The Baltimore Ravens earned a richly deserved bye in the AFC playoffs after finishing with the best record in the conference at 14-2. But while they are resting up and hoping the flu bug that has swept through the squad will not take a long time to clear up, the postseason will begin in earnest this week.
While there’s plenty of reasons to believe the Ravens will sweep through the playoffs en route to their third Super Bowl visit, they’ll have to beat a couple of AFC teams to get there first. There are five potential opponents alongside Baltimore in the AFC playoff race, all with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Here we will take a look at the five other teams that potentially stand between the Ravens and a trip to the Super Bowl, looking at how they have fared in 2019 from a statistical point of view.
Kansas City Chiefs:
The Kansas City Chiefs secured the No. 2 seed in the AFC in the dying moments of the regular season. They won the AFC West with a 12-4 record and edged past the New England Patriots after the Patriots lost at home to the Miami Dolphins in Week 17.
Offense:
The strength of the team is their offense and primarily their passing game. The Chiefs scored the sixth-most points in 2019, with 51.8% of their offensive drives ending in a score — the second-highest rate in the league. The Chiefs did a masterful job of protecting their stud quarterback Patrick Mahomes, allowing a sack rate of only 4.2%. This was the fourth-best in the NFL. While Kansas City put up the fifth-most passing yards, they were ranked 23rd in rushing the football.
Defense:
Defensively they were middle of the pack this past season, allowing the 17th most yards but also the seventh-fewest points. The Chiefs were vulnerable on the ground, allowing the seventh-most rushing yards. But teams did not enjoy much success through the air against defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit, amassing the eighth-fewest yards. The Chiefs had 45 sacks, good for 11th in the NFL last season, and created these without a strong reliance on the blitz, sending extra rushers on just 29.1% of their plays.
They were fairly proficient with regard to taking the ball away from the opposition. The Chiefs ended 13.4% of their opponents’ possessions with a turnover. This was the ninth-best rate in 2019.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots won the AFC East for the 11th straight season in 2019 but failed to secure a first-round post-season bye for the first time since 2010.
Offense:
The Patriots offense was a shadow of the unit we have come to expect in recent years, as they finished 15th in total yards. The Patriots managed the 8th most passing yards, but Tom Brady managed only 4,057 yards through the air. These were the fewest he had managed in a full 16 game since 2010, when he managed 3,900. The Patriots amassed the 18th most rushing yards, but their 1,703 yards came at a pedestrian 3.8 yards per attempt average. This was the 8th lowest average among all teams. Only 36.1% of the Patriots drives ended with a score, good for No.15 in the league. But they were able to keep Brady upright, for the most part, boasting the 5th best sack rate in the league of 4.3%.
Defense:
The Patriots defense was one of the elite units in the entire NFL in 2019, finishing first in yards and points allowed. Their pass defense was downright suffocating as they allowed the second-fewest passing yards. They were only marginally more generous on the ground as they allowed fewer rushing yards than all but five teams. The Patriots 47 sacks were the 8th most. The Patriots used the blitz frequently and blitzed on 37.1% of their defensive plays. This was the sixth-highest rate last season. A whopping 17.1% of opposition drives ended with a Patriots takeaway, a rate exceeded by only the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings. Their defense finished the season with 36 turnovers, second in the league.
Houston Texans:
The Houston Texans won their second-straight AFC South title, the fourth time they have captured the division in six seasons under Bill O’Brien.
Offense:
Offensively the Texans were just a shade better than the middle of the pack, finishing with the 13th most yards and 14th most points. They were inside the top ten in terms of rushing yards, but 14 teams had more passing yards than the Texans. 37.9% of their offensive drives ended with a score and they scored touchdowns on an impressive 64.2% of their visits to the red zone. They kept up an unenviable trend of failing to protect their quarterback, with Deshaun Watson absorbing 44 sacks in 2019. The Texans had the sixth-highest sack rate in the NFL last season, and only one AFC team left in the postseason had a higher rate.
Defense:
The defense, for so long seen as a strength of the Texans, was substandard for much of the season. They allowed the fourth-most passing yards and eighth-most rushing yards, finishing with the fifth-worst defense overall. Their defensive frailties led to a reliance on the blitz, with extra rushers sent on 32.8% of all defensive plays. This “pressure” did little by way of forcing sacks, with the Texans racking up only 39 all season. This was the 26th most among all teams. The Texans were similarily unable to generate turnovers, taking the ball away only 22 times all season.
Buffalo Bills:
The Buffalo Bills secured the fifth seed in the AFC with their 10-6 record in 2019, marking their first 10 win season since 1999. They finished second in the AFC East behind the Patriots.
Offense:
The Bills offense was functional in 2019, but under no circumstances would you call it a prolific unit. Led by quarterback Josh Allen, they put up the 24th most yards whilst scoring the 23rd most points. They were a productive ground team, with only seven teams amassing more rushing yards than the Bills 2,054. The Bills finished 26th in passing yards, but only attempted the 24th most passes. As one would expect given these numbers, an awful lot of Bills drives ended without points being put on the board. They scored on just 30.1% of their drives, the seventh-lowest rate in the NFL. The Bills did allow a sack on 7.2% of their dropbacks, the 12th highest rate in the league.
Defense:
What they lacked on offense however they more than made up for on the defensive side of the ball. Only the Patriots allowed fewer points than the Bills, while the Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers were the only teams to give up fewer total yards. The Bills were one of only four teams to allow an average of fewer than 200 passing yards per game. They also allowed the 10th fewest rushing yards in total at a league-average clip of 4.3 yards per attempt. The Bills had 23 takeaways, the 10th most, whilst also accumulating the 12th most sacks.
Tennessee Titans:
Say what you like about the Tennessee Titans, they are consistent. They finished the 2019 season 9-7, marking four seasons in a row with that record. This time it was enough to earn them the No. 6 seed in the AFC in their second postseason berth since 2008.
Offense:
The Titans boasted the NFL leading rusher in Derrick Henry in 2019 and finished 3rd overall in rushing yards. Their total offensive production amounted to the 12th most yards and 10th most points. But things got a whole lot more impressive after they made the mid-season switch to Ryan Tannehill. Under the former Miami Dolphins quarterback, the Titans averaged 2.44 points per drive and 29.9 points per game. With Marcus Mariota under center, these figures had been 1.6 and 19. One thing that remained consistent whoever the quarterback, however, was an inability to protect him. The Titans allowed 56 sacks, the 3rd most in the NFL, at a league-leading rate of 11.1%.
Defense:
Defensively, the Titans were adequate at best. They allowed the 12th most points whilst surrendering the 21st most yards. The Titans were stouter against the run than the pass, giving up the 9th most passing yards but only the 12th most yards on the ground. Despite 73 quarterback hurries (a figure good for 7th most in the NFL), the Titans finished only 14th in sacks. Perhaps they could have leaned more on the blitz, which they used on only 24.8% of their plays — which ranked 21st in the league
