Report Card: Ravens Exorcise Some Demons

The Ravens have been haunted by sloppy, smacking-themselves-about-the-head-and-face performances against their rivals from Pittsburgh over recent years, and two early fumbles didn’t do a lot to quell the churning guts of Ravens fans from sea to sea, but they were able to step up thanks to big games from some of their biggest stars to knock off the Steelers and thrust themselves back into competing for an AFC North championship.

Hang on. Sorry. That was such a long sentence. Let me catch my breath.

OK, now let’s move on to some grades:

Offense Overall: B+

The Ravens scored 27 points on offense, generated 416 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per play, and despite a red-zone interception that could have been back-breaking, responded with a clock-draining, impose-your-will drive to seal the game and generally performed well against a very good Steelers defense. That turnover dings the grade a little, and there were a few possessions that just fell flat, but this was a good game against a tough foe that is familiar with the Ravens.

Quarterback: B+

The numbers weren’t as eye-popping as we’ve become accustomed to this season, and there was the interception (that appeared to be a miscommunication between Lamar Jackson and Rashod Bateman) and the fumble the Ravens were fortunate to recover, but Jackson was good most of the game, made some spectacular throws and seemed to come up big in nearly every big moment. The 49-yard throw to Zay Flowers on third-and-5 in the fourth quarter was stone cold. Jackson showed up against Pittsburgh. Check it off the list.

Running Backs: A+

Derrick Henry was the star of the offense, good from beginning to end. He had 162 yards on 24 carries, He was explosive, powerful and made two really big catches, particularly important after Justice Hill’s injury. This is the Henry we want to see this time of year. Hill landed hard on his head, and we hope for his health first and foremost. He had a 25-yard run on that play, and has been an important part of the offense all year.

Receivers: B+

Zay Flowers made that huge catch on third down, but was good all game, with 100 yards on five catches. He always fights for extra yards, and looked like a star tonight. Mark Andrews had a big touchdown catch (his first against Pittsburgh) amongst his four receptions, and Isaiah Likely grabbed a touchdown, too. Rashod Bateman didn’t get a lot of looks, possibly due to the foot injury he’d been fighting all week, but he did a nice job bringing in his touchdown pass in the back of the end zone. He seemed to stop short on Jackson’s interception, but I don’t know the read there.

Offensive Line: B+

They had me concerned at parts of the first half. Ronnie Stanley lost a couple matchups with Alex Highsmith. Jackson seemed under fire far too quickly, as well. But they have to be given credit for firming things up and doing a great job, particularly in the run game. Henry made a lot out of nothing, but he also had a lot of “Something” on several runs. Roger Rosengarten got a lot of help against T.J. Watt, but he held up[ pretty darn well, too. Tyler Linderbaum is a great, great player, and hit the second level on several of Henry’s runs.

Defense Overall: B+

There were some drives that looked way too easy for Pittsburgh, but holding them to 315 yards — 135 in the second half — was good stuff. Marlon Humphrey’s pick-six right after Jackson’s interception was the kind of thing that reminded a jazzed-up crowd of Ravens defenses of the past. There were some very good individual performances, that we’ll get into now.

Defensive Line: B

There were times when the Steelers had too easy of a time running the ball, but they usually rallied within possessions to close the holes, and Nnamdi Madubuike had one of his best games of the season, with half a sack, two tackles for loss and seven tackles. Tavius Robinson stood out a bit setting the edge, and he pressured one incompletion by my eye. Michael Pierce had an emphatic sack where he blew up a screen so badly Wilson had nothing to do but eat the ball.

Linebackers: A

Roquan Smith has been re-energized since the bye, and he had 10 tackles and seemed to be everywhere. Kyle Van Noy was great today, with 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and three quarterback hits. Malik Harrison got beat on a touchdown catch, but he was mostly solid. I like how Chris Board gets back in pass coverage. He seems to be in the right spot a lot.

Defensive Backs: A-

Marlon Humphrey continued his great season with a pick-six that changed the momentum of the game and basically tilted the game to the Ravens in the second half. Ar’Darius Washington made the play of the first half with a forced fumble in the red zone on Russell Wilson after a long run. Brandon Stephens got beat on a third-down pass in the third quarter, but also had a great open-field tackle on 3rd and 11 in the fourth quarter to kill a drive. Kyle Hamilton was terrific all game. My favorite sequence was the start of the second half, when Hamilton stuffed the first run of the drive, and then pressured an incompletion two plays later to end the drive. He also broke up a deep fourth-down pass in the fourth quarter. Nate Wiggins got beat by Calvin Austin on a 44-yard pass down the sideline, but it was a perfect throw and great catch, so I won’t ding him much on that one.

Special Teams: C+

Desmond King fumbled twice, and even though the Ravens recovered both, that’s not good. He did have a nice 16-yard return before his first fumble. Justin tucker was perfect, nailing two field goals, one a 51-yarder, and all four of his extra points. Jordan Stout was up-and down, kicking two great punts, shanking another, and then saving an iffy snap on a Tucker field goal to get down the hold. They did give up a 34-yard return to Cordarrelle Patterson. Tylan Wallace made a great play on Stout’s first punt, diving into the end zone and swatting the ball back to be downed at the 2.

Coaching: A-

They came out determined to run the ball against Pittsburgh, and, boy did they. I didn’t love the play call that ended up in the interception, but Henry did just have a huge run and maybe they were trying to buy him some time instead of just sticking it in his gut, as I’d have done. Defensively, they made adjustments, sent different faces at Wilson throughout the game and were structurally sound. They needed this one, and the team was prepared. Gotta give the coaches some love today.

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