“TE Leak” is a relatively simple concept. An offense will have a tight end as the quarterback’s ultimate target, and the play is designed to create openings for that tight end in a multitude of ways. First, all other receivers will run routes to clear the defense to the other side. Second, there is often hard run-action blocking to get the defense thinking it’s about to be a run play. Third, the tight end in question will start off the snap by faking a look to block before releasing across the field. If it all works correctly, and the defense falls for the banana in the tailpipe, the tight end should be wide open.
In last Sunday’s 56-19 beatdown of the Miami Dolphins, the Baltimore Ravens feasted on TE Leak as few offenses have this season. Lamar Jackson had five touchdown passes in this game, further cementing his MVP status, and his last two came out of that concept, and virtually the same play.
The first of these two touchdowns came with 13:35 left in the third quarter, and the Ravens already up, 28-13. Tight end Isaiah Likely was the touchdown recipient here, and there was a nuance here right off the bat. Likely was going to leak left, and it was pass protection as opposed to run-action, but watch how Likely aligns as if he’s going to run to the right pre-snap. Likely faked a block on edge-rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, and then worked through Miami’s defense to the left side. It would be tough to be more open on this play than Likely was.
Then, with 9:43 left in the fourth quarter, it was Patrick Ricard’s time to shine. This was slightly different in that Ricard was aligned to the formation as opposed to split out, and Ricard leaked out right away, but the result was the same: Another touchdown for the Ravens, and some disappointed Dolphins on defense.
“It was kind of one-handed,” Ricard said after the game of his catch. “It wasn’t like Zay [Flowers], [Isaiah] Likely on fourth down with one hand, but I’ll take it. We have so many great guys that have ball skills, so for me to see that, week in and week out, I’m like, ‘You know what? I think I can do that.’ I practice it, and in a situation like that where the ball was a little higher, if I need to put my hand up, I can do it.”
When the Ravens hit the postseason as the AFC’s one-seed, they should have opposing defenses looking for TE Leak all the time in the red zone.
As for the Dolphins, they face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night with the AFC East at stake, and their defense will have to recover from several busts against the Ravens.
“Just the way it turned out, some of the calls put us in tough situations that we didn’t handle well enough,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Thursday. “Usually that doesn’t happen. But you have to give Baltimore credit. They’re a well-balanced, good offense and they can do that to you.”
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get macro on Dolphins-Bills, and what the Ravens tell us about Fangio’s defense as it stands right now.
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