Chargers-Ravens Success & Stop Rates

The Ravens got the better of the Chargers on three out of five plays on both sides of the ball all day.  The game was still close because of San Diego's big plays on offense and the defense's ability to limit such plays when they were on the field.  Aside from a handful of electrifying plays on Sunday the game was difficult to watch as a Charger fan and these stats don't tell a substantially different story.  If anything some of the positives I took away from the game by watching it were taken away by looking at the game on a per play basis.

The Chargers offense put up some big yardage numbers on Sunday, but they were still unsuccessful on more than 60% of their snaps.  The only Charger player that consistently came through was Vincent Jackson and the only type of play the Chargers had any consistent success running was runs on third and short.  The former observation I'm certain you made on your own just watching the game.  The latter makes me feel slightly better about the thought process that likely preceded Turner's decision to run on 4th and short on the last play of the game.

The defense doesn't come out looking much better than the offense when you look at the game as a whole.  If you only look to the Ravens' last three possessions, however, the defense appears downright dominant.  It's an impressive turnaround for a unit that was basically run over for three quarters.  Hopefully, the defense we saw show up in the 4th quarter is the same one we see for the entire game against Miami.

Last week, Cooper led the team in both tackles and stops.  This week Weddle collected the most tackles, but the team lead in stops was a tie between Cooper, Hart and Phillips.  Hart had himself a very solid game and looked more like the player I expected him to be going into last year.  Perhaps having regained his health, he'll regain the form that inspired those expectations.