Ravens Squeak By

A Win is a Win, Right?

Every now and then, we are exposed to greatness. Those intellectual or physical happenings that astound us as a species with their sheer excellence, and humble each of us fortunate enough to witness it into an immediate appreciate of what just unfolded — and the remarkable skill required to make that a reality.

Yeah, none of that happened during Sunday’s win over the Broncos. It was pretty ugly from whistle to whistle. However, as is the case in all games, there were some individual and unit performances to take note of, and that’s what we’ll do here today. Some are good. Some are bad. And some are better left engulfed in flames in a dumpster near you.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Report Card from Ravens-Broncos, in all of its glory.

Offense: D

This gets upgraded to a “D” because of the final-scrape-by-with-guts-and-guile drive to earn the win. But it was an ugly performance. The Ravens totaled 285 yards and were averaging a point a quarter going into the final frame. They couldn’t generate any kind of running game with their backs, and averaged less than four yards a carry against a bad run defense. On the other hand, they couldn’t throw, either. So, they had that going for them. The final 91-yard drive for the win was their saving grace and earned them a “D” — a little familiar to my own last-ditch essays in high school to lock down my own D.

Quarterbacks: D

Tyler Huntley and Lamar Jackson were a combined 30-36 throwing the ball. Ooh, and Huntley did orchestrate that winning drive. That was the good news. It was underwhelming, to say the least, and Huntley’s jaw-dropping sideline interception was only surpassed by James Proche’s ill-advised launch into a nest of Broncos defenders. The offense was inept for 90 percent of the day, and the signal-callers get a heaping spoonful of the blame for that. Huntley does get credit for intestinal fortitude during that final drive. He showed guts under pressure.

Running Backs: D

This was not a good showing for Gus Edwards or Kenyan Drake, albeit in limited opportunities for each. A lot of their inability to generate offense was due to the blocking up front, and we’ll get to that in a minute, but they didn’t do much to excite, either. Drake did have a nice 12-yard run that pushed his average to over 4 yards a carry, but those were empty calories. The backs did nothing to help the offense.

Receivers: C-

The Ravens ran a quick-pass game, particularly once Huntley came into the game, and there wasn’t much downfield. Mark Andrews was solid in a less-than-solid team performance, pacing the team with 53 yards on four catches, and willing the offense to a fourth-down conversion during crunch time. Demarcus Robinson and Devin Duvernay were the quick-hitters, putting up 7-41 and 6-34 lines, respectively. Isaiah Likely had 30 yards on four catches, but that catch-and-run for 12 yards during the final drive was arguably as big a moment as the offense had during the game. James Proche threw an interception that conjured memories of The Three Stooges, the Soviet military and Kyle Boller. It was honestly that horrendous.

Offensive Line: D-

This was probably this unit’s worse performance of the season. Granted, it was going against a tremendous defense, but, still… this one kind of stunk on ice. Bad ice. Like No-tell-motel ice at 3 a.m. when you’re scraping together that bucket full of ice shavings and brown water at the bottom of the machine and… But I digress. They couldn’t run block. They couldn’t pass block. The offense genuinely looked to be under duress all day. A big reason for that is typically the offensive line. That notion held up today.

[Related Article: Knee-Jerk Reactions to Ravens 10-9 Win Over Broncos]

“I can’t wait to see [Lamar], make sure he’s ok. I’m heading in right now to go check on him.”

After leading the @Ravens to a comeback victory, Tyler Huntley had QB1 @Lj_era8 on his mind.

🎤 @Melanie_Collins pic.twitter.com/NTfG0eKepb

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 4, 2022

Defense: A-

They got the “W“ because their opponent was slightly worse than the Ravens’ offense on this blustery day. But they were great, preventing Denver from getting into the end zone, only allowed 272 yards and 12 first downs and never allowed the Broncos into the red zone. Poor offense or not, that is getting it done. The defense kept this team in the game long enough to steal a win. That was all you could ask of them.

Defensive Line: A

This has been the team’s most consistent unit of the season, and they put in good work once again. They helped stifle the Broncos run game, holding them to 88 yards on 28 carries, and seemed to dominate the line of scrimmage. Calais Campbell, Justin Madubuike, Broderick Washington and Brent Urban all stood out on the day. This is the unit that will keep the Ravens in a lot of games this season that they might not have any business being in, if you know what I mean.

Linebackers: B+

Roquan Smith was really good this week, totaling 11 tackles — two of them for loss. Patrick Queen was also very good (nine stops, one for loss) before coming off the field with what looked to be a scary injury. The two of them were fast and seemingly everywhere. Odafe Oweh didn’t only get a sack (finally), but it came in a big moment, killing a fourth-quarter Broncos drive and electrifying what had been a pretty quiet home crowd to that point. It seemed to tilt momentum the Ravens’ direction. Tyus Bowser was kind of quiet, but did have a big pass break-up. There wasn’t a lot of pressure from the edges, if I can have a gripe with the group.

Defensive Backs: B

Russell Wilson was 17-22 for 189 yards, and that looks like a decent line. But that was crutched up by a 40-yarder to Jerry Jeudy and a 30-yard effort to Greg Dulcich that kind of padded the stats. Everything else was kept in front of the backs, and tackling was good from that group. Marlon Humphrey was his typical high-level self this game, and Kyle Hamilton was a force, generating five tackles and providing tight coverage. He is developing into a plus-level safety in this, his rookie season. Chuck Clark had one of his better games of the year, with eight tackles and constantly buzzing around the ball.

Special Teams: B

Justin Tucker did what Justin Tucker does, making both of his kicks and handling kickoff duties well. Denver returned three kickoffs for 32 yards. Duvernay had another quiet day on returns, which is a nagging concern right now, but it does only take one big one to really matter, right? Rookie punter Jordan Stout had his best game of the year, in my eyes, averaging 50.5 yards on six punts, and landing five of them inside the 20. Kevon Seymour was a weapon on kick coverage.

Coaching: D

I’m not trying to be hyper-critical here. It is important to point out that the defense, and first-year coordinator Mike Macdonald, bounced back after a horrendous performance against the Jaguars last weekend. It is also important to note that the team never quit, despite how useless and pathetic the offense looked for the majority of the game. Still, let’s not pretend this was a good performance out there, and the trick play that resulted in an end-zone interception from the hands of Proche was an absurd, ridiculous, silly, disgusting, rancid decision in a tight game. It was awful, and could have been the proverbial nail in the Ravens’ coffin on this day.

Did I mention that was awful? Just putrid.

But a win is a win, right? Right?