“Meh” Marks for a “Meh” Win in the Desert

The official box score reads that the Ravens came out of a road game with a 31-24 win, and the Flock should be feeling pretty good about it. That would probably be a little easier to take if the Ravens weren’t coming off their best performance of the year, and answered it with a clunker of a game — albeit one that did indeed result with a “W.”

Let’s look at some grades.

Offense

Overall: D+

Using the glass-half full thingy, the Ravens were 4-for-4 in the red zone, ran the ball well in the second half and didn’t commit any turnovers (that counted). On the bad side, they only generated 268 yards of offense, averaged 4.5 yards per pass and went completely ineffective for long stretches at a time.

Quarterback: C

Lamar Jackson wasn’t bad — 18-for-27 for 157 yards and a touchdown, and another 17 yards on the ground, including a big 13-yard run when the Ravens were trying to kill clock late. I thought he started out well, picking up a first for the Ravens with three on-target passes after the team started the game down 7-0, and 1st-and-20. They ended up ending the drive with a great touchdown pass to Mark Andrews. But not a lot happened after that through the air. There were some big pass-interference flags that probably reduced his counting numbers some, but just not a lot happening downfield.

It was not a bad start at all… just kind of average.

Running Backs: B

Gus Edwards was the team’s best offensive player, producing three physical touchdowns and 80 yards on 19 tough carries. He also caught two balls for 14 yards, and recovered his own fumble on one catch. Justice Hill ran for only 15 yards, but did produce 40 more on four catches. Pat Ricard had a great block on Edwards’ second touchdown.

Receivers: D+

Andrews had that nice touchdown catch and caught four of his five targets. Rashod Bateman absolutely “Mossed” a guy on a pass that looked like an early pick, and then later picked up a first down on an end-around. Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t record a catch, but did draw at least three flags. Isaiah Likely caught a pass for a first down! Zay Flowers was quiet, with five catches for 19 yards, with a long of eight.

It wasn’t a big day for the receivers by any stretch, but at least there weren’t a ton of drops, amirite?

Offensive Line: D+

This is kind of tough to grade. They gave up four sacks, and had a few missed pickups on stunts that resulted in unblocked guys, but it felt like a lot of the pressure came due to coverage on the back end, and confusion as the Cardinals played a lot of before-snap-post-snap games. There weren’t a lot of running holes all day, but it looked better in the fourth quarter.

Defense

Overall: B+

They gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter, but there was a lot of weird stuff there. They only allowed 310 yards on the day, and 4.4 yards per play. They also got two picks and produced a pair of sacks. However, there were some missed opportunities with the pass rush that let the Cardinals off the hook, and the Cardinals had moments of dominance in the run game. Well, when Mr. Pierce wasn’t destroying things. More on him… now.

Defensive Line: B+

Michael Pierce might have been the best player on the field. The behemoth tackle registered five tackles, a sack, a pass break-up and a quarterback hit. Consider this: Pierce batted down a fourth-down pass to start the second quarter. Later that quarter, Pierce stuffed a third-and-one, and then a fourth-and-inches the next snap. In the third quarter, he recorded his sack and forced a fumble. He was dominant.

Justin Madubuike had another sack, and had another wiped out by a Kyle Hamilton flag on the opening drive of the game. Jadeveon Clowney again just missed a couple sacks (and was the latest example of JUST FALL ON IT). Tavius Robinson had a big stop at the end of the first quarter. Travis Jones made a handful of plays, and Odafe Oweh let another sack slip through his fingers.

Linebackers: B

There wasn’t a lot of flash, but Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen each recorded 11 tackles, and combined for 17 solo tackles. Smith had a tackle at the end of the first half that certainly left a mark, and Queen stood out with a nice open-field tackle on the second snap of the game. They were good today, but didn’t create a ton of “Wows,” as has become their custom.

Defensive Backs: B+

They held Joshua Dobbs to 208 yards on 37 passes and a 77.3 rating. Also, both Brandon Stephens and Geno Stone recorded interceptions. Marlon Humphrey was pretty solid in coverage, but did get beaten by Marquise Brown on one pass, and he had a pass interference call on that opening scoring drive. Kyle Hamilton had a penalty, but was very good, with 10 tackles, a pass break-up and some overall solid tackling. Stephens is such an interesting player this year, both in coverage and in tackling. He posted another seven stops today.

Special Teams: B

Justin Tucker donked a 53-yarder off the upright, but was good from 48 and made all of his extra points. Jordan Stout was really good, averaging 48.4 yards on five punts, putting four of them inside the 20 and no touchbacks. He put at least two punts inside the 10. Devin Duvernay had a very nice 14-yard punt return in the second quarter.

Coaching: C+

It felt like the Ravens’ offense was caught off-guard against the Cardinals’ motion pre- and post-snap. Jackson was holding the ball longer than he has for much of this season, and it appeared like the pressure he received was largely because he couldn’t find answers downfield. The little hot pass to Hill to get them in scoring range at the end of the first half was a nice look, but they didn’t really seem to have a lot of answers there. John Harbaugh’s challenge on the sideline pass late in the first half was a good one.

It felt like they won this one because of Pierce and red-zone efficiency. They should have won with more.