Offense, not Defense improved in the playoffs

[mgridda]

One thing is most important

 

 

There seemed to be an aura about Ray Lewis' retirement. Everyone knew that with Ray, Suggs and Ngata all either completely out or nursing injuries throughout the regular season: our defense was uncharacteristically bad in 2012. For the first time in over a decade, we weren't a top 10 defense. However, there's a belief that Ray Lewis came back and the entire team started playing better: the defense especially. This aura was myth. The defense as a whole needed a make-over, and it didn't get any better when Ray Lewis came back for the playoffs. In fact, it was statistically just a bit worse. Of course, the competition was better, but I'll put it this way:

•  
• In the regular season, we allowed 21.5 ppg (12th best).
• In the playoffs, we allowed 22 ppg.
•  
• In the regular season, we allowed 350 yards per game (17th).
• In the playoffs, we allowed 428 yards per game.
•  
• In the regular season, we allowed a 36% 3rd down conversion rate
• In the playoffs, we allowed a 42% 3rd down conversion rate.

 

and for anyone curious, we even got run on more in the playoffs:

•  
• allowing 142.9 yard per game and a 4.4 YPer Carry average in the playoffs 
• but only a 122.8 yard per game and a 4.0 YPer Carry average in the regular season

 

2) Now, we also played better defenses in the playoffs. In fact, the defenses we faced were mostly better than the offenses we faced. But the differences to our offense were remarkable, and I don't think it has anything to do with Ray Lewis as much as it has to do with firing Cam Cameron, and Jim Caldwell letting Joe Flacco run the tempo, play calling and style of offense he wants. The turn-around, is due to Joe:

•  
• In the regular season we posted 24.9 ppg (10th best)
• In the playoffs, we posted 31 ppg (would have been good enough for 2nd best in the regular season)
•  
• In the regular season, we posted 352 yards per game (16th).
• In the playoffs, we posted 410 yards per game  (would have been good enough for 3rd best in the regular season)
•  
• In the regular season, converted 37% of our 3rd down conversions
• In the playoffs, we converted 46% of our 3rd down conversions (good enough for 2nd best in the regular season)

 

Now, mind you, we were the ONLY team who played 4 games last off-season, so our playoff team averages are of an even greater sample. 

 

 

I think what Ozzie is seeing is: with Joe Flacco, one of our young receivers can and will do a good job behind Torrey. My money is on Tandon Doss. And hopefully, hopefully, Bryant McKinnie will still be available after no one wants him, and right before training camp.

 

 

http://cbsboston.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/jf.jpg?w=400&h=532

 

 

---

P.S. 

Best to add this in here instead of start a whole other topic:

 

*) We could have afforded Anquan Boldin for 2013. We could have made all the moves we have made and still put Anquan Boldin out on the field without him taking a paycut. We didn't want to afford Anquan Boldin for 2013. It didn't seem smart. Ozzie didn't feel he was getting the right player, at the right price. The same ozzie who watches every practice. And I'm trusting that Ozzie will be vindicated with exactly why it's not smart after Anquan has a regular season even worse than his 2012 showing of 65 / 921 / 4 TDs, and a buried short post-season.

[arnie_uk]

Considering we ony had about 3 mil in cap before signing our rookies, we couldn't have afforded boldin.

[mgridda]

Here's another notion I really want to attack. 

 

For the last two years, the truth is that Anquan Boldin has under-performed in the regular season. We all love him as a person, and love his style of smash-mouth football. But his 1,000 yard production in Arizona wasn't replicated here. 

 

He never caught more than 65 passes, even.

 

In 2011, he produced 57 catches, 883 yards and 3 touchdowns. In 2012,  65 receptions, 921 yards and 4 touchdowns. So we all know. But, you'll all say:

 

BUT HE WAS A PLAYOFF HERO. DID YOU SEE HIM IN THE PLAYOFFS?

