Bengals 24, Ravens 17 : AFC Wild Card Recap & Grades :

Offense – Better than expected. This group brought their A Game & battled all night long until 1 crucial mistake cost them a game they could of actually won. The play calling which had been so questionable for most of the season looked way better under the Prime Time lights of the Playoffs. OC Greg Roman stuck w/ the run for most of the night & RB J.K. Dobbins feasted to the tune of 62 yards on 13 carries, an average of 4.8 yards per carry w/ a long of 15 yards while RB Gus Edwards runs for 39 yards on 12 carries, an average of 3.3 yards per carry w/ a long of 9 yards. They run for 155 as a team & out rush the Bengals by over 100 yards, while dominating the T.O.P. 32:26 to 27:34. The pass protection was good but not great against a ferocious Bengals front 7 but they hold up for most of the game, allowing 2 sacks on Huntley for a loss 17 yards total. They fought to keep their QB clean for most of the night, although his legs also helped him out as well, as he was running from pressure on numerous occasions. The run blocking was as good as usual, plowing the way for the backs to run through the gaping holes they opened & mauling in the trenches w/ LT Ronnie Stanley leading the way. Things were going according to planned as the running game scratched & clawed while QB Tyler Huntley led long, time consuming drives. He goes 17-29 on the night for 226 yards, an average of 7.8 yards per pass w/ 2 TD’s & 1 crucial INT into double coverage on the game’s first drive but rebounds nicely after things look like they could of gotten out of hand for him. He also adds to the running game w/ 54 yards on the ground on 9 carries, an average of 6.0 yards per carry, including a huge 35-yard RPO run up the left sideline on the would be go-ahead drive. TE Mark Andrews hauls in 5 passes for 73 yards, an average of 14.6 yards per catch w/ a long of 29 & even lines up as an X WR on numerous occasions because of the lack of depth at the WR position that this team was left w/ by the start of the Playoffs. WR Demarcus Robinson catches 2 passes for 49 yards, an average of 24.5 yards per catch, including the game-tying, 41-yard TD pass from Huntley w/ 2:13 left in the 3rd, capping off a 5-play, 81-yard drive that takes only 2:49 for this unit to respond after the Bengals had taken the lead on the previous drive. Huntley also leads a 17-play, 75-yard drive that takes up 10:03 in the 2nd quarter that ends w/ a 2-yard pass from Snoop to Dobbins, who reaches over the goal line for the score after Cincinnati had gone ahead by 2 scores. There were gashing runs & long, established drives., there were timely passes that went for huge chunks & penalties by Cincinnati that extended drives. They even got the benefit of a turnover by the defense which leads to a FG by Tucker just before the half & you started to get the feeling that things were going just the way they had to go in order for this team to pull off the upset. This group gains 23 1st downs in balanced fashion w/ 11 coming through the air & 10 on the ground. 2 come via Cincinnati penalties & they go 3-11 on 3rd down & 2-3 on 4th down while running 66 plays & totaling 364 yards but the red zone troubles continue, as they go just 1-4 inside the 20. They have 9 drives & average 5.5 yards per play as they out gain Cincinnati in almost every offensive category but lose the turnover battle 2 to 1, while scoring more than 2 offensive TD’s for the first time since November 27th. Then, in the 3rd quarter w/ the offense on the move, the very thing that Ravens fans feared showed up after remaining dormant for most of the evening. The game was tied early in the 4th w/ the offense on the move & this group had held the ball for 80 yards on 8 plays & faced a 3rd & Goal at the 1 w/ a chance to take the lead when Greg Roman decided to get cute & call a QB sneak from the 1. But Huntley started his dive from the 2 & Bengals LB Logan Wilson knocks the ball out of his hands, it rolls into the hands of DE Sam Hubbard who then makes history by returning it 98 yards for the go-ahead score as well as the longest fumble return of a TD in a Playoff Game in NFL history. The 14 point swing is an absolute back breaker, it comes w/ 11:39 left in the game & puts the Ravens suddenly on their heels. 2 punts later, this unit gets the ball back w/ a chance to tie the game but goes just 19 yards on 10 plays after handing off to Justice Hill w/ :29 on 2nd & 10 w/ 2 timeouts left, which results in a hold by RG Kevin Zeitler & backs them up 10 yards. They burn both timeouts & are left w/ a 4th & 20 at the Bengals 37 w/ :08 left & Huntley nearly slips before his desperate Hail Mary heave falls to the ground after WR James Proche II makes a diving effort & the season ends. Dobbins barely saw the ball after running so well all night & neither him or Edwards got it on the goal line when they should of. The mismanagement of the clock, the timeouts & the play calling is what ultimately decided this one. This was a great effort by an undermanned group & they gave it every ounce of what they had in them, they even could of won. The play calling & bad coaching did this team in as it all unraveled for them in the final 15 minutes. Hopefully this spells the end for OC Greg Roman & if it doesn’t spell the end for John Harbaugh, it needs to put him back on the hot seat. Lots of questions to be answered & many things remain to be seen for this group going forward, a change is definitely necessary offensively, that is for certain. As for who will fill the roles of the departed, that remains to be seen.
Grade : B+

