Lamar Jackson is the most dangerous offensive player in the NFL and a big reason for that is his physical skill set but it is also the design of the Ravens running game and play action passing game.

Ravens Offensive coordinator Greg Roman does a great job of game planning Baltimore’s run game and meshing it to the Ravens passing game.

Roman has been at this for a long time. He coordinated the San Francisco 49ers offense when Colin Kaepernick led the Niners to a Super Bowl and he coordinated a similar offense in Buffalo with Tyrod Taylor.

The Ravens running game is built around the shotgun and pistol. The Ravens run a zone read component out of both alignments. In diagrams one and two, you see an example of how Roman runs zone read off of the inside zone.

Diagrams 1 & 2 : Zone Read

The Ravens run zone read more than any other team in the NFL. Defenses have caught up to it and they do a good job of disguising fronts and switching responsibilities but somehow Jackson still finds a way to hurt them with simple pull plays like this.

Roman has in the past also utilized an option component off of the zone read. The Patriots will need to be ready for this because it is something they could see, especially in the red zone. Diagrams 3 and 4 illustrate examples of the zone read option.

Diagrams 3 & 4: Zone Read Option

The Ravens run Jackson mostly off their inside zone but they will run him on man gap plays as well as illustrated by diagram 5. Baltimore does run power read, a play they do a good job of setting up by running down hill at defenses.

Diagram 5: Power Read

Perhaps the toughest aspect of this Ravens offense to stop is their zone and man gap running game out of pistol. It is the most backfield alignment that gives defenses the most problems. It allows the Ravens running backs to get downhill and it makes the read and pull reads much easier for Jackson. In diagrams 6, 7 and 8, you see examples of run plays the Ravens utilize out of pistol.

Diagrams 6, 7 & 8: Pistol zone and man gap read plays.

The Patriots have had issues with the Ravens running game in the past. It is important that they cloud Jackson’s reads and make him give the ball as much as possible. If they can do that do that, that could help slow down what has quickly become the NFL’s most dangerous offense.