Street Talk

BEHIND THE NUMBERS: Offensive slide continues v. quality opponents

by Scot Kleinfeld

December 20, 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.

The Red Zone % took a major hit and dropped from 16th to 22nd. By now the passing game should have improved, but continues to struggle and ranks 28th. Other than the Colts and Giants games the defense has posted every week while the offense, although respectable, has averaged only 10.4 points in the five losses.

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 15.

Ravens offense

Statistic	2007 Rank	2007 Avg.	2008 Rank (thru week 15)	2008 Avg. (thru week 15)
Total offense (yds / gm)	22^nd	302.0	21^st	311.8
Pass yards per game	23^rd	189.7	28^th	170.1
Rush yards per game	16^th	112.3	6^th	141.7
Pts per game	24^th	17.2	16^th	23.2
3^rd down conversion %	18^th	38%	13^th	41.4%
Penalty yards per game	29^th	54.6	23^rd	50.8
Penalties per game	27^th	6.7	T-27^th	6.6
Turnover ratio	32^nd	-17	T-4^th	+8
Red zone conversion %	27^th	42.2%	22^nd	48.8%

Remaining 2008 schedule

Team (record)	Offense Ranking (PPG)	Defense Ranking (PPG)
at Dallas (9-5)	13^th	12^th
Jacksonville (5-9)	24^th	19^th
Total winning %: 14-14 (.500)

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.