Defense – This group seemed bend but not break all night. They allow a scoring drive of 14-plays, 54-yards that takes up the first 6:38 of the game but hold the Bengals to a FG & you had to consider that a win given the way Cincy moved the ball to start the game, especially through the air. RB Joe Mixon is held to just 39 yards on 11 carries, an average of 3.5 yards per rush & the stout front 7 holds the Bengals to just 51 yards rushing as a team on 18 carries, an average of 2.8 yards per carry & 1 rushing TD. That comes courtesy of Burrow, who collects 9 yards on 5 carries as well, an average of 1.8 yards per carry. They do allow Joe to go 23-32 for 209 yards, an average of 6.5 yards per pass & 1 TD pass to WR Ja’Maar Chase but keep the pressure on all night, as they get to him 4 times for a loss of 26 yards & take advantage of a banged Bengals offensive line. The edge rushers were all over the place as OLB’s Justin Houston, Tyus Bowser & Odafe Oweh all register a sack of Burrow, while DT Broderick Washington combines w/ OLB Jason Pierre-Paul on the other & this pass rush is able harrass him enough to keep him on his toes & out of the pocket for most of game. The Cincinnati WR’s were the main issue for this unit as they account for 147 of the 209 passing yards & seemed to constantly win their match ups on the outside no matter who the Raven DB was. Even Pro-Bowlers like Marlon Humphrey & Marcus Peters had no answer, especially in the 1st half as Burrow carved up DC Mike McDonald’s zone scheme w/ ease. Chase hauls in 9 passes for 84 yards, an average of 9.3 yards per catch & 1 TD w/ a long of 19 yards on 12 targets. WR Tee Higgins catches 4 passes for 37 yards, also an average of 9.3 yards per reception as the tandem nearly average a 1st down per catch. As if those 2 weren’t hard enough to stop, WR Tyler Boyd also has 3 receptions for 26 yards, an average of 8.7 yards per catch & Former Raven TE Hayden Hurst catches 4 passes for 45 yards, an average of 11.3 yards per catch but loses a crucial fumble as Rookie S Kyle Hamilton forces the fumble at the Bengals 39 & recovers it at the 45 which leads to a go-ahead FG by Tucker just before the half. Burrow leads a 12-play, 53 yard drive on the Bengals first drive of the 3rd quarter & caps it off w/ a 1-yard rushing TD, then hits Higgins on the 2-point conversion to make a 7 point game as the Bengals re-take the lead. This group would buckle down & force 3 straight punts after that, including 2 3 & outs & 1 drive of 6 plays, making some big stops when they needed to, keeping the Ravens in the game. They allow 18 first downs, 11 coming through the air & 6 coming on the ground w/ 2 coming on penalties & the Bengals go 7-13 on 3rd down, while never attempting a 4th down play. Cincinnati runs 54 plays on 8 drives, an average 4.3 yards per play & goes 2 for 2 in the red zone while holding the ball for 27:34. Mike MacDonald made adjustments in the 2nd half & that’s been something this group hasn’t done well all season, somehow, some way he got his defense to respond & get some stops when they needed to & he had also the pass rush dialed up all night. It was a valiant effort by a group that knew they would be leaned on heavily to carry the weight & when the time came to do so, they met the challenge head on. Facing an opponent who they knew very well for the 3rd time, they never shied away from the challenge & really believed in themselves when no one else did. Hamilton leads the way w/ 9 tackles, 5 of them solo & ILB Roquan Smith has 8 tackles, 3 of them solo as this unit gave everything they had all night. They will have some questions to answer in the off-season as well, DT Calais Campbell, OLB’s Justin Houston, Jason Pierre-Paul & CB Marcus Peters may not be back next year so filling their positions will be instrumental to how well this group bounces back next season. They have lots of young pieces already in place & their MLB locked in for years to come. MacDonald appears to be the right guy going forward, he’s young, talented & has this group primed to be great, another year under his belt & some Playoff experience added to his resume will only make him & this entire unit better going forward. CB, Edge & DT will be the only things this unit needs to improve on what was already a much improved group compared to season’s past. Overall, this defense will be better in the long run after this painful loss, the entire team will as a whole, but mostly this young defense, who grew up before our eyes & will now look to take the next step towards greatness.
Grade : A-

Special Teams – About as solid as they could be in the clutch, on Prime Time, in the Playoffs but a bad roughing the kicker call almost changes things late. They are solid in all areas though & they too gave it all they had to keep this team alive, the return game, kicking game & punting game all contributed to the way this game went & nearly made the difference late. Justin Tucker connects on his only FG attempt, hitting a 22-yarder w/ :07 left in the 1st half & hitting on both extra points, while drilling 2 touchbacks on 5 kickoffs & collecting 5 points on the night. Rookie P Jordan Stout punts it away 3 times for 142 yards, an average of 47.3 yards per punt, including 2 inside the 20 & a long of 53 as he finishes up a very solid Rookie season as the first punter drafted by this team in over 15 years. RB Justice Hill returns 3 kicks for 65 yards, an average of 21.7 yards per return w/ a long of 29 & James Proche II returns 2 punts for 26 yards, an average of 13.0 yards per return as they help set up the offense in pretty decent field position all night. The coverage is also solid as RB Trayveon Williams returns 1 Tucker kickoff for 26 yards, while WR Trent Taylor returns 1 for 16 yards & 2 punts for 9 yards for Cincinnati. ILB’s Kristian Welch & Del’Shawn Phillips contribute w/ tackles on each return as well as Hill, who adds a tackle of his own on one of Taylor’s punt returns which forces a fumble but it goes out of bounds before the either team could recover it. Then, they nearly block back to back punts by Bengals P Dane Chrisman late in the game as ST Coach Chris Horton has his guys coming full speed trying to make a play & they nearly get there the first time but it results in a roughing the kicker on S Geno Stone. That would extend the Bengals drive w/ 8:55 left but the defense bails them out w/ stops on 3 consecutive plays to force another punt in which they almost get to again & Proche II is able to return it for 10 yards to the Cincinnati 19. Chrisman ends up kicking it away 3 times for 151 yards, an average of 50.3 yards per punt w/ 1 inside the 20 & 1 inside the 20 w/ a long of 53 & all 3 were felt w/ pressure as a group that hasn’t blocked a punt all season almost got one a few times. This group played their hearts out, just as they have all season – they were & always have been the backbone of this team. 1 play here or there may have resulted in a different outcome, they were close to a game-changing blocked punt & had there not been a wild fumble return by the Bengals defense, they more than likely would of been called upon to tie it or possibly even put the game away on a kick late. Tucker was never needed on 4th down because of the distance & situations of the downs so there were no Harbaugh analytics used by the offense, just only one chance for Tucker who you know wanted the game in his hands if need be. There were many bright spots w/ this group all season & the future is also bright in this phase. They have a Hall of Fame, current All-Pro kicker who hasn’t missed a beat, a young punter who will only get better, an All-Pro return man in Devin Duvernay when he returns next season & another All-Pro in LS Nick Moore. This group should continue to stay consistent for many years to come, regardless of who stays & who goes, who the Coaches are or how the team proceeds moving forward. ST Chris Horton is another one, along w/ DC Mike MacDonald who seems to have control over his unit & will continue to help them improve. Whatever changes are to be made to this staff, Horton shouldn’t be one of them & most likely won’t, he has had his ST unit near the top of the league in every category despite losing some of his key pieces but they never missed a beat or lost a step. Overall, an effective, solid outing again for a group who rarely has a bad one. It was just another day at the office, Playoff style.
Grade : A-

