You can bet that if it’s the holiday season in the Charm City, than the Baltimore Ravens are playing smash mouth December football. NFL Football in December is a different beast than it is in September, October, and for most of November.
Thanksgiving is usually the cutoff when the contenders separate from the pretenders. Teams that succeed this time of the year in the NFL are teams that can, run the football, play great defense by stopping the run, and excel on special teams.
The weather is a huge factor in why many successful teams change game plans and philosophies, but in order to do so, they must also have the personnel. You can’t succeed in December and January without having top tier talent. Fortunately, for the Baltimore Ravens, they have that talent on both sides of the ball, and the coaching staff has finally begun to use it accordingly.
Like the previous three seasons, the Ravens have begun their march towards the NFL’s post season. Their 24-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday was a workman like performance. In the heavy rainy and wind, Baltimore continued their domination over Cleveland, winning their seventh straight game versus the Browns, and fifth straight in Cleveland.
Head Coach John Harbaugh, who seems to draw criticism during the early stages of each season, knows what it takes to win in December, and January. He knows that you have to win your division games, and is now 15-7 against divisional foes since taking over for Brian Billick in 2008, and you have to win on the road. Harbaugh has also done that, and with Sunday's victory, is now 16-14 (20-17 including playoffs) away from Baltimore during his tenure.
Sunday's win over Cleveland was the Ravens sixth straight over a divisional foe and their eighth divisional win in their last nine divisional games.
Much of the Ravens success as a franchise in December can be traced before the arrival of Harbaugh. Former Ravens head coach Brian Billick geared his whole season, starting in training camp, for play in December, and January. Billick kept his players fresh when he could, often times drawing criticism for soft training camps, which the Baltimore media dubbed, "Camp Billick".
Whatever Billick did it worked, and rubbed off on players like future hall of famer's Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed. Both are often overheard preaching the importance of winning this time of year, as the Ravens have been a franchise that thrives after Thanksgiving.
Since 1999, Baltimore is 36-20 during the toughest time of the season, and was 26-16 under Billick. Harbaugh has continued where Billick left off so to speak during the last six weeks of the season, and has guided the Ravens to an 11-4 mark under his leadership.
Like Billick, Harbaugh has relied on the Ravens rushing attack, and great defense during this time of
year. Not many teams heat up like the Ravens when "December" football is needed, and the weather turns cold, calling for the ground and pound game.
During the Harbaugh era, and entering Sunday’s game, Baltimore has rushed for 152.6 yards per game in December/January, good for the NFL’s third best average over that span.
On Sunday in Cleveland, Rice rushed for a career high 204 yards, and one touchdown and back-up Ricky Williams chipped in with 76-yards and also added a touchdown. Only the New York Jets (153.3) and Carolina Panther (171.5) averaged more rushing yards per game during the Harbaugh era.
After Sunday’s team total of 290 yards, the Ravens bumped their average 161.8 YPG, and now only trail the Panthers. As I stated earlier, teams must also be able to stop the run, and play great defense this time of year. Nobody has done both as well as the Ravens in recent years. Since the 08' season, the Ravens have allowed just 83.2 rushing yards per game, the fewest in the NFL.
On Sunday, and once again without their leader in the middle, Ray Lewis, the Ravens defense dominated another offense. They held this year’s jinxed Madden cover boy, Peyton Hillis, to just 45 yards. This after Hillis used the Ravens defense as part of his climb towards notoriety last season, gaining 144-yrads on ray and company during a week three loss in Baltimore.
Since Lewis has gone down with a turf tow injury, the Ravens have held Cedric Benson, Frank Gore, and Peyton Hillis to an average of just 41.6 yards per game.
Head coaches have their holdups that tend to frustrate fans at times during a season, or for an entire season. Brian Billick’s willingness to stick with the much maligned Kyle Boller at quarterback was ultimately his undoing in Baltimore.
John Harbaugh is no different, and his failure to become more involved with the Ravens offensive game plan, and forcing Cam Cameron to rely on running back Ray Rice, instead of trying to turn quarterback Joe Flacco into an elite NFL passer, has also frustrated the fans in Baltimore at times.
