in the case of the 2000 ravens, you’re leaving out that the defenses dominance will skew the time of possession in their favor. Can’t keep the other team off the field if you’re going 3 and out and turning the ball over.
that offense was not average. In today’s nfl the 00 ravens defense stands a better chance at dominating the entire league, than the 00 ravens offense would have at being average. That offense would be a dead last offense in the modern game, because they couldnt throw the ball worth a fuck, but that defense survives in any era.
they ran the ball VERY well, no debating that, and in 2000 that really meant something, but what is the ravens gameplan if they don’t have the greatest defense of all time allowing them to run literally their only possible gameplan?
the ravens had one means of moving the ball, and you simply can’t do it and win games without a great defense. That offense doesn’t work on it’s own.
OK, couple things here:
1. A dominant defense will give an offense more opportunities to possess the ball, but it won't guarantee that the offense will do anything with the ball when they have it. The two things are unrelated. Quantity of possessions will be higher with a good defense, but the length of time you actually possess the ball may not. That would depend on how efficient the offense is. If you have a ball controlling offense that likes to run the ball, it works. If you were running an inefficient, untalented version of the air raid, with those players, the offense would be dead last in time of possession, because they'd go 3 and out faster and more times than the defense would.
2. Yes, the 2000 defense would do better in 2021 than the 2000 offense would. That's not exactly a revolutionary concept. Any team that couldn't throw the ball worth a shit in 2000 sure as hell isn't going to be able to do it in 2021.
But that's also a fools gold argument.
As for the defense, they ranked 8th in the league against the pass in 2000. It would be almost impossible to argue they'd be inside the top 10 in 2021, and quite frankly, they may be below average. That defense was not built, at all, to stop a modern passing game. Like you could go player by player and you would find offensively-favored mismatches up and down that lineup. That defense was built as a brick wall against the run, force all offenses into down and distance issues, and then bring pressure on 3rd down. There are many, many, many offenses in this league who could beat that very easily. Many of the very good defenses in 2021 are closer to the exact opposite style of the 2000 Ravens defense, and there's a reason for that.
3. What's the Ravens gameplan if the defense fails? I don't know... probably lose. What was our gameplan in 2008 or even 2009 when the defense failed? They were built similarly.
Not many teams in the history of the league have quality gameplans, or even the talent, to overcome when their best asset isn't working. And it really doesn't matter what that asset is. Could be QB play, could be running game, could be defense, could be pass rush.