Coaching – In a game that you didn’t know what to expect from this staff, it ended up looking good early & unraveling late, just like the Ravens season. This team looked focused early after struggling right out of the gate, they took some early shots but weathered the storm. Coach Harbaugh had this team looking like the vintage Ravens of January in the 1st half as they took the lead into halftime & controlled most of the 2nd half as well. The preparation was clearly there & the team was absolutely ready to go from the jump despite falling behind early – they showed some resilience to keep fighting. That’s never going to be an issue w/ a John Harbaugh led team, they will always fight, it’s the analytics & allowing of bad play calls that have done this team in. He is known for holding on to his OC’s for too long without making a change but he seems to be able to still lead, the message seems to be there still as well but the lack of execution & emphasis on attention to detail are not. The look on his face seems to tell the story of a Coach who is almost at the end of his rope, from the ongoing situation w/ his QB to holding his coordinators accountable, to trying to keep his team focused & ready at the same time, as well as the injuries he has had to deal w/ in recent years have definitely taken a toll. He will have to get rid of OC Greg Roman, especially after this game – his antics have gone on for too long & he has no choice but to cut the cord or lose his job. There was also terrible clock management late in the game that more than likely sealed Roman’s fate. He sat on his last 2 timeouts while letting the clock run w/ under 2 minutes while not calling his 2nd timeout until there was :08 left on the clock & then a holding penalty had wiped out any progress they could of made. There were 8 plays which resulted in 2 penalties (1 on each team) & a run-off of 1:52 which makes absolutely no sense that they ended up not using their 3rd timeout at all. He called a run w/ Justice Hill which resulted in 4-yards, ran off :07 seconds after the hold on Zeitler. Just a disastrous final 2 minutes & even 4th quarter at that, after dominating for 3.5 quarters, things completely unraveled & it started w/ the QB dive from the 1 which resulted in the 14-point, game-changing swing in momentum. Not giving the ball to 1 of your 2 RB’s who have been running well all night & instead calling a QB sneak on 3rd & Goal leaves you scratching your head. DC Mike MacDonald had his unit ready as well as ST Coach Chris Horton & you’re thinking there was no way that after the mess of the regular season & the rumors of Roman & Harbaugh being on the hot seat, they wouldn’t bring their A Game because they were aware of how big the stage was. It played out well before falling apart late which was the way the season was as well -the defense blew leads or the offense failed to score points in the 2nd half to close teams out. It turns out the theme of the season was always looking good early & falling apart when it was time to close a team out. Now that the season is over, it’s time to do what has been long overdue, make the necessary changes that this team needs to be successful going forward. John Harbaugh has some very tough decisions to make as well as GM Eric DeCosta & owner Steve Bisciotti. This training staff has been terrible under the watch of S&C coach Steve Saunders & that also falls on Harbaugh for not getting rid of him earlier just like many coaches that he has held on to for way too long. The injuries have piled up under Saunders & the play calling has gotten worse under Roman, there is no secret who needs to go, it’s up to Harbaugh to make it happen. Bengals HC Zach Taylor makes another HC who has out coached Harbaugh & whether or not his team was outplayed or not, they won & the Ravens lost for the first time on the road in the Wild Card round after coming into this game 6-0 in their history. This staff has to improve, however that happens remains to be seen, but it is evident that this team is constantly underachieving & has for almost a decade. The writing is on the wall for this to be one of the most important & significant off-seasons in the history of this Franchise. As for this game, they almost gave the fan base hope, however once again, they found a way to let it slip right through their fingers.
Grade : C-

Overall Grade : B-
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GO RAVENS!!
#SeeYouNextSeason

Bengals 27, Ravens 16 : Week 18 – Recap & Grades :