Many believe that Cameron’s play calling during losses to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, and Seattle Seahawks is the only reason the Ravens aren’t a dominating 11-1, instead of a frustrating 9-3.
When Ray Rice has less than 14 rushes, as he did in losses to the Titans (13), Jags (5) and Seahawks (8), he has no touchdowns, and averaged just 44.8 yards per game. The most important stat is, the Ravens are 1-3 this season when that happens.
Following those losses, defensive superstars Terrell Suggs, and Ray Lewis voiced their displeasure with Cameron's play calling, and Rice wasn’t quite as patient waiting for his offensive coordinator and head coach to once again turn to him. Although not disrespectful, Rice voiced his displeasure with his lack of work during those losses.
When Rice has 14 or more rushes, he has nine touchdowns, averages 93.4 yards per game, and Baltimore is 8-0.
The trend of turning to Rice this time of year is not new this season. The Ravens, who were suffering from an offensive identity crisis throughout much of this season, did so for much of last season, until they turned to Rice in a mid-December win over Saints at home last year.
After attempting 52-passes just three weeks ago during a loss to the now 5-7 Seattle Seahawks, the third most in franchise history, the Ravens set a franchise record with 55-rushing attempts in Cleveland on Sunday.
Thankfully, the Ravens committed to Rice a bit sooner than last season, which began following the loss to to Seattle. However, the noticeable change in philosophy was seen on Thanksgiving night versus the 49ers.
With 3:20 remaining in the game, and the Ravens holding on to a seven point lead, they had third and five from the San Francisco 20-yard line. Now I don’t have to remind Ravens fans what Cameron, Flacco and the Ravens offense did in almost an identical situation exactly one year ago versus the Steelers, but I will for the sake of my point.
With a little under three minutes remaining, and on second and five, Flacco dropped back to throw and was sacked, and stripped of the ball by the Steelers Troy Polamalu.
The Steelers recovered, and eventually scored the touchdown that delivered the AFC North title, home field advantage, and another trip to the Super Bowl. Now call me foolish, but I believe all of that was possible because of that play.
Flash forward back to Thanksgiving night. Flacco takes the third down snap and hands off to Ray Rice, who was dropped for a one yard loss. It didn't matter, the Raves maintained possession, as Billy Cundiff drilled the 39-yard field goal extending the lead to 10-points. With the way the Ravens defense was playing, the game was all but over.
Sunday was the tenth time with Cam Cameron as the offensive coordinator that the Ravens have rushed for at least 190-yards or more, to no one’s surprise they are 9-0 when doing so. However, what makes this year’s struggles to commit to Rice hard to swallow is the fact that Baltimore is 25-2 when they rush for just 125 yards in a game, including 5-0 last season, and now 3-0 this season.
Raynell Maurice Rice is the key to the Ravens offense, and has been for the past two seasons. That’s not a knock on Joe Flacco, or Anquan Boldin, but Rice has the numbers to support this claim. The fourth year back from Rutgers University has compiled 29 games with at least 100 total yards from scrimmage, 27 since becoming the Ravens full time starter. That is the most in the NFL dating back to the 2009 season.
If a good defense can take Rice away from the Ravens offense, the Ravens may be in trouble, but only the Ravens seem to be the ones taking Rice away. If Rice is stopped by a good defense in the playoffs, than you can only hope the Joe Flacco versus the Steelers shows up, instead of the Joe Flacco versus the Titans.
When you consider all factors involved, the Ravens should be sitting at home waiting for their playoff opponent once the post season begins this year, with a first round bye. There is no reason they shouldn’t win out especially when you consider their next three opponents, the Colts, Chargers, and Browns once again have a combined record of 9-27. The Ravens may even break the rushing attempt record they just set this past Sunday, as none of the three teams rank higher than 26th against the run. The Colts and Browns are ranked 30th, and 31st respectively.
Yes, the Steelers have a soft schedule, and played a great December game themselves this past Sunday, when they blasted the Bengals 35-7 in Pittsburgh. Aside from the fact the Ravens are a better team this season, catching all of the breaks, the black and gold has to travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers, and in case you forgot, there is also a Harbaugh on that side-line as well.
