2009 Jets, 2000 Ravens Have Striking Similarities

New York Jets fans may have a substantial statistical reason to believe this year could be the year.

Upon statistically comparing the 2000 Baltimore Ravens and the 2009 New York Jets, some incredible similarities came to light.

As many of you surely remember, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl with suffocating defense, a strong running game and a quarterback that doesn’t have to win the game, but won’t lose it.  The Ravens finished the 2000 season with a 12-4 record, far better than the 2009 Jets’ 9-7.  In fact, the Jets almost didn’t make it into the playoffs.  But as we dig deeper, the similarities become much more apparent. 

Quarterbacks

Many people forget that Tony Banks was the 2000 Ravens quarterback for 8 games that year, and actually had more passing yards (1,578 to 1,502) than Trent Dilfer.  This team proved once and for all that you can win the Super Bowl with defense.  As a quarterback, Dilfer had an amazing amount of awareness and it gave the Ravens a huge advantage to have such a cerebral offensive leader through the playoffs.

For the 2009 Jets, Mark Sanchez has had an inconsistent season, which is to be expected from a rookie.  He has passed for 2444 yards, which is about 500 less than Baltimore’s QB’s.  He exudes confidence; however, which is an undeniably important quality in every successful quarterback. 

He makes some really good throws at times and yesterday showed that he could provide the team with enough big plays from the passing game to keep defenses honest. 

Let’s dig deeper.

Running Game

The 2000 Ravens had two nice running backs with Jamal Lewis (1,364 yards) and Priest Holmes (588 yards). 

The 2009 Jets come at you with Thomas Jones (1,402 yards), rookie Shonn Greene (540 yards), and Leon Washington (331 yards).  Surprisingly, the 2009 Jets have the advantage in this category.  Their punishing running game is extremely powerful, yet can be sleek and super-quick as well.  It is surely a running game that their team can rely on.

Defense

The 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense was one of the best defenses of all-time.  I don’t think anyone is putting the 2009 New York Jets in that category just yet, but they have had a great season and deserve some recognition.  The 2000 Ravens only allowed an amazing 165 points scored against.  Ray Lewis and Co. also had about as much swagger as a defense could have. 

The 2009 Jets defense is ranked number one in the league in total defense, passing defense and scoring defense.  The 2000 Ravens were ranked number one in scoring and rushing defense, and second in total defense.

Other teams were genuinely afraid to face them.  The 2000 Ravens defensive line coach was… 2009 Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan.

The 2009 Jets defense is ranked number one in the league in total defense, passing defense and scoring defense.  The 2000 Ravens were ranked number one in scoring and rushing defense, and second in total defense.  Surprisingly small differences as both defenses, statistically, are very similar.

Coaching

The most obvious link between these two teams is Rex Ryan.  Until last year, he had been either the Defensive Line coach or the Defense Coordinator for the Ravens since 1999. 

Mike Pettine, in his first year as the Jets’ Defensive Coordinator, had previously been a defensive coach with the Ravens since 2002.

Mike Cavanaugh, the 2009 Jets’ Quarterbacks Coach, was the Offensive Coordinator for the Ravens from 1999-2004.

Dennis Thurman, the 2009 Jets’ Defensive Backs coach was a defensive coach with Baltimore from 2002-2008.

Like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 2009 New York Jets were very impressive by disposing of opponents in the playoffs (much like they did with the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday).  The Jets displayed a very tough running game, a smart quarterback and a defense that absolutely will not allow you to pass the ball.  As we witnessed in 2000, this is a great formula for winning football.  By the minute one thing they were lacking a bit of a few weeks ago: confidence & swagger. 

The Jets have a few more extremely tough games to win before we can fairly mention the two teams in the same sentence (from a historical perspective) but the similarities are certainly noteworthy and give Jets a fans a sincere reason to believe.  Even if the Jets fall short this year, it is clear they are built on a strong foundation with proven winners and a proven philosophy.

Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com