Offense – Suprisingly better than expected. Given the fact that TE Mark Andrews, RB J.K. Dobbins, RG Kevin Zietler & QB’s Tyler Huntley or Lamar Jackson weren’t active, either due to rest for the Playoffs or injury & this group still moved the ball the way they did against a Cincinnati team that was playing it’s starters is impressive. RB Kenyan Drake leads the way on the ground w/ 60 yards on 17 carries, an average of 3.8 yards per carry & a TD on the ground w/ a long of 18 on the day, after not being used in recent weeks & RB Justice Hill rushes for 34 yards on 7 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per carry w/ a long of 12 yards & they rush for 110 on the day on 27 carries, an average of 4.1 yards per carry against a good Bengals front 7. Rookie QB Anthony Brown goes 19-44 for 286 yards, an average of 6.5 yards per pass & 2 INT’s, he is also sacked 4 times for a loss of 10 yards, including a sack in the end zone by Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson – DE Joseph Ossai recovers it for a TD & puts Cincinnati back up by 17 after the Ravens had just cut the lead to 10. This group registers 20 1st downs w/12 coming through the air & theybrush for 7 while picking up another on the penalty by Hendrickson. They run 75 total plays on 9 drives, for 386 total yards – 276 passing & 110 rushing & average 5.1 yards per play but turn it over 4 times & go only 1-3 in the red zone. They lose the T.O.P. battle 31:19 to 28:41, while going 6-16 on 3rd down & 0-2 on 4th down. The pass protection is suspect all though as they allow the 4 sacks & can’t prevent Brown from being under duress for most of the day. They do well opening up running lanes for Drake & Hill but this line is a better run blocking group than they are in pass protection & missing RG Kevin Zietler they weren’t at their absolute best, yet still performed admirably. There were still a couple bright spots that stood out as well. First off Rookie TE Isaiah Likely had another great game filling in for Andrews as he catches 8 passes for 103 yards, an average of 12.9 yards per catch w/ a long of 28 yards. He lines up at WR on numerous occasions & shows glimpses of what he can do as a true receiver & route runner, which is the role that he should play moving forward given how thin the receiving core is & the lack of depth that this group has at that position. Another bright spot was the other Rookie TE Charlie Kolar, who hauls in 4 passes for 49 yards, an average of 12.3 yards per reception in his first real action as Ravens fans have been waiting to see what he could do. The third bright spot was Brown, who struggled early but got into a groove towards the end of the 1st half, using his arm to throw the Ravens back in the game despite the Ravens taking their foot off the gas. Trailing by 3 scores, he leads a 10-play, 76-yard TD drive that eats up 4:08 & is helped out by a out by a roughing the passer call on Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson & the drive ends w/ a TD run by Drake, the only TD of the day by this group. The drive also includes a pretty 28-yard pass to Likely up the left sideline & a 15-yard pass over the middle to Kolar which got the ball into the red zone & Drake punches it in 5 plays later to get the Ravens on the board. Brown also leads a drive of 8 plays, 47 yards on the previous drive but Harbaugh elects to go for it on 4th down at the Cincinnati 28 but is stopped for a loss of 1 & the Ravens turn it over on downs. Brown hits WR Sammy Watkins twice for 79 yards, an average of 39.5 yards per catch, including a 47-yarder that takes it down to the Bengals 33 but Bengals CB Cameron Taylor-Britt & S Jessie Bates force him to fumble & Cincinnati recovers at the 32. This group performed well given the circumstances of who was out there & who wasn’t, while a super raw young QB directed the offense against the teams Division rival in January. They played much better than expected while also giving us a slight glimpse of the future in the process. However, the Bengals took their foot off the gas once they got up by 3 scores so this almost had the feel of a Preseason game to it despite the implications that it game had. Overall, this group needs to stick to what it does best in January, lean on the run game, don’t turn the ball over & don’t kill themselves w/ penalties, if they can do that, they might have a chance to win in a game in the Playoffs, no matter who is under center if their current skill position players are healthy but it isn’t likely.
Grade : C+

Defense : This group was physical all day long. Despite the outcome on the scoreboard, they knocked some heads in & made some bodies drop while reminding the Bengals who they were. They hold RB Joe Mixon to just 27 yards on 11 carries, an average of 2.5 yards per carry & a TD, while holding Cincinnati to just 55 yards on 20 carries, an average of just 2.8 yards per carry as a team, a week after allowing nearly 200 against Pittsburgh. The difference maker was DT Calais Campbell who returned after missing the last 2 games & showed why he is so valuable to this defensive line, making a huge impact as a space eater without even making a tackle all day. Joe Burrow goes 25-42 for 215 yards, an average of 5.1 yards per pass & a TD, while being sacked twice on the day for a loss of 13 yards. Rookie OLB David Ojabo gets to Burrow for his first career sack, a strip sack that is recovered at the Bengals 9 by ILB Patrick Queen, while OLB’s Justin Houston & Odafe Oweh combine for the other. They rev up the pass rush against a Bengals O-line who lost their starting RT L’aell Collins for the season & also lost their starting RT Alex Cappa in this one & after taking their foot off the gas, the Bengals should have taken out their starters because Burrow took a few unnecessary hits, they lost Cappa & even WR Tee Higgins was banged up before returning. This group was even accused of playing dirty because of the level of physicality they exerted in this game & you could tell they are Playoff ready even without CB’s Marcus Peters & Brandon Stephens out in the secondary. Those 2 being out allowed guys like CB Daryl Worley to shine & shine he did – Worley might of had the game of his life, as he registers 5 tackles, 4 solo w/ 1 tackle for loss & 2 passes defensed, as he plays one on one numerous times w/ All-Pro Ja’Maar Chase & holds his own despite Chase catching 8 passes for 86 yards, an average of 10.8 yards per catch w/ a long of 26 & a TD which comes against Worley, who plays the ball well but is beaten for the score. ILB Roquan Smith leads the way defensively w/ 16 tackles, 12 solo as he flys around all day long, hitting anything that moves, welcoming himself to this Divisional rivalry in a major way. The Bengals run 64 total plays, on 13 drives & total just 257 yards on the day, an average of 4.0 yards per play, while picking up 15 1st downs, 12 coming via the pass, 2 coming on the ground & 1 coming via penalty. They hold Cincinnati to 5-15 on 3rd down, 0-1 on 4th down, while also forcing 1 turnover. This group got after it all day long, although you can’t put too much stock into it, as the Bengals weren’t tipping their hand for next week but the Ravens weren’t playing scared either. They hold Cincinnati to just 90 yards of total offense in the 2nd half & force them to punt it away 5 times while also forcing a turnover on downs & a fumble. There has been a whole lot of strain on this group to be great every single week & they have held up for the most part but it matters now more than ever. This unit had it’s back to the wall right away & was put in some difficult situations but stood tall, the score didn’t indicate how good they played, despite facing a team who just wanted to finish the game healthy & was keeping it very conservative. The regular season is over & this unit will now have to do what they have prepared to do for the last month – get ready to play January football. DC Mike MacDonald will have this group ready to go & they will rise to the challenge, the problem is, they may have a little too much weight to carry.
Grade : A-