 

Yes, I did. I saw him in the playoffs. I just don't understand why we expect that we gave away 2013 Playoffs-Anquan Boldin to the 49ers for a 6th round pick, but that we're not going to get back 2013 Playoffs-Jacoby Jones, or the Torrey Smith who destroyed regular-season shut-out all-pro Champ Bailey, or that Bryant McKinnie won't perform the way he did during the 2013 playoffs for the 2013 regular season. Or that we won't get Joe Flacco of the 2013 playoffs in the regular season (mostly because it'd be absurd and would mean Joe would throw for 44 touchdowns and 0 interceptions).

 

There's this notion that Anquan Boldin is going to be as good as he was during the playoffs, yet everyone else on the team will not.

[arnie_uk]

And actually, no one here has ever said the defense got better in the playoffs, it was one of the worst defences in the history of superbowl winning teams, there was multiple threads on it from Callaghan with an abundance of stats.

I dunno where you got the notion from people thought the d improved

[BallHawker]

And actually, no one here has ever said the defense got better in the playoffs, it was one of the worst defences in the history of superbowl winning teams, there was multiple threads on it from Callaghan with an abundance of stats.

I dunno where you got the notion from people thought the d improved

 

From the numerous accounts of "Ray Lewis coming back revived the Ravens defense."

 

Great post mgridda. Always a pleasure reading your material.

[arnie_uk]

From the numerous accounts of "Ray Lewis coming back revived the Ravens defense."
 
Great post mgridda. Always a pleasure reading your material.

cant say I've ever seen one, they only thing I seen that he's revived was the hope and the emotion and passion to help this team through. Nothing to do with performance.

[JoeyFlex5]

agreed on all points. our defense was horrendous up until the goal line stand in the SB.

[Alexir]

Defense most definitely got better in playoffs. Take those 2 special team TDs we gave up and I think we were averaging an allowance of 13 points per game leading up to the SB and that's against Luck, Peyton, and Brady

[organizedchaos007]

You make some valid points, although I think Alexir brought up a good one as well. The numbers are skewed slightly defensively because we allowed 2 special teams TD's. But the fact remains our 3rd down % was worse, and we allowed more yards, but yet we played a double overtime game in Denver (almost a complete half game extra). 

 

I think we could have kept Q, if we let go of Leach, maybe restructured the contract slightly since we don't get Pollards credit of 2.5 mil yet. I think that you cant measure a receiver by being the reason you win/lose games (well not entirely). Q didn't exactly have the numbers, but he was THE receiver (outside of Pitta) who made that 1 catch on third down to keep a drive alive, to extend a drive and allow us to stay on the field longer. I think those things are just as crucial at putting points on the board , as is .... putting points on the board. I hope Doss can become that guy, Im just not overly confident in that, only because we saw him drop some important passes in the post season. 

[Inqui]

agreed on all points. our defense was horrendous up until the goal line stand in the SB.

I actually thought our defence did really well until Haloti got hurt, and then said goal-line stand. Gore and Kaepernick came up with a few big plays, but I thought we pretty much contained them most of the night.

 

And I think mgridda had an excellent point on Anquan Boldin. The FO's made a calculated guess about what they'll get from him and what they'll get from our young guys. Interesting to note that with Boldn gone, we were able to pick up Elvis Dumervil and Michael Huff and move up for Arthur Brown.

[rlh445]

Uh, nobody ever suggested the defense got better with Ray52 coming back (although it was marginally better when Suggs did). It was his drive, passion, heart and impending retirement that gave the team that extra surge and belief they were gonna get it done. We all know our defense was horrid :lol:. Also, I'm getting a little tired of the downplaying of Boldin. Its been going on by all the half-fullers since we traded him and it is ridiculous. His regular season stats weren't off the charts. So what?! Neither were Joe "Fluko's" (well at least that's what he was being called by the media beforehand). Joe's NEVER been a regular season beast and this is the first post season he's been so consistently good.

