There are many ways to skin a cat

[perrykemp]

There is no specific blueprint for winning a Super Bowl. Look at the Ravens for the moment:

• QB passed for less than 4000 yards
• QB ended up with less than a 90 QB rating for the season (87.7)
• Good not great running game -- Rice ended up with 1143 yards
• No 1000 yard receivers or TEs
• No 10 sack pass rushers
• Only 13 interceptions as a team!
• Slightly above average pass rush -- 37 sacks. Nothing special

I can't help but thinking that great coaching and special teams were the biggest difference for the Ravens.

Either way, its easy to be lulled into think a team needs 4000 yard passers, 40 TD+ passers, 1000+ WRs, TEs..... 10-20 sack guys.. and bushels of interceptions to win a Superbowl. The fact of that matter is those aren't mandatory.

[Rack Bauer]

Originally Posted by perrykemp

There is no specific blueprint for winning a Super Bowl. Look at the Ravens for the moment:

• QB passed for less than 4000 yards
• QB ended up with less than a 90 QB rating for the season (87.7)
• Good not great running game -- Rice ended up with 1143 yards
• No 1000 yard receivers or TEs
• No 10 sack pass rushers
• Only 13 interceptions as a team!
• Slightly above average pass rush -- 37 sacks. Nothing special

I can't help but thinking that great coaching and special teams were the biggest difference for the Ravens.

Either way, its easy to be lulled into think a team needs 4000 yard passers, 40 TD+ passers, 1000+ WRs, TEs..... 10-20 sack guys.. and bushels of interceptions to win a Superbowl. The fact of that matter is those aren't mandatory.

They are a very well balanced team.

I do think their Running game is a bit better than just "Good" though. Rice splits a lot of carries with Pierce (Pearce?).

Also, Boldin may not have had a 1000 yard season, but he's as good as most any WR in the NFL when he's healthy.


And that OL... man that OL is good.

[LatinMind]

And they were 31st in penalties. Only the rams had more.

Coaching makes a huge difference.

[ABQcowboyJR]

I see great O-lines and D-lines on the 9ers and Ravens.

[LatinMind]

Originally Posted by ABQcowboyJR

I see great O-lines and D-lines on the 9ers and Ravens.

Ravens were a mess of an OL until the playoffs. basically 1 switch turned everything around. Moving Oher to RT and McKinney to LT.

[BanditHiro]

coaching matters and they rallied around murder face mclewis announcement.

[gbrittain]

The ravens also lost 4 of their last 5. I find that incredible. I had them dead in the water come playoff time.

[perrykemp]

Originally Posted by Rack Bauer

They are a very well balanced team.

I do think their Running game is a bit better than just "Good" though. Rice splits a lot of carries with Pierce (Pearce?).

Also, Boldin may not have had a 1000 yard season, but he's as good as most any WR in the NFL when he's healthy.


And that OL... man that OL is good.

Baltimore was ranked 11th in the NFL this season with 1901 yards rushing. They were in the top 3rd of the league but not top 10... good, not great.

Their OL also gave up 38 sacks -- 13th worst in the NFL.

I think the correct term for their 2012 performance, at least for the regular season, was "average".. nothing more.

[TheCoolFan]

Trenches! The Ravens don't have any All-Pro or Pro Bowl cornerbacks but their front four made some big-time plays. Paul Kruger had 2 sacks, Arthur Jones had a sack, and Courtney Upshaw had a forced fumble. We didn't even see Suggs or Ngata have any flashy plays and they still won..that's how impressive they are up front.

And of course their OLine has a bunch of big, strong guys.

[Rack Bauer]

Originally Posted by perrykemp

Baltimore was ranked 11th in the NFL this season with 1901 yards rushing. They were in the top 3rd of the league but not top 10... good, not great.

Their OL also gave up 38 sacks -- 13th worst in the NFL.

I think the correct term for their 2012 performance, at least for the regular season, was "average".. nothing more.

Hey I'm a cowboys fan... that looks "Great" compared to what our team did last year.

[perrykemp]

Originally Posted by ABQcowboyJR

I see great O-lines and D-lines on the 9ers and Ravens.

Their O-Line was very average in the regular season.

Their D-Line was in the bottom half of the league in sacks

Their D-Line was in the bottom half of the league is yards rushing allowed.

At least for the regular season, their lines were "average". They did seem to turn it around, much like the 2011 Giants, in the playoffs however.

[hairic]

No, passer rating is still strongly correlated.

Baltimore postseason passer rating:

Defense: 72.4 (best of 12 playoff teams)
Offense: 114.7 (best of 12 playoff teams)

[Rack Bauer]

Originally Posted by perrykemp

Their O-Line was very average in the regular season.

Their D-Line was in the bottom half of the league in sacks

Their D-Line was in the bottom half of the league is yards rushing allowed.

At least for the regular season, their lines were "average". They did seem to turn it around, much like the 2011 Giants, in the playoffs however.

THeir best 2 DL spent most of the season injured (Suggs, Ngata).

[perrykemp]

Originally Posted by Rack Bauer

Hey I'm a cowboys fan... that looks "Great" compared to what our team did last year.

True.

I guess I'm just fascinated that the Ravens <numbers> are so nondescript.... I'm a sucker for NFL eye-popping stats and a team like the Ravens remind me how much coaching, special teams, and solid fundamentals really means to winning in the NFL.

[AdamJT13]

Originally Posted by perrykemp

There is no specific blueprint for winning a Super Bowl. Look at the Ravens for the moment:

• QB passed for less than 4000 yards
• QB ended up with less than a 90 QB rating for the season (87.7)
• Good not great running game -- Rice ended up with 1143 yards
• No 1000 yard receivers or TEs
• No 10 sack pass rushers
• Only 13 interceptions as a team!
• Slightly above average pass rush -- 37 sacks. Nothing special

I can't help but thinking that great coaching and special teams were the biggest difference for the Ravens.

Either way, its easy to be lulled into think a team needs 4000 yard passers, 40 TD+ passers, 1000+ WRs, TEs..... 10-20 sack guys.. and bushels of interceptions to win a Superbowl. The fact of that matter is those aren't mandatory.

Regular-season performance can't win you a Super Bowl, it can only you into the playoffs. Look at what the Ravens did once they got into the playoffs, and you'll understand why they won it all.