It’s mid December and already our hopes for spending the holidays watching our Ravens play meaningful games have been dashed. I don’t really care why…injuries, bad luck, tough schedule, poor coaching; it doesn’t matter to me. I just know I haven’t enjoyed watching the Ravens play practically all season except for the Patriots game.
Now the losing streak has reached seven games. Seven is one of those cool numbers that makes you think about being lucky. Usually when I think of this number I see big nights in Vegas or a pretty famous British secret agent. But now that number makes me see a team in the midst of a nasty rut and I wanted to do a little digging and find out just how bad things have been.
Below you will see some stats from the offense during the losing streak. Let me warn you; this is not for the faint of heart…these numbers are disturbing so please take a seat in a safe and comfortable place.
Offense
|
Game v.
|
Buff
|
Pitts
|
Cinn
|
Cleve
|
San Diego
|
NE
|
Indy
|
Total
|
Avg.
|
|
Points
|
14
|
7
|
7
|
30
|
14
|
24
|
20
|
116
|
16.6
|
|
Turnovers
|
1
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
24
|
3.4
|
|
Touchdowns**
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
13
|
1.9
|
|
FGs
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
0.57
|
|
3rd down %
|
5-15 33%
|
3-15 20%
|
3-10 30%
|
2-12 16%
|
5-12 41%
|
3-11 27%
|
6-13 46%
|
27-88
|
31%
|
|
Penalties/Yds
|
11 / 91
|
11 / 85
|
6 / 30
|
2 / 15
|
3 / 30
|
13 / 100
|
2 / 15
|
48 / 366
|
6.9 / 52
|
|
Red zone %
|
1-2 50%
|
0-0 0%
|
1-2 50%
|
1-3 33%
|
2-2 100%
|
3-4 75%
|
2-4 50%
|
10-17
|
2.4 APG 59%
|
|
Total net yards
|
308
|
104
|
272
|
368
|
210
|
376
|
243
|
1,881
|
268.7
|
|
Avg. gain per pass play
|
4.8
|
1.1
|
5.7
|
5.1
|
4.2
|
9.1
|
4.3
|
NA
|
4.9
|
|
Avg. plays per possession
|
5.6
|
3.4
|
5.4
|
5.8
|
5.8
|
5.5
|
6.0
|
NA
|
5.73
|
|
Avg. yards per possession
|
27.1
|
4.3
|
26.7
|
30.5
|
23.9
|
33.3
|
26.8
|
NA
|
24.7
|
|
QB Rating
|
82.1
|
43.6
|
61.1
|
63.0
|
89.3
|
105.3
|
61.2
|
NA
|
72.2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
** – Touchdowns scored by the offense only
The numbers don’t lie my friends. Our offense is like that one light in that long string that keeps blinking and wants to stay lit, but just can’t do it for long.
Do you see what I see? I see a seven game stretch where Matt Stover made only four field goals. I see a team averaging more turnovers per game (3.4) than red zone attempts (2.4). Think about that; we turn the ball over more times per game than we have chances to score in the red zone.
Some of these numbers are staggering. The offense averaged 4.3 yards per possession against the Steelers. The average gain per pass play in that game was 1.1 yards. I could fall down two times and gain more real estate.
But the stats that strike me the worst are Plays per Possession and Yards per Possession. During this streak the Ravens average drive is 5.73 plays for 24.7 yards. You can open a beer, take a drink and miss an entire Ravens offensive possession…often. How does that strike your profile coach Billick?
I’ll leave you with a few stats I guarantee you didn’t know. Of the 71 offensive possessions during the losing streak a whopping 14 have resulted in negative yardage…that’s nearly 20%. The offense has sustained drives of 10 plays or more only eight times for an 11.3% rate. The QB rating was over 65 only three times for an average of 72.2. And just for a little perspective, Cleveland QB Derek Anderson over his last seven games has a rating of 89.6.
Next week I’ll compare these disturbing numbers to those of teams that are playoff bound. That will tell you just how far the Ravens offense needs to go in order to compete with playoff caliber teams. And that will become increasingly more important given the recent decline in the Ravens’ defensive play.