Special Teams – Just another day at the office. Justin Tucker connects on all 3 of his FG attempts from 26, 51 & 27 yards out, all 3 coming in the 2nd half as Tucker gets points on the board to salvage the strip sack by Ojabo when the offense goes 3 & out after the turnover as he connects from 26, then caps off an 11-play, 42 yard drive w/ a FG from 51 before he hits from 27 to salvage a 9-play, 73 yard drive as the offense continues to struggle in the red zone & also elects to not use him to kick a 47-yarder which would of cut it to a 2 score game in the 1st half. Rookie P Jordan Stout kicks it away 3 times for 137 yards, an average of 45.7 yards per punt w/ 1 inside the 20 & a long of 54 yards as he continues to shine in his first year & use the tutelage he received from former veteran Ravens P Sam Koch. Justice Hill has 2 kick returns for 51 yards, an average of 20.5 yards per return, including a long of 30 yards & James Proche II returns 1 punt for 8 yards as this unit is solid in the return game as well as kick coverage. Bengals RB Trayveon Williams returns 2 kicks for 48 yards, an average of 24.0 yards per return & WR Trent Taylor returns 2 punts for 12 yards, an average of 6.0 yards per return of Stout’s kicks. This group has been so good for so long & when you mention them week in & week out & it starts to sound like a broken record in terms of the things they do & the continuity they have as a group but these guys just continue to be one of the best groups in the league, year in & year out. ST Coach Chris Horton has his group ready to go every week & they, as well as the defense have had to carry most of the weight in the last month or so. That hasn’t been a problem for them though, they embrace the challenge & like their chances to match up against any ST unit in the league & win. Even w/ All-Pro Bowl return man, Devin Duvernay out for the season, Justice Hill has been a good fill in, a few guys who were counted on to contribute have missed some time but yet in still, this group hasn’t missed a beat. Guys like Del’Shawn Phillips, Tylan Wallace, Daryl Worley, Kristian Welch & Brent Urban others have contributed when called upon & this unit hasn’t allowed a ST TD all season long. That goes to show how good the attention to detail has been despite some new faces, how this group has carried this team when the offense has sputtered & how much of the backbone they have been for years. They have been one of the most underrated parts of this team’s success & they can thank a HC who cut his teeth as a ST guy & passed that down to his team but to be honest, this team has prided itself on Special Teams since their very existence. Moving forward, Tucker has hit some clutch kicks in the Playoffs, including 2 in the Super Bowl & many in the Playoffs – he should be leaned on more then he has in the regular season if this team wants to have it’s best chance to win this January. You simply have to use your best weapon when you have the chances to do so, he can cut the field in half & is much more than just a Kicker. Field position matters, FG’s are important & kick returns can play a huge factor, all 3 can help to swing a game in the Ravens favor & I have a feeling Coach Horton has something up his sleeve for the Playoffs. If the offense stalls in the red zone, they absolutely must not turn down opportunities to use the best Kicker in the league as he will give them their best chance to win if they are unable to reach the endzone.
Grade : A

Coaching – Waving the white flag, not showing much & playing for next week. This one was hard to guage in terms of preparation but the coaching staff definitely wasn’t concerned enough w/ a possible coin toss to win the Division & was more focused on resting players to get get guys healthy & put all their eggs in 1 basket for the Playoffs. This coaching staff will be under the microscope more than ever now, the Playoffs are here & there is no more room for error, there is no “get em next week” the pressure is on this entire staff to come up w/ their best game plan going forward & even that might not be good enough w/ the way this staff had failed to make in-game adjustments & been out-coached in numerous games. HC John Harbaugh needs to keep his coordinators in check & he hasn’t shown an ability to do that yet, so you can’t believe in his ability to do it now. He also chose to play RB Gus Edwards when he didn’t need to & Edwards ended up leaving the game w/ a concussion & is now in concussion protocol which will hurt this team going forward if he is unable to go for the Playoffs. It’s almost like he chose to wave the white flag, while still partially playing to win, i mean sitting out some starters but playing others doesn’t really make any sense seeing as how he’s going to need all hands on deck & now he has players like Edwards as question marks in a game where they will be needed most. OC Greg Roman can feel his seat burning up but in this game you saw some things that he hasn’t done all season & using Likely as a wide out is the perfect example of something that should of been done weeks ago due to the injuries at WR. You saw some interesting wrinkles offensively & Roman stuck w/ the run until this was a 3 score game & then abandoned it while letting Brown turn it loose which is understandable & makes sense seeing as this game was all but over. It just makes you wonder what could of been if he had started tinkering w/ things like that a little earlier when this receiving core was decimated last month. DC Mike MacDonald has his group ready to go from the jump & it showed up right away despite them having their backs to the wall early & the 2nd half is when you saw his group really show off despite the Bengals possibly holding back but they still get the credit for playing well anyway. It seemed like the entire staff had this team playing well in every phase in the 2nd half despite both teams not wanting to tip their hand for next week. The Playoffs are here & out of the 14 teams in the tournament, this staff may be one of the most inconsistent of all of them. You just can’t believe in this staff, given the way the season has gone but you get the feeling they may let it all hang out next week. This team still lacks discipline as they are flagged for 5 penalties for 22 yards, including giving the Bengals a 1st down on another. It’s time to stop w/ all the antics & get serious now, how far this team goes despite their lack of offensive weapons will fall on this coaching staff 100%, they will be the ones who have to answer the tough questions when the season ends & for Coach Harbaugh, there will be much more than questions to answer, he may be coaching for his job while others are coaching just to remain on his staff. John Harbaugh has been here for almost 15 years now & in that time a message can become stale if the team isn’t responding to you as an HC, Harbaugh hasn’t lost the locker room & he has now made the Playoffs for the 5th time in the last 9 years but still has yet to advance past the Divisional round in that time. He has a chance to do that now but the chances of it happening aren’t likely, Harbaugh hasn’t shown any ability to get the best out of his players like other great coaches do & one could argue his OC has done nothing but hold all the talent back instead of make it better & maximizing it’s potential. This is the time, right here, right now – no room for error, no margin to slip up, no more bad play calling & overuse of analytics, no more pointing the finger or lack of accountability. This is the Playoffs & this team is 3 wins away from the Super Bowl. It’s time for this Coaching staff to coach like they never have before, it’s time to prove everyone wrong, it’s time to show the rest of the league that the Ravens aren’t to be slept on, it’s time to make a deep Playoff run – the thing is, this staff has given us no reason to believe they can do any of that anymore, those days are long gone.
Grade : C

