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  1. #1

    Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    I read on bleacher report a year ago, that in order to have a successful Super Bowl run all you need is:
    - An Elite QB
    - Multiple receiving targets
    - Players with positive playoff experience
    - Positive TO ratio (No need for a great D, just take the ball away more than they take it from you – Brilliant!)

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...super-bowl-run

    In another article they talked about building a firm foundation for a Super Bowl champion:
    - Talent - built by years of drafting well, strategic free agent acquisitions, and good salary cap management.
    - Depth - “Next man up”
    - Consistency in coaching
    - Good ownership – Create an atmosphere for winning and let the football people do their football thing

    All of this can be planned to an extent, but what about the intangibles? What about the stuff that just comes out of the blue during the course of a season that really brings the team together to focus on the Prize. Sometime back I read that while you need all the stuff written above, these things here are What you really need to happen during the course of the season to truly build the heart of a champion:

    - Luck with injuries. From staying healthy to having confidence (or just plain luck-out) in the “Next Man Up”
    - Luck with referee’s calls
    - Luck of the bounce (ye olde horseshoe in rectum all of our rivals claim we surely must have!)
    - Overcome Adversity. Coming together as a team against seemingly insurmountable odds creates a Champion
    - Have a surprise at the end of the year – do something nobody expected and nobody has film on
    - Clutch play when it counts

    What did the Ravens do to take advantage of these unknown quantities - or might they have planned on at least some of them from the get-go?
    Twenty years of Cheers.
    Thanks Baltimore Ravens Fans - You're the Best!





  2. #2

    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    Here’s my take.

    Luck with injuries. The Ravens were decidedly unlucky here. Although some may say that “timely” injuries forced the winning combo on the O-Line just in time for the playoffs. Also, was McKinney really not in game shape right up to playoff time, or did the Ravens hold him back so they could go into their second season with a fresh look in the trenches? Hmmm.

    Luck with refs calls. Probably got a foot or two on Ray Rice’s pivotal 4th and 29 lol. There were a couple others, but I wouldn’t say there was an inordinate amount of calls going our way from the officials.

    Luck of the bounce. The Ravens got a couple of these too, but I would attribute a lot of that so called luck to just incredible clutch play by players with their freakin’ hair set on fire by a whole bunch of inspiring events – including Ray Lewis’ retirement announcement. Many folks think we truly lucked out on Jacoby Jones TD catch in the last minute of regulation vs the Broncos. Me, I think it was a surprise play designed to fool the crap out of the defenders using Joe’s uncommonly high arc and Jacoby’s punt receiving abilities. If it wasn’t a designed play vs Denver, it sure was in the SB when they did the same thing against San Fran. (See “have a surprise at the end)

    Overcome Adversity. Shee-i-i-t! If Adversity were feces the Ravens would have enough to fill up both Golden Titties at the Dundalk Poop Plant lol! Take your pick on this one, but consider this. Was any of that adversity planned or even semi-considered by the Ravens ahead of time. I gotta think some of it was. Were all these rumors about Harbaugh’s Dog House intentionally manufactured to push the players into taking a stand (October mutiny), thereby bringing the team closer together? Was Ray Lewis’ retirement already planned out at or near the beginning of the year, but held off until such time as it would have the greatest impact of inspiring the entire team (which it obviously did)? Was Cam Cameron’s firing already pre-planned or at least contemplated at or near the beginning of the year for a time when the Ravens were near certain to have a playoff spot and Cauldwell was near ready to take over, thus providing a pretty big “surprise at the end of the year” for which no other team in the league had any tape? Hell by his comments shortly after being canned I think Cam Cameron may have even been in on it.

    Have a surprise at the end of the year. Again, you name it. The Ravens changed their O-Line, changed their offensive philosophy and changed from a team stuck in a four game losing streak to a team filled with players making clutch plays all over the field to surprise the shit out of everybody. Was it all a cosmic combination of unforeseen events, divine intervention, or just plain luck? Or did the Ravens plan to get lucky? Hmmm.

    I think they had a plan - either that or they pulled it out of their ass splendidly! :happyanim

    There's a bunch of other examples that apply to this "Recipe". Please have at it.
    Twenty years of Cheers.
    Thanks Baltimore Ravens Fans - You're the Best!





  3. #3
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    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    Poop PLANT!!! LMFAO!!!





  4. #4

    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    Plan & luck go together to make it to and win the SB. You have to have both!





  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by mmi16 View Post
    Plan & luck go together to make it to and win the SB. You have to have both!
    Agreed.

