How the Ravens Used Play-Action to Beat the Giants Jonathan Bales breaks down a big play each week of the season. It's amazing how quickly a team's fortunes can shift near the end of the season. With the N.F.C. East all but locked up just over a month ago, the Giants are now huge underdogs to make the postseason. Even assuming the Giants take down the Eagles in Week 17, their chances of making the playoffs would still sit at only 12.5 percent (assuming each of the other games they need to go their way is a coin flip). On Sunday, the Giants were defeated by a Ravens team that simply seemed more prepared. As they've done all year, the Ravens capitalized on the similarity between their running game and play-action passing attack; Baltimore does an outstanding job of making the bulk of their plays resemble one another. Whereas many teams seem to have a distinct run-pass dichotomy that's relatively easy for defenses to decipher, the Ravens' playbook is littered with runs that look like passes, and vice versa. One of Baltimore's top play-calling sequences came early. With a 7-0 lead, the Ravens faced a first-and-10 at the Giants' 47-yard line. With base "21" personnel - two running backs, one tight end, and two receivers - the Ravens ran a simple power play from I-formation. Running back Ray Rice carried the ball for a modest 3-yard gain. In terms of yards, the run was an unsuccessful one. Statistically, any play of fewer than 4 yards on first-and-10 decreases an offense's probability of scoring on a given drive. This particular 3-yard rush, however, served a greater purpose. On the very next play, Baltimore again called for base "21 personnel." More important, the Ravens' tight end was Ed Dickson. Dickson has played 474 snaps this year, going into a route on 37.1 percent of them. For all practical purposes, Dickson is Baltimore's "blocking" tight end, while Dennis Pitta, who has gone into a route on 63.5 percent of his snaps, is the Ravens' "receiving" tight end. Before the snap, the Ravens put Dickson in motion, almost as if they were showing him off to the Giants to signify that a run might be on the way. From the I-formation once again, the Ravens showed all the signs of a run. When quarterback Joe Flacco turned to hand the ball to Rice, the Giants' probable suspicions were confirmed; a second-and-7 run seemed inevitable. With Flacco showing run-action, the Giants had eight defenders within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage. When Flacco faked the handoff to Rice and turned to look downfield, he had both Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith - the only two receivers in routes on the play - in man coverage. Working on the outside, cornerback Corey Webster initially had quality coverage on Smith. It became apparent later in the game, however, that the Ravens wanted to specifically target Webster. Flacco threw at him 14 times on Sunday, the most Webster has been targeted in any game since 2007. With Webster having allowed 10.58 YPA and 8 touchdowns in 2012, it was a smart decision for the Ravens. By the time the duo reached the 15-yard line, Webster was running with Smith stride for stride. Webster also did an excellent job of working Smith to the sideline. Smith ran a weak double move on the play, and Webster took advantage by getting to Smith's hip and running him toward the sideline. Once the ball was in the air, however, Webster couldn't handle Smith's strength. Smith used a swim move of sorts to work his way around Webster to haul in the deep pass, taking it to the Giants' 1-yard line. Throughout 2012, Smith has been the target of Flacco on deep looks coming off play-action. Actually, 21.4 percent of Flacco's dropbacks have been play-action passes, according to Pro Football Focus, and an incredible 42.7 percent of Smith's targets have come at least 20 yards downfield, by far the highest percentage of any wide receiver with at least 50 targets. Smith made a big catch on this particular play, but it was really all set up by a seemingly trivial 3-yard rush from Ray Rice.