Street Talk

BEHIND THE NUMBERS: OFFENSIVE REPORT CARD AT THE SEASON’S MIDPOINT

by Scot Kleinfeld

November 14, 2006
4:00 am

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The season is now officially at the midway point and itâ€™s time to see how the Ravens stack up against the other playoff contenders.

In case you missed the articles reviewing the 2005 season and the first quarter report card, let me explain how these statistics were created. (By the way you can click on the archives icon just above to see the results at the quarter pole of the season.)

This article analyzes the disparity in key statistical categories between the 2006 Ravens and the eleven other teams in the NFL having a winning record after week 8. I compiled the Offensive numbers and found the average of the 2006 winning teams. I then compared those averages to the stats of the 2006 Ravens through the first eight games.

Compared to the other eleven teams with a winning record, the Ravens offense still does not stack up very well. The table below lists the four "best" offensive categories for the Ravens through eight games. Weâ€™ll call this the "Good" list.

OFFENSE: The Good
Statistic	2006 Winning teams average	2006 Ravens	% Difference (+ / -)
Turnover ratio	+ 4.6	+ 14	+ 343%

Sacks allowed	14.5	13	+ 11.5%

Time of possession	32:04	32:14	+ less than 1%

Pass completion %	60.1%	59.1%	– 1.7%

Since the running game is still struggling, expect to see the pass yards per game numbers rise as the season continues. Check out the "Bad" list.

OFFENSE: The Bad
Statistic	2006 Winning teams average	2006 Ravens	% Difference (+ / -)
Penalties	46.8	48	– 3.4%

^{Third down conversion %}	^41.9%	^{39.5 %}	^{– 6.1%}

^{Points per game}	^23.9	^21.4	^{– 11.7%}

^{Pass yards per game}	^206.7	^183.1	^{– 12.9%}

The Red Zone conversion percentage is still slowly moving in the right direction and BTN expects to see that stat reach the 50% range by the next report card.

^{OFFENSE: The Ugly}
^Statistic	^{2006 Winning teams average}	^{2006 Ravens}	^{% Difference (+ / -)}
^{Total Offense}	^336.1	^287.1	^{– 17.1%}

^{Red Zone TD %}	^54.1%	^46.1%	^{– 17.2%}

^{QB Rating}	^87.7	^73.8	^{– 18.8%}

^{Rush yards per game}	^129.4	^104.0	^{– 24.4%}

Of all the teams with a winning record, only New Orleans (92.3 ypg) and Indianapolis (101.5 ypg) run the ball worse than the Ravens after eight games.

Check back soon for the second quarter report card on the Ravens Defense.

Scot Kleinfeld

Scot is a Baltimore native, a Towson University graduate, and has followed sports since the early 1980's. Scot likes to go inside the numbers and get the real "411" on the wins and losses, hence his Behind The Numbers column. Besides being an avid sports fan, Scot has been involved with televison sports production as an Associate Producer since 1993 for WMAR, ESPN, ESPNU,ESPN2, and the former Home Team Sports network. In addition to his television work Scot has written articles for Baltimore Magazine, Lacrosse Magazine and Patuxent Publishing. These experiences make him a natural as the creator of the Media Watchdog, another of SK's fine contributions.