Quarterback: D+
On the road against a playoff team, Ryan Mallett continued what he started last week, as he played with calmness and confidence early on.
However, on a 3rd-and-7 in the beginning of the second quarter, Mallett threw a ball late, falling away that was nearly picked off by Dre Kirkpatrick.
On the same type of play in the third quarter, he threw the same kind of pass, and Vontaze Burfict made him pay. Buck Allen, the intended receiver, was completely covered.
Too many of his throws today were behind the intended receivers and/or underthrown, even though he had time to set his feet. Despite his receivers making a few drops, Mallett didn’t give them as much of an opportunity to make plays as he could have.
A 54 percent completion rate and two interceptions is just plain bad.
Running backs: C
Buck Allen and Terrance West didn’t have bad games, per se. They ran with purpose and gave good effort, but Cincinnati’s front just wouldn’t allow them any big gains. The longest carry of the day belonged to Allen (14 yards). Besides that, the Ravens carried 20 times for 45 yards (2.3 yard average).
The backs were good in pass protection, which, considering the quality of Cincinnati’s pass rush, is pretty impressive. They also combined for 55 yards receiving.
Kyle Juszczyk might have been the best performer from this group today. He finished with 18 yards and one touchdown receiving, to go along with key blitz pick-ups.
Wide receivers/Tight ends: B-
Maxx Williams had 215 yards receiving in 13 games entering this afternoon. Against the Bengals, he gained 53 yards receiving, or 24.7 percent of his entire season total. Throughout the game, despite tight coverage and inaccurate throws, Williams ran nice routes, made difficult catches, and fought for extra yardage.
Kamar Aiken made some nice receptions as well. He finished the year with 944 yards receiving, just shy of 1,000. He’s proven himself to be a No. 2 receiver.
Another pass-catcher that’s proven his big-play ability (in less-than-ideal circumstances) is Jeremy Butler. He caught six passes for 57 yards today, and on the season, averaged 12.2 yards per reception.
There were at least half a dozen drops from this group, which shouldn’t happen. Fortunately, we know that’s not the norm.
Offensive line: B
The Ravens offensive line showed good movement and aggression on the first series of the game. Kelechi Osemele continued his stellar play, as did Marshal Yanda, as he made multiple high-level blocks on the perimeter and on the second level.
The run blocking by this unit wasn’t bad, really. I attribute Baltimore’s poor rushing mostly to a stout Bengals defense.
The worst play of the day from a Ravens offensive linemen came on 3rd-and-7 with 9:40 remaining in the first quarter. Mallett had two underneath receivers open, and they both had room to run.
Problem: Ryan Jensen got absolutely worked by Geno Atkins on the play, and Atkins sacked Mallett for a 10-yard loss.
It was the only sack Baltimore gave up the entire game, and actually, the offensive line afforded Mallett pretty good protection.
For the amount of injuries and constant change these players had to deal with in 2015, they certainly finished strong.
Defensive line: B-
Timmy Jernigan and Lawrence Guy stood out today. In the early going, Jernigan fought through multiple blockers to track down and tackle Mohamed Sanu for a meager 1-yard gain out of the wildcat formation. Jernigan would go on to make six tackles on the day, competing very hard and stuffing Bengals blocking schemes.
Guy stood tough as well, as he notched 1.5 sacks and three quarterback hits, overwhelming the man across from him on multiple occasions.
This entire line, though not recording many sacks, made the Bengals offensive line earn what they got and forced them to commit multiple costly penalties. They made tackles downfield, showing good hustle, and pushed the pocket on a consistent basis.
Linebackers: C-
From what I saw, no Ravens linebacker did much to influence the outcome of this game.
Yes, C.J. Mosley had 12 tackles and one sack, but time and time again I saw him (and other Baltimore linebackers) chasing the ball carrier from behind and/or missing tackles.
Mosley did show nice recovery speed as he was beaten off the line by Cincinnati’s Rex Burkhead on 3rd-and-4 with 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter. However, Mosley wasn’t even looking at the ball and the pass was broken up because it hit off his helmet. He got lucky.
It didn’t seem like the Bengals did anything today that Baltimore hadn’t seen before, but they still managed to rack up 145 yards rushing.
Defensive Backs: C-
Lardarius Webb had a nice opening series. He made an big tackle on Jeremy Hill, which prevented Hill from potentially scoring a touchdown. Then, he had excellent coverage on A.J. Green and broke up AJ McCarron’s pass on 3rd-and-5.
For a good amount of the game, Ravens defensive backs were contesting every pass McCarron threw. In fact, Baltimore only gave up 147 yards through the air–their third-best mark of the season.
Then, with just under four minutes to play in the second half, things fell apart.
Will Hill committed what was simply a dumb pass interference penalty against Marvin Jones. It was a 23-yard penalty that put the Bengals in Ravens territory with 3:14 left in the half, up by one point. John Harbaugh seemed to argue with an official that the ball was uncatchable.
Maybe it was. Either way, Hill recklessly barging into an opposing player in that situation is inexcusable.
Five plays later, McCarron found Tyler Eifert on a seam route for a 22-yard touchdown. It looked on the play like Webb was covering Eifert off the line.
If he was in zone coverage, since no Bengals player was in front of him, why didn’t he carry Eifert up the seam? If he was in man coverage, why did he let Eifert run right past him?
Shareece Wright had a decent game, but early in the third quarter, he gave up two consecutive catches to Green that resulted in 17 yards gained and a touchdown.
So, we have one breakdown in coverage and one instance where an elite wide receiver just makes a better play than the cornerback.
Okay, it happens.
But on the next Bengals drive, Hill scored a 38-yard touchdown. It was the third straight Bengals drive that resulted in a six points. On the play, every Ravens front seven defender fit on a Bengals offensive player, leaving Kendrick Lewis one-on-one in the hole to make the tackle. Still, though Lewis was just two yards away, he couldn’t lay a finger on Hill.
If he makes the tackle, the Bengals convert on 4th-and-1, but only have a 14-9 lead and aren’t quite in field goal range. Unfortunately, Lewis was unable to stop Hill, who scored what ended up being the game-winning touchdown on that play.
Special Teams: B+
What were Brynden Trawick and Kaelin Clay doing on the Baltimore’s punt returns? Each of the first three Ravens punt returns resulted in these two running into each other. It was quite baffling, as the punt return unit of the Ravens had been so good all year.
Clay looked completely lost and confused on every return. He had six chances to return a punt, but only gained 15 yards total on those returns.
On the flip side, Sam Koch held up his end of the bargain as he pinned the Bengals back deep on multiple occasions. Three of his four punts were downed inside the Bengals’ 20-yard line, and two of those punts were downed inside the Bengals’ 5-yard line.
If he’s not the best punter in football, I don’t know who is.
Justin Tucker ended the year on a high note, too. He converted all three of his field goal attempts, scoring from 28, 49, and 50 yards out. He finished 2015 converting his last seven field goal attempts, after a streak in which he went 7-for-11.
Team: C+
Player of the game: Justin Tucker
Game balls:
- Offense: Maxx Williams
- Defense: Lawrence Guy
- Special Teams: Justin Tucker
Stat of the game: The Ravens played in their 14th game of the season that was decided by one possession. In those games, they went 5-9 with a point differential of -24.
