Report Card: Defense Finds Easy Pickings Against Cleveland

On a day that celebrated the relatively-short, but consequential, history of the Baltimore Ravens, the modern-day version of the team harkened back to its roots with physical defense and explosive special teams to even up their record to 1-1.

Of course, having a special quarterback helps, too.

Let’s take a look back at Sunday’s game by putting our focus on units and position groups. Let’s get to the grades.

Offense

Overall: B

Putting up 41 points (34 on offense) against a tough defense should result in a higher grade. Generating only 242 yards of offense and going 3-of-12 on third downs should result in a lower grade.

So, here we sit — with a perfectly reasonable “B” for the offense. They completely blew a golden opportunity at the ½ yard line, with a combination of dropped passes, a penalty, and a stubborn reluctance to feed their powerhouse running back, but they did cash in with four passing touchdowns, and seemed to make plays when needed. It didn’t look like it did in Buffalo, but this was a different defense. And they clawed their way to an impressive output of points.

Quarterback: A

Again, this is a tricky one. On one hand, there were some missed passes, especially in the first half. And Lamar Jackson didn’t do a lot of work with his legs this week. In fact, I wonder if the team is playing it careful a little bit as I just didn’t see a lot of option runs built in for him. But he did ring up four touchdowns and a passer rating of 128.6. It was a good game from their star quarterback, who seemed to be under extreme duress, particularly in the first half. Oh, here’s a cool stat: Jackson overtook Aaron Rodgers this week for the highest passer rating in NFL history. Combine that with the most rushing yards every by a quarterback and you have… well, you have Lamar Jackson. One of one.

Running Backs: D-

They didn’t have a lot of room to work, as Cleveland attacked the interior of the Ravens’ line all game and outside runs never seemed to stand a chance with that initial penetration throwing everything off. Derrick Henry mustered only 23 yards on 11 carries, but did seem a little better in the second half than the first. Justice Hill only had seven yards on three carries, and nearly got his quarterback killed with some pass-block mistakes – or really bad assignments, if that was the case.

Receivers: A

It wasn’t a huge output in terms of yards, but four touchdown catches from this room and a few terrific individual displays gives them the offensive unit of the week award. Zay Flowers picked up where he left off in Buffalo, producing 75 yards on seven catches and basically getting open with ease. DeAndre Hopkins continues to play his role exceptionally well, hauling in two contested catches, with one counting as a touchdown and one falling on the shadow of the goal line. Tez Walker caught two passes for two touchdowns, giving him a crazy three touchdown catches on his first three career receptions. Tylan Wallace did what he does — making plays when given a chance. He also recovered a Henry fumble. Rashod Bateman is off to a quiet start, but had a nifty catch-and-run. Mark Andrews is not producing yet, and had a drop in the end zone — or at least had a touchdown ripped away from him, if you want to be generous.

Offensive Line: D

They produced zero room for the run game, in a matchup that felt like they were badly outnumbered — and out-talented — at the line. Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten both had their struggles with Myles Garrett, but… come on. Like Lamar Jackson makes really good defenders sometimes look bad, Garrett does the same to offensive linemen. Jackson was also sacked three times and hit five more. Tough assignment for this group — and they struggled.

Defense

Overall: A

I know. It’s the Browns. It’s like giving a certificate of achievement to a father for dunking on his 6-year-old in a game of Nerf basketball. Don’t judge. Sometimes you gotta teach those kids who’s running things… especially when those kids’ mouths are writing checks their butts can’t cash…But I digress. The Browns had 323 yards of offense, but a huge chunk of that came when the game was salted away. The Ravens held Cleveland to 4.2 yards per pass, scored a touchdown, had nine quarterback hits, seven tackles for loss and five passes defensed. They rallied in this one.

Defensive Line: C+

I thought there were times the Browns were able to open up pretty big rushing lanes in this one, and that’s pretty out-of-character for this group. Still, Nnamdi Madubuike had a sack for a second straight game and had two quarterback hits. Tavius Robinson was his usual dream-killer on outside runs and had a strip-sack that led to a touchdown. Odafe Oweh only had one tackle, but he seemed to be around the quarterback a lot, and registered two quarterback hits. Mike Green nearly had a sack, with Flacco getting the ball out right before his knee hit.

Linebackers: A+

This was the best all-around unit on the day, and it was led by Roquan Smith, who had 15 tackles, three for loss, two quarterback hits and that huge fumble recovery for a touchdown. He was “Ro” again. Rookie Teddye Buchanan continues to impress, and he looked good in his first start, registering six tackles and looking fast all game. Trenton Simpson looked good in his time, and picked up four stops, as well.

Defensive Backs: A

Marlon Humphrey was really good outside of one mind-numbing, what-in-the-world-was-that, only-Marlo-type-of-play, when he had a sure fourth-down interception clang off his hands and into the arms of Cedric Tillman for a touchdown. Rookie Malaki Starks seemed to be in good position all game, and had seven tackles. Kyle Hamilton was great, and flashed early with a big tackle-for-loss on a screen. Nate Wiggins broke up three passes and had an interception he ran back 61 yards. He’s shown to be fun with the ball in his hands. I thought Chidobe Awuzie was mostly in good coverage all game. He’s an active player.

Special Teams: A

Hey, this was fun – special teams doing special stuff again. Jake Hummel already has earned his contract this season with a huge blocked punt, and Jackson later capped it off by throwing a touchdown pass to Wallace. LaJohntay Wester stole both ankles and breath with his electric 23-yard return, and Wallace averaged 26.3 yards on three kick returns. Rookie Tyler Loop made both of his field goals and all five extra points, but is still getting his legs underneath him on kickoffs. Jordan Stout had a big game, averaging 51.8 yards on five punts and showing better placement to this point of the season.

Coaching: B

There were some things I really liked — for instance, I thought they made nice adjustments to Cleveland’s early penetration and countered it well. But I hated not handing it off to Henry when they had first-and-goal at the Browns’ ½-yard line. The defense looked sound all game. If it wasn’t for the garbage-time touchdown and volleyball assist from Humphrey, this defense could have held the Browns to three points.

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