A Passing Fantasy Issue 105

NFLBP Player Newsletter 2001 Superbowl

ed Robert Crowther

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Championship Game Review


The Raiders made a good start in Cincinnati and managed to hold onto their lead thanks to an unusually high number of mistakes from the reigning champions. The Bengals were moving the ball well but six turnovers helped keep them out of the endzone until the fourth quarter when it was too late. Neither team seemed in scoring mood in St Louis, a solitary field goal gave the Rams the edge at halftime. In the third quarter St Louis got two ultimately decisive touchdowns, Philadelphia mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter but another touchdown from the Rams sealed the game.


Divisional Bowl Review


San Francisco overcame four turnovers and some slightly erratic kicking to edge past the Patriots. Green Bay controlled the ball and the clock but it was Denver's big plays that amde the difference, coming from behind in the fourth to win.


Silver Bowl Review


Carolina looked impressive again as they dismantled Miami. After an opening quarter field goal the Panthers' offense just never let up. Detroit were similarly impressive in New York, shutting down the Jets on offense after building up a 13 point first half lead.


Bronze Bowl Review


The Redskins were never in it in New Orleans after the Saints score two first quarter touchdowns. Washington didn't get into the endzone themselves until the fourth quarter, by which time it was all over. Arizona's offense, for once, was pulling it's weight while Cleveland found it tough going against the Cards' defense.


Bengals 7 Raiders 17 Post game press conference

Darren Birtchnell


For the first time in 4 years the Bengals won't be going to the Super Bowl. Coach Birtchnell was clearly disappointed to have lost to their big rivals Oakland but he was philosophical in defeat.


"Yeah I'm disappointed, any time you lose you're disappointed. But the way we lost annoyed me a bit. Not that you can take anything away from Oakland, they played a very good game, but we just couldn't hang onto the ball & when we needed our defense to make a big play they couldn't come up with one.


"Turnovers were the biggest factor & any time you turn the ball over 6 times in a game you're not going to win, especially against a team as good as the Raiders. But I have to be honest I was worried about us turning the ball over in the playoffs as we've given the ball away far too many times during the 2nd half of the season. In our last 11 games we've given the ball away 35 times, & you can't win a championship if you do that. In our 2 biggest games this season, against the Patriots in week 11 & today against Oakland, we've committed 11 turnovers. That says it all really.


"But you have to give credit to Oakland for forcing all those turnovers & I hope they go on to win it all. They've had to get there the hard way, beating New England & now us on the road so they certainly deserve their shot at the title.


"But I'm sure we'll be back again next season, most of the squad has remained intact & we've added a couple of new faces to the roster, & with a bit more experience we'll cut down those turnovers on offense as well.


NFLBP Super Bowl Preview - Oakland Raiders v St Louis Rams

Martyn Williams


Head to Head - Regular Season Stats


RUSHING OFFENCE

Team

Rank

Att

Yds

Avg

TD

Fm

Rating

Rams

1

527

1919

3.64

22

10

72.92

Raiders

3

480

1869

3.89

16

10

69.89


PASSING OFFENCE

Team

R

Cmp

Att

Pct

Yds

TD

I

Sk

Rat

Rams

9

278

474

58.7

3686

33

19

49

89.86

Raiders

11

334

551

60.6

3892

35

23

45

85.81


RUSHING DEFENCE

Team

Rank

Att

Yards

AvgR

TD

Fm

Rating

Rams

2

439

1137

2.59

4

17

44.73

Raiders

5

406

1376

3.39

3

13

51.39


PASSING DEFENCE

Team

Rnk

Cmp

Att

Pct

Yds

TD

I

Sk

Rat

Rams

4

297

508

58.5

3440

21

25

46

72.29

Raiders

5

301

547

55.0

3500

18

16

60

73.38


TURNOVERS

Team

Rank

T/O +/-

St Louis Rams

5

13

Oakland Raiders

15

-4


KICKERS

Team

Rank

KickRat

Oakland Raiders

1

95.63

St Louis Rams

2

95.58


Head to Head - Play Off Stats

(NB - only includes teams contesting Championship Games)


