Overall: A+
Words cannot express how badly this team and the fans needed a win. It was bad enough that the Ravens played like they did and lost to Cincinnati just a few days ago, but the Ray Rice saga just added salt, lemon, hydrochloric acid, napalm, and homeless puppies to the proverbial wound. Beating down the Pittsburgh Steelers to the point where they didn’t even score a touchdown was the best thing that could have happened.
Offense: B+
Against the Bengals, the offense looked pretty inept. They dropped far too many passes, several runs went nowhere, Joe Flacco made some bonehead decisions, and drives stalled too quickly. I’m not sure what happened between Monday and Thursday, but they need to keep doing it. Flacco didn’t throw for a lot of yards, but he took what Pittsburgh gave him and at one point was 13 for 13 and 120 yards. He looked comfortable and in command. The Flacco-led unit doesn’t get an A because they were on the goal line a lot and neither Bernard Pierce nor Justin Forsett could punch it in. I’m not sure what Pierce’s deal is, but he leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to breaking tackles.
Defense: A
The Ravens snapped Ben Roethlisberger’s streak of 30 consecutive games with a TD pass. In fact, the Ravens didn’t allow a touchdown at all. There were some tackling miscues and the first half was a little shaky at times, but they pulled together and got it done against an offense that accumulated 503 total yards and 30 points against a very stout Cleveland Browns defense. I’m still befuddled as to why Arthur Brown continues to be a healthy scratch and I’m also unsure as to why the Ravens were ok going into this game with only 3 cornerbacks (Asa Jackson subsequently was injured leaving them with just 2 during the game), but a combination of Matt Elam, Darian Stewart, Chykie Brown, Jimmy Smith, and Jeromy Miles playing in the secondary did what they had to.
Special Teams: A+
Jacoby Jones averaged just under 24 yards per return on two punt returns, which gave the Ravens really nice field position. Justin Tucker was blasting kickoffs and at one point dinged the uprights on a laser of a kick from 75 yards away. Sam Koch also did a nice job averaging 55 yards per punt on two tries pinning the Steelers deep in their own territory.
Coaches/Game Plan: B
I still think Coach Harbaugh makes some questionable calls when it comes to his clock management and using time outs appropriately. Whoever assists him with challenges also needs a smack in the back of the head from time to time. I loved the game plan from Gary Kubiak. He kept the pressure on Pittsburgh and featured the run substantially more than last Sunday. And while I’m not a big fan of Dean Pees’ defensive philosophy, it worked last night and held a very good team to just 6 points; can’t ask for much better than that!
