Report Card: Ravens Throw Up Another Stinker Against Pittsburgh

Even had the Ravens converted that two-point conversion and then won in overtime, or had they stopped the Steelers on third-and-one and then kicked a game-winning field goal, this one had a certain stench to it from the start. Well, at least from the second snap.

Let’s just pull off the Band-Aid and get to the grades.

Offense

Overall: D

They produced 329 yards of offense, 69 of which came in a desperate final drive to draw closer, had three turnovers, went 4-11 on third downs and committed the vast majority of the team’s 12 penalties on the day. Those are the numbers of a poor offensive performance, and they don’t even tell the whole story. The Steelers only had two sacks, but seemed to be in Lamar Jackson’s lap by the third step of his drop every rep.

Quarterback: C

This was not a great day. Yes, the rush got to him quickly, the receivers didn’t create the same separation they had all season long and he got unlucky — yet again — on his interception. Still, he was uncharacteristically high on some first-half passes, appeared hesitant to run on a few plays and just wasn’t his usual marvelous self. But it wasn’t all bad, either. He produced 253 yards of offense, had two terrific plays wiped out by penalty and did drag his team to a near-miraculous opportunity to tie the game. This was probably the floor of a 2024 Lamar Jackson performance, and it was still almost good enough to win on the road against a fierce rival.

Running Backs: C-

Derrick Henry fumbled on the second snap of the game, putting the Ravens behind instantly. But he did rip off a classic 31-yard run, bulldozed his way in for a touchdown, and I loved a third quarter seven-yard run where he broke through an arm tackle and never slowed down. Justice Hill had that interception go through his hands, but it’s hard to place too much blame on him, really. Terrific play by the defender. Hill did have that nice 22-yard catch-and-run in the final Ravens’ drive.

Receivers: C-

There just didn’t seem to be a lot of separation out there, Isaiah Likely’s fumble allowed the Steelers to take a lead into halftime, and Zay Flowers’ drop denied a terrific Jackson highlight, but he did rally to score a late touchdown, and Likely made a couple big plays, himself. Mark Andrews caught two balls, as did Bateman. Nelson Agholor made a spectacular play that was negated by a flag. Patrick Ricard caught a short pass, but it seemed his Internet buffered or something and he didn’t do much to advance the ball.

Offensive Line: D-

The Steelers’ defensive line was as big a reason for today’s result as anything, and that means the offensive line of the Ravens had a difficult day. There were flags that put them behind the sticks and wiped out positive plays, missed assignments on a few run stops that resulted in losses and a general tsunami washing over Jackson every time he dropped back to pass. Roger Rosengarten had his hands filled with T.J. Watt, as does every lineman in the league, but I did like how Rosengarten fought every rep. Not great work out there today as a unit.

Defense

Overall: B

This grade would no doubt have been higher had they made a key stop late. It appeared they got a bit worn down after being on the field so much (74 plays to the Steelers’ defense facing 54 snaps), or even gotten that one last stop on third-and-one. There was a lot of improvement, and the B- is a reflection of that. They only allowed 303 yards and 4.1 yards per play, but in the first half, the Steelers had 93 yards at 2.7 yards per play — the Ravens broke down a bit late, partly due to some injuries. Still, huge progress. This could be a good sign.

Defensive Line: A-

This unit was good, until they appeared to be gassed at the end. Odafe Oweh had 2.5 sacks in the first half, had five tackles and four quarterbacks hits, and was very, very good all day. His best season continues. Nnamdi Madubuike didn’t record a sack this week, but he was really active, as was Broderick Washington, who stopped a sneak and had a sack. Tavius Robinson stood out again, particularly with a first-half run stop.

Linebackers: B

I thought Roquan Smith was having his best game of the season before leaving with a hamstring injury early in the fourth quarter. He still had 13 tackles, eight solo, with two coming behind the line. Trenton Simpson had six tackles and was in good coverage in the end zone on a first-half incompletion. Adisa Isaac flashed with a batted pass, and Kyle Van Noy impacted a few plays, including a pressure in the first quarter when he forced an incompletion. I felt like Malik Harrison got exploited in coverage a few times after Smith left the game, and the middle of the field was again wide open — facing a quarterback who typically does not attack the middle of the field.

Secondary: B-

Marlon Humphrey might be having his best all-around season, and he had another big end-zone interception. He was also very physical from start to finish. Kyle Hamilton is pretty banged up, but he was good again, and played deep safety quite a bit — or at least lined up there before rushing the line often. Nate Wiggins had a holding call against him, but also was shown in tight coverage time and time again. Ar’Darius Washington was really good today, with 11 tackles, one of them for loss. He also blew up a screen in the first quarter that Smith finished, and was quick to find the ball. Brandon Stephens had a really nice breakup on a deep back-shoulder pass on third-and-1 in the first quarter, but that was probably his highlight for the day. He whiffed on a tackle of George Pickens in the third quarter, and then got beat by him for a deep pass along the sideline in the same drive. I didn’t notice Tre’Davious White on too many plays, but the ones I did notice were terrific pass break-ups against Pickens.

Special Teams: F+

They avoided the “F” with Justin tucker’s 54-yard field goal, and Jordan Stout was pretty good, landing one punt at the Pittsburgh 16, launching another 70 yards and only allowing 6.5 yards per return on two attempts. But Tucker missed two more kicks, which you can assume played a big part in a game this close, and they couldn’t do enough to even bother Chris Boswell on his six successful field goal attempts.

Coaching: B-

I don’t put a lot of the blame on these guys, outside of two elements — they never could figure out the key to pass protection today, and there just has to be some progress made on these ridiculous penalties. I felt like moving Hamilton back and letting one of your most cerebral players have everything in front of him was a good idea, and the deep secondary looked better today than it has all season. Zach Orr deserves some credit today. Structurally, things were good before Smith went out. I agreed to kick deep with 1:06 and three timeouts left. They stop three runs and they have a very good chance of stealing a win. The players didn’t finish.

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