Overall Grade : B-

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GO RAVENS!!
#TheSecondSeason

Steelers 16, Ravens 13 : Week 17 – Ravens Recap & Grades :

Offense – The same old theme. Running the ball all night but getting nowhere, a broken passing game & terrible play calling. However, a new trend showed up in this one – the disappearance of Gus Edwards. J.K. Dobbins gashes the Steelers front 7 all night long to the tune of 17 carries for 93 yards, an average of 5.5 yards per carry w/ a long of 22 & they rush for 120 on the night as a group. Tyler Huntley carries it 7 times for 24 yards, an average of 3.4 yards per carry & goes 14/21 through the air for 130 yards, an average of 6.2 yards per pass & 1 TD pass to TE Isaiah Likely. The TD pass happens after the Ravens drive is extended on a unnecessary roughness call on Steelers DE Cam Heyward. Huntley is also sacked once by Pro-Bowler T.J. Watt for a loss of 10 yards & throws 1 game-sealing INT. Edwards however, only carries the ball 3 times for 2 yards on the night, an average of 0.7 yards per carry in one of the biggest games of the season as OC Greg Roman didn’t at all feel the need to use him & there is absolutely no excuse for that. Given the broken passing game, using Edwards & even RB Kenyan Drake would be the best options & even w/ J.K. Dobbins running hard, they could help spell him & take some of the load off. You cannot have a stable of 3-4 RB’s & only use 1 on a night when running the ball was the recipe for success. Not using Drake or even Hill & only giving Edwards 3 carries is an absolute mind-blowing feat & it makes no sense that an actual NFL OC could operate & use his personnel that way. Mark Andrews catches 9 passes for 100 yards, an average of 11.1 yards per reception w/ a long of 19 yards as the team’s leading receiver. Likely catches 3 passes for 12 yards, an average of just 4.0 yards per reception w/ a long of 11 & a 7-yard TD pass catch from Huntley. The pass protection holds up well despite allowing some pressure but Huntley gets out of the pocket & avoids the rush on more than a few occasions. The run blocking did their thing again, opening up gaping holes for Dobbins to run free & mauling in the trenches as usual. This group goes 5 for 12 on 3rd down, while Pittsburgh goes 10-16 & for the 2nd straight week they do not go for it at all on 4th down, which is shocking in this new era of Harbaugh’s analytics. Pittsburgh doesn’t attempt a 4th down play either. They are out done or outgained in almost every single offensive category, including turnovers (1 to 0) yards per play (4.8 to 5.0) passing 1st downs (9 to 8), rushing 1st downs (6 to 13) total plays (50 to 70), total yards (351 to 240), rushing yards (198 to 120), passing yards (153 to 120) & drives (9 to 8) as this anemic offense goes 3 & out 3 times & has 1 drive of just 4 plays in 9 drives, so 33% of the drives were 3 & outs & 4 went for under 5 plays. They even lose the T.O.P. battle 34:14 to 25:46 & also snap a streak of 14 straight games out rushing their opponents. However, all 3 of their scoring drives were long – they put together a 15-play, 61-yard opening drive that ties the game on a FG, they go 62 yards on 11-plays on their only TD drive to take the lead & then go 42 yards on 8 plays to add another FG before 3 straight punts & an INT on their last 4 drives. This offense once again, as it has done in almost every single loss this season, fails to close out a team when leading by 10 or more points. The strategy & game plan should of involved more usage of Drake & Edwards, not 1 RB when you have 3 or 4 capable backs in a game where the running game would of been successful no matter who the back was. This group continues to struggle in the passing game but there seems to be absolutely no stopping them on the ground which is why it is so puzzling as to why Roman keeps trying trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by forcing a passing game to make plays when it simply does not have many play makers in that aspect of the offense. If this team has any hopes of a deep Playoff run, or even winning a single Playoff game, they need to lean on the running game more than they ever have, even if Lamar Jackson is back.
Grade : C

