Game 15 – December 27, 2011
When you realize your team has earned a spot in the playoffs you hope they’re starting to peak and perform at their best. You want to watch them and get a feeling of confidence and swagger. But that’s not what I feel when I watch the Ravens offense not score a touchdown in the second half and show the inability to close the door on a team having a 4-11 record.
Make no mistake about it, there will come a time in the playoffs when the offense has to win the game by scoring more than three points in the second half. The last TD by the offense in the Cleveland game came with 8:58 left in the second quarter. Yes, you read that correctly. After a solid first quarter the offense sputtered for 45 minutes and a twenty point lead became a nail-biter in the fourth quarter.
The fast start was something we’ve seen all too infrequently lately. Over the last eight games in the first quarter the offense has been shut out four times while finding the end zone only twice.
Over that same time span they’ve scored more than 10 points in any quarter only one time after achieving that milestone seven times in the first seven games. Since the game at Pittsburgh the offense has been held to 20 points or less four times. The car seems to be running out of gas. At this point in the season the engine should be running as if just getting an all points tune up, but it feels like it’s time to look under the hood.
The game at Cincinnati will be an excellent barometer for the offense going into the playoffs. The chances of securing the top seed are slim so the Ravens will need to win on the road to get to Indianapolis. The Bengals are ranked 9th in points allowed at 19.9 per game. As this point the offense is on watch to see when they find the end zone again. If it’s not more often starting this week with so much on the line it’s unlikely to change in the post season.
|
Category |
2010 (rank) |
2011 to date |
2011 Ranking |
Difference |
|
Pts / Gm |
22.3 (16) |
23.4 |
13th |
|
|
Tot Pts |
357 (16) |
354 |
13th |
|
|
Yds / Gm |
322.9 (22) |
338.1 |
15th |
|
|
Rush Yds/Gm |
114.4 (14) |
118.3 |
14th |
|
|
Pass Yds/Gm |
208.4 (20) |
219.8 |
18th |
|
|
1st downs/Gm |
18.9 (18) |
19.8 |
14th |
|
|
3rd Down Pct. |
39% (T-16) |
43% |
7th |
|
|
4th Down Pct. |
40% (T-21) |
57% |
T-6th |
|
|
Penalties |
90 (T-18) |
85 |
T-24th |
|
|
TOP/Gm |
31:20 (11) |
30:40 |
10th |
|
|
Fumbles |
22 (T-17) |
24 |
T-7th |
|
|
Fumbles Lost |
10 (T-17) |
12 |
T-6th |
|
|
Turnovers |
+7 (9) |
+1 |
T-14th |
|
|
Red Zone % |
49.2% (22) |
50.0% |
T-19th |
|
|
Flacco QB Rating |
93.6 (7) |
79.7 |
20th |
|
Red Zone Conversion Rate for Teams with a Winning Record
|
Team |
2011 Red zone % |
2010 Red zone % |
|
1. NY Jets |
66.7% |
44.3% |
|
2. Green Bay** |
65.1% |
62.7% |
|
3. New England** |
64.2% |
61.9% |
|
4. Detroit** |
62.7% |
64.4% |
|
5. Tennessee |
61.8% |
58.1% |
|
6. New Orleans** |
57.9% |
51.5% |
|
7. NY Giants |
56.9% |
57.4% |
|
8. Pittsburgh** |
53.1% |
52.5% |
|
9. Oakland |
52.3% |
52.1% |
|
10. Atlanta** |
51.8% |
60.7% |
|
11. Ravens** |
50.0% |
49.2% |
|
12. Denver |
50.0 |
55.8% |
|
13. Dallas |
48.9% |
59.6% |
|
14. Cincinnati |
46.9% |
49.1% |
|
15. Houston** |
46.4% |
62.3% |
|
16. San Francisco** |
38.0% |
47.6% |
** (Team has clinched a playoff spot)
BTN will track the progress here on a weekly basis. Keep in mind for some categories a decrease is positive, as in the case of Fumbles lost, and an increase is negative, in as the case of Penalties.
