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Ravens Special Teams Among NFL's Best

Viewers of Super Bowl XLVII got a glimpse of how good the Ravens Special Teams were this past season, as Jacoby Jones took one 108 yards to the house to start off the second half.

By Bruce Raffel
USA TODAY Sports

The kickoff return for the record-setting TD by Jacoby Jones was proof positive of how good the Baltimore Ravens Special Teams was in the 2012-13 season. That return was the fourth of Jones' season, after having two kickoff returns and a punt return for touchdowns during the regular season.

Jones 108 yard return (which should have been 109 yards but hey, who's counting?) in Super Bowl 47 might have set a Super Bowl record, but it only tied his regular season one, and he is the only player to have two kickoff returns in one season of 105 yards or longer. Add in Jones' 56 yard TD catch in the Super Bowl, and you would have had a strong argument for him to be the game's MVP, although it is still tough to argue QB Joe Flacco's performance.

The Ravens Special Teams were rated 3rd in Dallas Morning News' Rick Gosselin's Special Team Rankings (NOTE: This is a pay site, so I listed his rankings in detail below). He ranked the Minnesota Vikings first and the Cincinnati Bengals 2nd, followed by the Ravens. Remember, it's not just based on returns, it also takes into consideration coverage as well as punting, field goals and extra points.

Interesting to note is that the Ravens finished worst in the league in opponent's field goal percentage (94%). However, this could easily be negated by the fact that the Ravens were among the NFL's best defense when backed up against their own Red Zone. Thus, that resulted in opponents having to settle for short field goals rather than scoring touchdowns, hence the "poor" field goal percentage allowed by the team.

Check out his ranking in all the categories that make up his overall rankings, and note, since this is from a Dallas newspaper, the Cowboys ranking in each category is listed.

Rk.

Team

Points

1.

Minnesota

253.5

2.

Cincinnati

276

3.

Baltimore

277

4.

Miami

296

5.

Seattle

302

6.

San Diego

305.5

7.

NY Giants

310.5

8.

Buffalo

319

9.

Chicago

320

10.

Arizona

335

11.

Denver

335.5

12.

Green Bay

337

13.

New England

338.5

14.

Cleveland

341

15.

San Francisco

344.5

16.

Tennessee

358.5

17.

Cowboys

360

18.

Atlanta

362

19.

NY Jets

373

20.

New Orleans

382

21.

Tampa Bay

396

22.

Pittsburgh

396.5

23.

Kansas City

399

24.

Houston

402

25.

St. Louis

412.5

26.

Jacksonville

418

27.

Indianapolis

423

28.

Philadelphia

427.5

29.

Oakland

430.5

30.

Detroit

441.5

31.

Washington

457

32.

Carolina

486

To compile the rankings, Gosselin uses the following stats: Kickoff return, punt return, kickoff coverage, punt coverage, average starting field position after kickoff, opponent's average starting field position after kickoff, punting, net punting, inside-the-20 punts, opponent's punting, opponent's net punting, field goals, field goal percentage, opponent's field goal percentage, extra point percentage, points scored, points allowed, blocked kicks, blocked kicks allowed, takeaways, giveaways and penalties.

Here are the best and worst

KICKOFF RETURNS

Best: Baltimore, 27.3 yards

Worst: Chicago, 19.8 yards

Cowboys: 29th at 20.6 yards

PUNT RETURNS

Best: Buffalo, 17.1 yards

Worst: Oakland, 5.1 yards

Cowboys: 4th at 12.4 yards

KICKOFF COVERAGE

Best: Carolina, 18.9 yards

Worst: Oakland, 28.9 yards

Cowboys: 6th at 22.0 yards

PUNT COVERAGE

Best: Chicago, 3.4 yards

Worst: Buffalo, 14.8 yards

Cowboys: 16th at 9.6 yards

KICKOFF STARTING POINT

Best: NY Giants, 25.2-yard line

Worst: Cowboys, 20.2-yard line

OPPONENT STARTING POINT

Best: Chicago, Cleveland at 19.9-yard line

Worst: Houston, 25.6-yard line

Cowboys: Tied for 15th at 21.8-yard line

PUNTING

Best: New Orleans, 50.1 yards

Worst: Detroit, 41.4 yards

Cowboys: 24th at 44 yards

NET PUNTING

Best: San Francisco, 43.2 yards

Worst: Carolina, 36.5 yards

Cowboys: 20th at 39.1 yards

INSIDE-THE-20 PUNTS

Best: Arizona, 46

Worst: Philadelphia, 15

Cowboys: Tied for 13th with 28

OPPONENT PUNTING

Best: Chicago, 43.6 yards

Worst: New England, 50.3 yards

Cowboys: 17th at 45.4 yards

OPPONENT NET PUNTING

Best: Tennessee, 36.1 yards

Worst: Oakland, 42.9 yards

Cowboys: 5th at 37.1 yards

FIELD GOALS

Best: Minnesota, 35

Worst: Carolina, 16

Cowboys: Tied for 9th with 29

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Best: Cleveland, Cowboys at 93.5

Worst: Green Bay, 63.6 percent

OPPONENT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Best: Tampa Bay, 67.8 percent

Worst: Baltimore, 94.8

Cowboys: 24th at 87.8 percent

EXTRA-POINT PERCENTAGE

Best: 27 teams tied with 100 pct.

Worst: Jacksonville, 94.7 pct.

Cowboys: Tied for 1st

POINTS SCORED

Best: Seattle, Tennessee, 24 apiece

Worst: 6 teams tied with 0

Cowboys: Tied for 14th with 6

POINTS ALLOWED

Best: 7 teams tied with 0

Worst: Detroit, NY Jets, 24 each

Cowboys: Tied for 26th with 18

BLOCKED KICKS

Best: Buffalo, 5

Worst: 8 tied with 0

Cowboys: Tied for last with 0

BLOCKED KICKS ALLOWED

Best: 8 teams tied with 0

Worst: NY Jets, 5

Cowboys: Tied for 9th with 1

TAKEAWAYS

Best: NY Giants, 5

Worst: 9 teams tied with 0

Cowboys: Tied for 7th with 2

GIVEAWAYS

Best: 0 by seven teams

Worst: Philadelphia, 4

Cowboys: Tied for 19th with 2

PENALTIES

Best: Atlanta, 7

Worst: Houston, 28

Cowboys: 3rd with 11

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