Defense – This unit played well but deeply missed DT Calais Campbell. The Steelers ran the ball at will & kept running it all night to the tune of 198 rushing yards, the most against this defense in the Mike Tomlin era. RB Najee Harris has a huge night running for 111 yards on 22 carries, and average of 5.0 yards per carry w/ a long of 12 yards & becomes the first player all season to rush for 100 yards against this unit all season. He also catches 2 passes for 12 yards an average of 6.0 yards per carry w/ the go ahead TD catch against ILB Roquan Smith w/ :56 seconds left. RB Jaylen Warren rushes for 76 yards on 12 carries, an average of 6.3 yards per carry w/ a long of 31 yards & hauls in 3 passes for 22 yards, an average of 7.3 yards per reception as the backfield of the Steelers does the brunt of the work against the Ravens front 7. They basically used the strategy the Ravens should have used, getting the ball into the hands of multiple backs out of the backfield & letting them do the rest. They only throw for 153 but when they did it was efficiently effective as Rookie QB Kenny Pickett looked like HOF Ben Roethlisberger at times, shaking off defenders, getting away from the pass rush & making throws on the run to extend plays. Pickett goes 15/27 for 168 yards, an average of 6.2 yards per pass & & 1 TD, he is sacked twice for a loss of 15 yards as DE Justin Madubuike & OLB Jason Pierre-Paul each record a sack of the Pittsburgh QB on the night. TE Pat Freiermuth catches 3 passes for 36 yards, an average of 12.0 yards per catch w/ a long of 20 yards as the Steeelers passing game didn’t need to do much in the way of making plays w/ the running game doing the damage it was doing. Allowing a 15-play, 70-yard drive to open the game & set the tone is really what had this defense on it’s heels all night & they never recovered. Missing CB Marcus Peters for the 2nd straight week was huge but didn’t play as much of a factor as it could of w/ ST ace, Kevon Seymour & 2nd year converted Safety Brandon Stephens playing CB but you could see the drop off, despite Stephens making a few plays. They allow the Steelers to drive 80 yards on 11 plays to score the game-winning TD when they hadn’t allowed a 4th quarter TD at home since before Halloween, yet they allow the first TD at home at all for the first time in 4 games. Missing Peters & Campbell hurt but it can’t be the reason why this defense wasn’t as good as it has been. The strategy was simple & the Steelers beat the Ravens at their own game. They lined up & won in the trenches, simple & plain. They pushed around this front 7, at times they won favorable matchups when they forced the linebackers to cover & when they had to make plays against the secondary they did that too. DC Mike McDonald’s group has been great of late & simply had a bad game in this one, it was one of the few games they got beat up front & failed to force a turnover. They have been carrying so much of the weight that they finally broke & unfortunately it came on prime time on national television against their divisional rivals, only the third loss in 22 prime time games under John Harbaugh. SS Chuck Clark leads the way w/ 10 tackles, 6 of them solo, Williams & Smith each total 9 w/ Williams getting 5 solo & Smith 4. The effort was definitely there from this group but the lack of communication showed up again & that is something that killed them earlier in the season but had so much better in the recent months. This group just needs to dust itself off & lick their wounds. They got beat in every phase, it’s time to put this one behind them & move on to their biggest game of the season in Cincinnati. Overall, the effort they put forward should of equaled different results but the lack of communication & attention to detail is what did them in. Allowing plays that they normally don’t allow, giving up over 100 on the ground & allowing a team to go 80 yards in the final 4 minutes to take the lead. Definitely not the football that we have seen lately from this group.
Grade : B-

Special Teams – For the first time in 2 weeks this unit looks like it’s usual self. No missed FG’s, no blocked FG’s, a long kick return & good kick coverage. They do their job all night but just like the offense & defense, it is not enough to carry this team to victory. Justin Tucker connects on both of his FG’s from 30 & 51 yards out & Rookie P Jordan Stout punts it away 4 times for 179 yards, an average of 44.8 yards per punt w/ 2 inside the 20 & 1 touch back. He doesn’t allow a return at all for Pittsburgh on the night. WR Stephen Sims returns 1 kick for 29 yards on the night & is tackled by WR James Proche II & Josh Oliver which comes after the TD pass to Likely. Proche II returns 1 punt for 2 yards & is once again a non-factor, although Steelers P Pressly Harvin only punts it away 2 times for 99 yards, an average of 49.5 yards per punt. RB Justice Hill totals 83 yards on 2 kick returns, an average of 41.5 yards per return & breaks loose on a 56-yarder that takes the ball all the way down to the Pittsburgh 40 after a FG by Chris Boswell had cut the lead to 4 in the 3rd quarter. Yet the offense goes 3 & out, even loses 2 yards on the drive & is unable to capitalize on it. Hill has been a nice surprise as a fill-in for WR Devin Duvernay, a Pro-Bowl return man who lost last month to a season ending foot injury. After 17 weeks & 16 games, this group has had only 2 hiccups, unfortunately they came in back-to-back weeks, while only 1 played a part in a loss. They look like they took offense to their recent struggles & have fixed any of the issues they might of had of late. There were no breakdowns in protection or blocking, while the coverage was solid & all the kicks went where they should of gone. Steelers K Chris Boswell misses off the right upright just before the Ravens TD drive to take the lead on a kick that may been partially tipped but definitely would of put the Steelers ahead. ST Coach Chris Horton loves to challenge his guys & you can bet there were more than a few things said to them after the way they looked against Cleveland & Atlanta although this veteran unit doesn’t need much motivation. This unit will continue to play their part & do their job for however long this team’s season lasts & you get the feeling that any struggles they’ve had, they’ve put behind them or at least for their sake they have to hope so. They have seen some great development in guys like Kevon Seymour, Del’Shawn Phillips, Justice Hill & Kristian Welch to name a few, they have replaced long time Raven greats like P Sam Koch w/ Rookie Jordan Stout & LS Morgan Fox w/ Nick Moore while hardly missing a beat in doing so. The future is bright as the young guys like Josh Ross, Tylan Wallace & A’darius Washington are waiting in the wings to make a name for themselves. This was basically just another day (night) at the office for this unit & they all did their jobs.
Grade : A-

