Dame star faced St. Brown in college, so Hamilton knows what makes the ex-USC standout special at this level.
Hamilton told reporters “It’s his toughness, his motor, blocking, route-running, yards after catch – he goes 100% at it. … Props to him and the way he plays because I think it’s kind of rare at the receiver position to approach the game the way he does,” per Ravens.com Editorial Director Ryan Mink.
Having Hamilton keep tabs on St. Brown is a smart move for the Ravens. So is letting promising second-year pro Nate Wiggins take his turn covering the Lions’ No. 14.