    Take a look at the last decade or so Super Bowl winners. All had a fair amount of luck that helped them along the way. We were no different.

    But that's not a knock on the Ravens. Rather, that's simply the league they play in.





  6. #6
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    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    I read on bleacher report
    people read things on that site?

    World Domination 3 Points at a Time!





  7. #7

    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    Quote Originally Posted by RavensQB View Post
    Poop PLANT!!! LMFAO!!!
    Attachment 1613Attachment 1614

    THE Dundalk Poop Plant
    Twenty years of Cheers.
    Thanks Baltimore Ravens Fans - You're the Best!





  8. #8

    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle View Post
    people read things on that site?
    In this case only to make fun of them. ;)
    There's was a rather simplistic recipe based on the recent successes of the so called "elite teams" i wager.
    Twenty years of Cheers.
    Thanks Baltimore Ravens Fans - You're the Best!





  9. #9

    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    I really think we're set up for a great set of years under Flacco. We remind me of the Cowboys of the late nineties. Big gunslinger QB, shifty running back, deep threat.

    Every decade has its dominant team. I hope this is the Raven's era.





  10. #10
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    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    Considering that two of the playoff games were blowouts, the Super Bowl was on its way to being a blowout before the power outage, and the Ravens beat the Broncos on the road despite TWO special teams touchdowns... Calling the Ravens Super Bowl run "lucky" is bogus. Yes, there was one lucky play, but the Ravens only needed that lucky play because of the bad luck of Jacoby and Pitta dropping back to back passes the drive before.





  11. #11

    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    Quote Originally Posted by PurpleApocalypse37 View Post
    Considering that two of the playoff games were blowouts, the Super Bowl was on its way to being a blowout before the power outage, and the Ravens beat the Broncos on the road despite TWO special teams touchdowns... Calling the Ravens Super Bowl run "lucky" is bogus. Yes, there was one lucky play, but the Ravens only needed that lucky play because of the bad luck of Jacoby and Pitta dropping back to back passes the drive before.
    Not sure either the Pats or Indy game could be called "blowouts"

    The Indy game was tied @ 3-3 with about 2 minutes left in the half. It was a 4-point lead (10-6) at halftime. It was still a mere one-score lead (17-9) with about 10 min left in the game, when Vinateri missed a 41-yard FG that would have trimmed the lead to 5. We didn't take a 2-score lead until the 9:16 mark of the 4th Quarter.

    Similarly, we were losing by 6 @ halftime against the Pats, and had only a one-score lead (21-13) until well into the 4th Q (11:13).

    But definitions of "blowouts" aside.....Of course the Ravens were "lucky" - ANY TIME you have a one-and-done playoff scenario with teams of largely equal talent, luck is going to be a factor - maybe even the predominant factor. To say so doesn't mean they weren't also very good, or imply that the team was undeserving of being crowned the NFL Champions.

    If you run that same 2012 playoff scenario ten times, the Ravens might only win the trophy one of those times. But if you ran ANY random year's playoff bracket ten times, the weakest teams in the field might win it less than once on average, with the very best team winning it all maybe two or three times max.

    I think a large part of Ozzie's philosophy on building a team recognizes this: Rather than attempting to build a dominant team for a relatively small window (1-3 years), where - even if you're clearly the best team in the NFL - your odds of winning the championship are probably less than %50 due to mere variance, it's far more profitable to build a sustainable, routinely playoff-caliber team that most years will just give you a shot.

    2012 Ravens (10-6)
    2011 Giants (9-7)
    2010 Packers (10-6)
    2009 Saints (13-3)
    2008 Steelers (12-4)
    2007 Giants (10-6)
    2006 Indy (12-4)
    2005 Steelers (11-5)
    2004 Pats (14-2)
    2003 Pats (14-2)

    Only one time in the last 10 years did the team with the best regular-season record win the SB. Mostly the champions have been middle-of-the-pack teams that got healthy at the right time, played well, and ran good.

    But that's not to say the success of the Steelers, Pats, Ravens and Giants (the only teams to win multiple championships since the turn of the millennium) is mere luck: It's the almost-inevitable result of the fact that those teams find a way to get to the post-season more often. Whether it's with a 14-2 or 10-6 record doesn't matter much: Just get in, hope your players step up and "luck" is in your favor. The more often you do this, the more championships you're likely to win.
    Last edited by MarkS; 04-18-2013 at 02:39 AM.





  12. #12
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    Re: Recipe for a Successful SB Run: Did the Ravens get lucky or did they plan it that way?

    1. You need both. Good plan, good fortune.

    2. Stop reading Bleacher Report.





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