BEHIND THE NUMBERS: Offense takes a hit in the Big Apple

by Scot Kleinfeld

November 19, 2008
4:00 am

Reading Time: < 1 minute

BTN will provide the team rankings of the Ravens opponents for an easy comparison tool for the remainder of the season.

That thud you heard was the Ravens offense dropping in rank in nearly every category after the loss to the Giants. Red Zone Conversion % and Rush yards per game are the only rankings holding their own from last week. The question now becomes did the offense peak during the four game win streak?

From a statistical viewpoint the Eagles are the toughest team left on the schedule as they are the only remaining opponent ranked in the top 10 in both offense and defense.

Check back each week to see if Cam’s new system is leading the boys in the right direction this year. Here’s where the offense stands after week 11.

Ravens offense

Statistic	2007 Rank	2007 Avg.	2008 Rank (thru week 11)	2008 Avg. (thru week 11)
Total offense (yds / gm)	22^nd	302.0	19^th	318.3
Pass yards per game	23^rd	189.7	29^th	171.5
Rush yards per game	16^th	112.3	3^rd	146.8
Pts per game	24^th	17.2	18^th	22.2
3^rd down conversion %	18^th	38%	9^th	44.3%
Penalty yards per game	29^th	54.6	27^th	57.6
Penalties per game	27^th	6.7	T-28^th	7.5
Turnover ratio	32^nd	-17	T-17^th	+1
Red zone conversion %	27^th	42.2%	17^th	51.6%

Remaining 2008 schedule

Team (record)	Offense Ranking (PPG)	Defense Ranking (PPG)
Philadelphia (5-4-1)	6^th	8^th
at Cincinnati (1-8-1)	31^st	25^th
Washington (6-4)	27^th	7^th
Pittsburgh (7-3)	24^th	2^nd
at Dallas (6-4)	14^th	20^th
Jacksonville (4-6)	22^nd	13^th
Total winning %: 29-29-2 (.483)

Photo by Sabina Moran

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.