I don't care who is gonna replace him, it just better be somebody who's gonna come up big when we need them to because when push came to shove, Boldin did.

[mgridda]

No, this isn't the first post-season Joe's been so consistently good. I can't believe you've even just said that. Joe Flacco just had one of the greatest post-seasons of ALL TIME. Yes. ALL TIME. Any quarterback, ever. It's pretty much between him and Joe Montana in regards to that.

 

But, no. It's not the first.

 

In 2011 he had a 97.1 Qb Rating in the first playoff game, and a 95.4 QB Rating in our loss to the Patriots. Would have been higher if Lee Evans caught that drop, too. 

 

--

 

Finally, Joe has a reason for why his numbers weren't so great in the regular season: he was running a Cam Cameron paced offense. With Cam Cameron play selection. The difference between Joe Flacco that doesn't perform well and the one that does, is Joe Flacco calling the shots. When Joe is running his no-huddle, he's fantastic, and that's what the FO noticed, and that's why Cam got canned.

[PolishRifle]

I heard alot of analysts talk not so favorably about Lewis performance and as much as I hate to agree with them, because I am a fan of Ray that SB was won despite the way Ray Lewis played.

[hawkprey]

I tried to explain halfway into the season that the Ravens had 2 offenses last year: a Joe-centric one and a Ray Rice-centric one. The first was a no-huddle/up tempo/pass first offense that we used in much of our home games and the second was that run-run-pass-punt garbage that we did on the road to try and "bully" teams. We did some of both during the playoffs - hence the lack of production in the first halves of the Indy and Pats game and the second half of the Super Bowl. Caldwell helped open both offenses and add some creativity so the players weren't stranded. But the run game still stunk. We averaged under 4 ypc for the entire playoffs, which is about equal to Green Bay's rushing productivity during the regular season (22nd). So for everyone who whines about Aaron Rodgers not getting help from his team's ground game, Joe had the same situation during the playoffs and it didn't seem to hurt him.

[JoeyFlex5]

I actually thought our defence did really well until Haloti got hurt, and then said goal-line stand. Gore and Kaepernick came up with a few big plays, but I thought we pretty much contained them most of the night.

 

And I think mgridda had an excellent point on Anquan Boldin. The FO's made a calculated guess about what they'll get from him and what they'll get from our young guys. Interesting to note that with Boldn gone, we were able to pick up Elvis Dumervil and Michael Huff and move up for Arthur Brown.

our defense broke down, made mental errors consistently, and were too slow at most points of the second half, SF isnt even a fast offense, theyre a power-possession offense with a fast qb. we made crucial turnovers, and crucial stops when they made it into our territory in the first half, but we still allowed huge chunks of yardage in the first half. it was bend dont break, then it turned into straight up broken lol, in the end, kaeps inexperience played in our favor because in the red zone he couldnt outsmart us and find the holes. 

 

and yes releasing boldin hurt, but it was certainly the best move, cameron wouldnt allow our young guys to shine, because we had 2 starters at WR and due to his offensive scheme, they were the only ones who got a shot. with caldwell and joe running the show, guys like tandon doss will get a chance, and i think doss will put on a pretty decent show for us, and ravens nation will be surprised. i could see thompson making a few big plays sort of like jacoby did for us last year, and i could even see mellette showing up in year 2 or 3, that guys a sleeper

[raybaby]

Defense most definitely got better in playoffs. Take those 2 special team TDs we gave up and I think we were averaging an allowance of 13 points per game leading up to the SB and that's against Luck, Peyton, and Brady

 

This. The defense only felt like a liability in the Superbowl (Ngata getting hurt certainly didn't help).

