The defending Super Bowl champions continue to attract money from the betting public despite being a below-average team from the line of scrimmage. Baltimore is coming off a misleading 19-17 loss to Green Bay, but that game was never close as the Ravens were outgained 360 yards at 5.9 yards per play to 440 yards at 7.0 yards per play. Let’s take a closer look at why the Ravens are subpar in almost every statistical category this season:
Baltimore Offense:
The Ravens have really struggled on the offensive side of the ball this season as they are averaging just 22.3 points per game on 2.7 yards per rush play, 6.7 yards per pass attempt and 5.1 yards per play. Overall, Baltimore is 1.0 yards per rush play, 0.2 yards per pass attempt and 0.5 yards per play worse than average offensively in 2013. The most shocking statistic is Baltimore’s inability to run the ball, which has caused the Ravens’ to become a one-dimensional offense. “There’s a lot that goes into it,” coach John Harbaugh said. “There are many different things that we’ve looked at over the last few days to try to improve. We definitely have the men to do the job. We’ve got the talent up front and at running back.”
Baltimore Defense:
The lone bright spot for Baltimore this season has been its run defense that is yielding 98 yards per game on 3.6 yards per carry. Overall, Baltimore is allowing 21.5 points per game on 7.3 yards per pass attempt and 5.7 yards per play. However, the Ravens’ stop unit has been non-existent on the road where they are allowing 31.7 points per game on 385 total yards yards (8.3 yards per pass attempt; 6.0 yards per play; 12.1 yards per point).
Baltimore Special Teams:
Baltimore’s special teams have looked decent this year as the Ravens are averaging 27.4 yards per kick return and 16.7 yards per punt return against teams that combine to allow 23.4 yards per kick return and 11.3 yards per punt return. Overall, the Ravens are 4.0 yards per kick return and 5.4 yards per punt return better than average, which certainly helps their anemic offense with field position.
Baltimore is currently 3-3 on the season, but we would be surprised to see the Ravens finish the season with a winning record. Despite carrying the tag of defending Super Bowl Champions, the Baltimore Ravens are a pedestrian team from the line of scrimmage and resemble a .500 squad at best.