The Steelers may have the No.1 ranked defense in the league in terms of yards allowed, but the Ravens are playing the best overall defense. It’s not even close when you consider all of the stats. The Ravens defense is No.1 in the NFL with 41 sacks, and 16 forced fumbles. They are No.2 with 10 recoveries, and No.3 in the NFL allowing 16 points per game.
The Ravens secondary has 13 interceptions this season, and compared to the Steele Curtain, that’s 14 more sacks, and 11 more turnovers. This on top of the fact that the Ravens are 10 turnovers better in terms of plus/minus. The Steelers are a minus-6, while the Ravens are ninth in the NFL with a plus-4.
Having the No.1 overall defense in terms of yardage doesn't really mean a whole lot. It's the sum of all the parts that matter. Back in 2000, the Ravens finsihed the regular season with the No.2 overall defense behind the Tennessee Titans. Whose defense is considered one of the greatest all time to this day?
The Ravens have some issues to iron out; they aren’t ready to bring the franchises second Lombardi trophy back to the big castle in Owings Mills just yet.
Ultimately would it surprise anyone if the Ravens and Steelers met for a third time in one season, for the third time in the last four years? If things stay as they are, this one would be in Baltimore, and that is the difference this season.
Baltimore is 6-2 in December at home under Harbaugh. However, those two December losses at home were to Pittsburgh. This seems different this season, and it appears to be the year of the Ravens. Besides, the Ravens have a better formula to beat teams like the Packers and Saints than do any other team in the AFC, including the Steelers.
If Pittsburgh couldn’t beat the wild card Packers last year in the Super Bowl, how would they handle, with practically the same personnel in Pittsburgh, an undefeated and even better Aaron Rodgers this year? The Ravens are better equipped to beat them, and the Saints, if all of these teams make it that far.
Much like the Giants did to Tom Brady a few years back in the Super Bowl, Baltimore would rush Rodgers with pressure like he hasn’t seen this season. They say the best defense, is not to play any at all, as both the Saints and Packers possess middle of the road run defenses, which Rice and the Ravens could very easily exploit, keeping both high powered NFC offenses on the sidelines.
If the Ravens make it to the big game, and the 49ers are waiting for them, they already have the formula for beating the NFL's best rushing defense, having already done so on Thanksgiving. Rushing for a respectable 92-yards, the Ravens stuck with Rice, and dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, tying a franchise record on defense with nine sacks.
That is all very much easier said, than done, but of all the teams in the AFC, the Ravens stand the best chance to take down those NFC teams.
They, meaning John Harbaugh, and Cam Cameron, seem to get it now, and as long as they stick with their main course of Rice left, Rice right, and Rice up the middle, the Ravens will finally host a playoff game for the first time since losing to the Colts in 2007, maybe even two of them.
The Ravens are coming together on offense at just the right time; in other words, Baltimore is starting to climb to a peak that they could reach the first Sunday in February. Ricky Williams and Vonta Leach along with Ray Rice make-up one of the best backfields in the NFL.
For you Flacco fans, he will be needed to win a big game before the season is over, and he’s starting to play real well. Getting home field advantage is important, but has a bit more importance to the Ravens fourth year signal caller. Flacco is a top tier NFL quarterback at M&T Bank Stadium during his career, and owns 25 career wins at home, the most among NFL starting quarterback since 2008.
Although he has struggled this season, with a 55.3 completion percentage, Flacco has been solid in recent weeks when it counts. Prior to Sunday’s game in horrible conditions, Flacco posted back-to-back QB ratings over 100, and completed 64 percent of his passes.
No.5 was crisp and sharp, in wins over the Niners and Bengals. Even in Cleveland, where drops by his receivers, and bad weather plagued his numbers, he seemed to be able to throw the ball through a bread box with precision. Flacco is a big reason why the Ravens have won three games in 14 days, but the No.1 reason is Rice, and the defense.
If Cameron sticks with Rice as Baltimore’s main course on offense, and you get the feeling he’s going to, than the Ravens will serve up the best of ironies to the great football fans of Baltimore—A Chance to win a Super Bowl in the house an Irsay built.
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