[beanfigger]

I completely disagree on your analysis of the defense in the postseason.  I know defenses are ranked based on yards per game, but I think that's ridiculous because 485 yards is worth exactly zero points in an NFL game.  The Ravens defensive struggles were overstated in the regular season, as well, thanks to our stout defense in the red zone that kept us in games.  I know you mentioned the points per game not being so great, either, but two of those touchdowns given up were on long special teams returns against Denver.  Until the blackout in the Superbowl, our defense had given up just 11 scores (FG and TD combined) in more than 3 and a half games.  Is that stellar?  No, but when playing against the talent we faced in the postseason, it's nothing to sneeze at.  We gave up three scores (All FGs) against Andrew Luck's Colts, three scores (All TDs) against Peyton Manning's Broncos, and three scores (2 FGs, 1 TD) against Tom Brady's Patriots before surrendering just 2 FGs in the first half against Colin Kaepernick's 49ers.  Not only that, but throughout the AFC portion of the playoffs, we gave up just 1 FG (Indy) and 1 TD (Denver) in the three second halves.  We also had 6 INTs and 3 FRs that I can remember, in the playoffs.  Yes, the 49ers finally broke through and scored points on several possessions in the second half of the Superbowl, but that does not diminish the job the defense did throughout the entire postseason.  (In fact, without a BS roughing the passer call, that mind-blowing running into the kicker call, and a missed holding penalty on Kaepernick's TD scramble, not to mention Ngata's injury, those stats may have even been better, but I really don't want to start opening up that can of worms.)  Bottom line, both the offense and the defense stepped up in the postseason and played great, which allowed us to hoist the trophy awarded to the postseason's best team.

[billick]

Ray Lewis is a Raven 24/7. I am not going to say no Ray, no trophy. However, a BIG BUT.

 

Mr. Lewis had the eyes, ears, and hearts of his teammates. They held him in high esteem.

 

They listened when Ray explained which way things were coming from before, during and after the Super Bowl.

 

Gotta pay your dues, gotta pay the cost to be the boss. The Ray Lewis era is neverending.

[Bltravens]

Defense most definitely got better in playoffs. Take those 2 special team TDs we gave up and I think we were averaging an allowance of 13 points per game leading up to the SB and that's against Luck, Peyton, and Brady

 

This, and add in the first half in the Super Bowl when they gave up 6 points.  I'll always wonder what would have been if the lights didn't go out in the Super Dome.  I felt we were a way better defense in the playoffs.  Luck and Brady were completely held in check, Manning had success as he always does against us but 21 points to a Manning led offense isn't so bad (certainly not great though).  Take away the 14 from STs, there can be no possible way the defense alone gave up as many ppg as it did in the regular season.

[Ravenslifer]

The defense played okay in the playoffs except for the second half of the Superbowl, IMO.  We shut down the Pats and Colts, mostly shut out the Broncos (like was said, the ST touchdowns made that score as close as it was in the first place), and for the most part held the 49ers down.  However the points given up on special teams and the surge the defense did allow were problematic - the offense showed up in 4 straight games, which is definitely something I can't say it ever did under Cam.  The fact is that during the regular season both sides of the ball were flawed - we made a lot of personnel changes on defense that should hopefully make that better, and offensively I think Caldwell's scheme changes will do more than any personnel changes could.

[nextgen_RavensFan]

Considering we ony had about 3 mil in cap before signing our rookies, we couldn't have afforded boldin.

I do not care what it would have taken i would have found a way to keep him. The guy is the reason we are champions. His play-off catchs were all high light worthy and no one else on the team would have made them. Let me clarify on that. The side line catch's no one else would have made. The touch down catch's i think Pitta could have made the same plays but those side line grabs were pure Boldin works of art. Joe just lobbed them up in the air and had the faith in Boldin to go get them. Who else on the squad does he hold that same type of faith in to even attempt those throws ?

[mgridda]

. I hope Doss can become that guy, Im just not overly confident in that, only because we saw him drop some important passes in the post season. 

 

 

I wonder if anyone remembers Anquan Boldin's rookie year on the Ravens. 2010 NFL playoffs? Ravens v. Steelers? When Joe Flacco delivered the go-ahead touchdown to Anquan Boldin's hands in the endzone and Boldin dropped it? Anyone remember that, or do we all just remember Housh's drop on 4-19 later on?