RUSHING OFFENCE

Team

Rank

Att

Yds

AvgR

TD

Fm

Rating

Rams

1

58

319

5.50

2

1

80.17

Raiders

3

56

246

4.39

1

2

58.75


PASSING OFFENCE

Team

R

Cp

Att

Pct

Yds

TD

I

Sk

Rating

Raiders

1

49

71

69.0

604

4

1

5

107.95

Rams

4

29

52

55.8

345

4

3

10

77.80


RUSHING DEFENCE

Team

Rank

Att

Yards

AvgR

TD

Fm

Rating

Raiders

1

46

221

4.80

1

4

36.74

Rams

2

63

239

3.79

0

3

42.66


PASSING DEFENCE

Team

Rnk

Att

Pct

Yds

TD

Int

Sk

Rating

Rams

1

63

50.79

448

3

6

3

50.33

Raiders

2

73

64.38

569

2

5

6

68.81


TURNOVERS

Team

Rank

T/O +/-

Oakland Raiders

1

6

St Louis Rams

2

5


KICKERS

Team

Rank

KickRat

St Louis Rams

1

100.00

Oakland Raiders

2

89.72


Head to Head - Regular Season Common Foes


Browns - Rams win 27-10, Raiders win 48-19

Buccaneers - Rams win 40-0, Raiders win 51-7

Cardinals - Rams win 24-14, Raiders lose 13-20

Jets - Rams win 27-6, Raiders win 30-0


OK, so there you have all the relevant stats, but what do they all mean in terms of both teams strengths and weaknesses and how they will match up against each other? Well logically you would expect a teams play off stats to be lower than their regular season stats simply because of the improved ability of the opposition, but what immediately jumps out at you is that both teams have equal or better stats in almost every category during the post season so far.


The Raiders especially have experienced an amazing upturn in form, as would be expected given two victories against 15-1 teams. During the regular season Oakland’s pass offence was good but not great, but during the playoffs it has been sensational, averaging over 300 yards per game and with Don Hollas having a QB rating of 107.95. In comparison Kurt Warner’s stats look poor, but that is mainly due to a 3 interception performance against Green Bay. Against the Eagles constant pass rush he was far more impressive with his ball protection and decision making. Both teams are more than competent at defending the pass, the Raiders relying mainly on their strong pass rush, while the Rams compensate for an average pass rush by picking off passes for fun. This trend has continued for both teams into the playoffs, although the Raiders will be concerned with their oppositions 64% completion percentage.


The Rams have had the leagues leading rushing attack all season, but as a 3.6 yard per carry average shows, it really was grind it out, nothing spectacular. But in the play offs that has all changed with a 5.5 yard per carry average, which is even more impressive given the fact that they went up against the Eagles top ranked run defence last week. During the season the Raiders running game had similar success to the Rams with a much greater variety of plays keeping their oppositions defences off balance, although in the post season a pair of fumbles will have caused Coach Crowther some concern. Defending the run has been a strong point of the Rams since week 1, keeping opponents to only 2.6 yards per carry all season and recovering 17 fumbles along the way. During the playoffs that average per carry has increased, but so have the fumbles, and the Eagles and Packers couldn't score on the ground. The Raiders rush defence has also been good all season, but has conceded 4.8 yards per carry getting to the Super Bowl, although that doesn't really matter when you look at the 4 recovered fumbles.


Something the Raiders struggled with during the regular season was turnovers, a -4 ratio helped them lose more games than expected, whereas the Rams +13 ratio helped them to their first NFC West title. Once again though the Raiders have improved considerably since week 16, and both teams have won the turnover battles with ease in their two post season games so far. Looking at special teams both teams look about equal, if anything the Raiders have the better kicking game and the Rams the better return team.


So the big question is, who will win? It really looks very close, and if either Coach were to say they were 100% confident of victory they would be lying. On paper and on season long form the Rams look the best bet, they have been consistently good since week 1, and have now won 9 straight games, while in contrast the Raiders tended to win big or lose games they really had no right losing - they certainly didn't look consistent. However, the Raiders seem to have moved up a gear during the play offs and have a defence capable of pressuring Kurt Warner, and forcing mistakes from the Rams rushers, if not actually stopping them from gaining yards. Of course you could argue that the Rams defence has been containing their opponents all season, and has also been very good at turning turnovers into points. More importantly for the Raiders perhaps is they also have a passing attack that looks very capable of winning them the Super Bowl on current form. This is where I think the game will be won or lost, with the success, or lack thereof, of Oakland's passing game. I'm sure Coach Crowther will have an entirely different view on things, but there you go. Oh, and if you were hoping for an insight into the Rams possible gameplan to beat the Raiders, you can think again given the allegiance of our esteemed editor!





NFLBP Player Newsletter

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ed Robert Crowther