 

Steelers would go on to the Superbowl. 

[mgridda]

and I'm sorry, do Special Teams touchdowns not count against Points Allowed in the regular season?

[mgridda]

  Take away the 14 from STs, there can be no possible way the defense alone gave up as many ppg as it did in the regular season.

 

 

I'm sorry, do special teams touchdowns/field position not count during the regular season against Points Allowed?

 

If we're holding the regular season statistics to one standard, why are postseason statistics exempt from it?

[mgridda]

I do not care what it would have taken i would have found a way to keep him. The guy is the reason we are champions. His play-off catchs were all high light worthy and no one else on the team would have made them. Let me clarify on that. The side line catch's no one else would have made. The touch down catch's i think Pitta could have made the same plays but those side line grabs were pure Boldin works of art. Joe just lobbed them up in the air and had the faith in Boldin to go get them. Who else on the squad does he hold that same type of faith in to even attempt those throws ?

 

Pitta has made some pretty damn contested catches, and he's leapt over people to grab balls before. Also, Torrey can jump out of a gym. I'd go with Torrey.

[The Raven]

I'm sorry, do special teams touchdowns/field position not count during the regular season against Points Allowed?

 

 

I'm sorry, but the defense did not allow them. The special teams units did. Was that not obvious?

[Bltravens]

I'm sorry, do special teams touchdowns/field position not count during the regular season against Points Allowed?

 

It does but I can only recall one defensive touchdown/special teams touchdown scored against us.  Field position is a wash, there were times we had bad field position in the playoffs defensively as well, particularly the Super Bowl.

Im just saying it doesn't seem possible we gave up more ppg in the playoffs than in the regular season with how well the defense played against Indy and NE, and really Denver to an extent taking away their ST touchdowns.

[Tyler]

To an extent, you could say the defense improved when they needed to most. Stats can be deceiving, when you look at games like Houston and Denver, but it wasn't a matter of the defense improving. We missed 5 of our leading tacklers in the first game with Denver and essentially threw bodies out there and hoped for a prayer. But the defense did step it up when it mattered most against New England, Denver, and in the Super Bowl. Key stops, not sexy statistics were the story in the Playoffs.

[HomeoftheBRAVENS]

Here's another notion I really want to attack. 
 
For the last two years, the truth is that Anquan Boldin has under-performed in the regular season. We all love him as a person, and love his style of smash-mouth football. But his 1,000 yard production in Arizona wasn't replicated here. 
 
He never caught more than 65 passes, even.
 
In 2011, he produced 57 catches, 883 yards and 3 touchdowns. In 2012,  65 receptions, 921 yards and 4 touchdowns. So we all know. But, you'll all say:
 
BUT HE WAS A PLAYOFF HERO. DID YOU SEE HIM IN THE PLAYOFFS?
 
Yes, I did. I saw him in the playoffs. I just don't understand why we expect that we gave away 2013 Playoffs-Anquan Boldin to the 49ers for a 6th round pick, but that we're not going to get back 2013 Playoffs-Jacoby Jones, or the Torrey Smith who destroyed regular-season shut-out all-pro Champ Bailey, or that Bryant McKinnie won't perform the way he did during the 2013 playoffs for the 2013 regular season. Or that we won't get Joe Flacco of the 2013 playoffs in the regular season (mostly because it'd be absurd and would mean Joe would throw for 44 touchdowns and 0 interceptions).
 
There's this notion that Anquan Boldin is going to be as good as he was during the playoffs, yet everyone else on the team will not.

Boldin missed two games in 2011 and the last game in 2012.If he wouldve played the full season(which he couldve last year but we decided to rest him) he wouldve had 1000 yards in both of those seasons.

[GTRavens]

I'm sorry, do special teams touchdowns/field position not count during the regular season against Points Allowed?

If you're going to actually hold that against the defense, that's...completely insane.