Coaching – When your own Head Coach admits that he was upset about Gus Edwards not playing more, you get it but you ask the question, well aren’t you the HC, John? He has the power to override play calls but he doesn’t have the ability to call plays. He was never an X’s & O’s guy, he was a Special Teams guy & that there lies the issue. You have an OC in Greg Roman who constantly gets away from what his offensive group does best & a HC who has no choice but to trust him because there is no other option but to do so. The bottom line is John Harbaugh constantly gets out coached by superior coaches & coaching staff’s & it happened again in this one. The Steelers came into Baltimore & beat the Ravens at their own game by running all over them, playing better defense & winning in the trenches, they nearly dominated the line of scrimmage all night long & took advantage of a coaching staff that continues to not be able to make in game adjustments while the opponent does. That falls 100% on the shoulders of the entire coaching staff but it starts at the top & John Harbaugh does not have control of his staff, his assistants & coordinators are relied upon way more than a HC should have to rely on them & that is due to his inability to grab a clipboard. It has been like that for years but in classic Harbaugh fashion, he has constantly made scape goats of his coordinators at the right time to keep saving his job after being loyal to a fault for the entire time during their tenure. Now it has finally come light. OC Greg Roman continues to get away from what works without being held accountable. Harbaugh says the guys gave an A+ effort while also saying that his coordinator needed to use certain players more. It’s a like sideshow act in a circus – like a car full of clowns trying to get out of the car. DC Mike McDonald’s defense has been good, they have gotten after the passer, stopped the run all season (up until this game) forced turnovers & had some big plays but one thing that continues to show up is the way teams have been able to work the corners & any team w/ 2 or more good WR’s will pose a serious threat to his group. This team does not posses a single coach on the staff that any team really fears. It is not a Super Bowl coaching staff by any means & one would argue this staff has actually held this team back more than they have helped them be at their best. This team is way too talented to continue to perform at this level, even w/ the lack of weapons in the passing game, any coaching staff that used any little bit of creativity could get more out of this team. Not using 2 of your best players on offense in Kenyan Drake & Gus Edwards in January, in a game that was going to be hard nosed & physical, against your divisional rival w/ a chance to put yourselves in position to possibly win the division, makes absolutely no sense. Super Bowl teams don’t make those kind of errors in using their roster & personnel properly, they don’t take the ball out of the hands of some of their best guys in the biggest moments. The entire coaching staff needs a makeover & it’s time to hit the reset button before hard headed Harbaugh & his stubborn ways ruin this Franchise. Steve Bisciotti needs to act like an owner & make a business decision, no more buddy buddy between him, Harbaugh & GM Eric DeCosta. This team has had so many chances to seize control of the AFC but continues to lose games due to a lack of discipline, bad coaching, analytics & ego. They could be sitting in the top spot in the AFC & thinking about a 1st round bye & home field advantage throughout. They had a chance to put themselves in position to go to Jacksonville in the 1st round & get a possible favorable matchup but that opportunity is now gone & it looks like they will be headed to Cincinnati two times in a row now. This coaching staff laid a complete egg in 2 of the last 3 weeks, that is very uncharacteristic of a Harbaugh team this time of year but quite honestly, nothing about this coaching staff is suprising anymore.
Grade : D

Overall Grade : C-

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GO RAVENS!!
#Underachievers

Ravens 17, Falcons 9 – Week 16 – Recap & Grades :

Offense – A better showing than last week, still not great but effective enough to win against that kind of opponent. The running game is once again dominating as this group rushes for 184 yards on 34 carries, an average of 5.4 yards per carry, led by Gus Edwards’ 99 yards on 11 carries, an average of 9.0 yards per rush w/ a long of 37. J.K. Dobbins carries it 12 times for 59 yards, an average of 4.9 yards per carry & QB Tyler Huntley rushes for 26 yards on 11 carries, an average of 2.4 yards per carry. Huntley goes just 9/17 as a passer for 115 yards, an average of 6.8 yards per completion & 1 6-yard TD pass to WR Demarcus Robinson, his only catch of the day & the first receiving TD by a Ravens WR since Week 3.
The Ravens have out rushed their opponent in 14 straight games, a franchise record in a game that was 17 degrees at kickoff, the lowest for a home game in franchise history & a perfect game to do what they do best, stick to the ground game. They run the ball on the first 11 plays of the ensuing drive following a Falcons fumble, which ends w/ Huntley’s short touchdown pass to Robinson & caps a 13-play, 70-yard drive that eats up 6:46 & puts them up 14-3 @ the half. TE Mark Andrews hauls in 3 passes for 45 yards (36 of them coming on 1 play) an average of 15.0 yards per reception & WR Sammy Watkins hauls in his first pass of the season as a Raven for 40 yards, his only catch of the day after playing for the team last season & being claimed off of waivers by Green Bay last week. They gain only 15 first downs to Atlanta’s 17, but pick up 10 on the ground, they go just 4-12 on third down & run only 51 plays to the Falcons 68, while being outgained 327 to 299 while both teams have the same amount of drives (9) & average 5.9 yards per play. They lose the TOP battle 32:44 to 27:16 but win the turnover battle, 1-0. The play of the Offensive line is what stood out in this game, as they mauled in the ground game & dominated in pass protection, keeping Huntley clean on a day when he only dropped back to pass 17 times. When LT Ronnie Stanley is healthy & in the lineup this run game is absolutely dominant & just on a different level then when he isn’t & it’s as clear as night & day. This passing game isn’t going to toe to toe w/ the best offenses in the league but it was effective enough on this day despite needing to be much improved in the coming weeks as being one dimensional will not get it done. Down their top 2 WR’s, this patchwork WR room will definitely need to step up if this team has any ambitions of a deep Playoff run. OC Greg Roman continues to play around w/ throwing the football in situations when it’s not needed as if he just can’t resist trying to prove a point. The play calling & timing of plays coming in from the booth continue to be messy & the red zone offense is abysmal despite finally punching it in the endzone, they go just 1-4 in this game, w/ Huntley also converting on a nifty 2-point conversion w/ an RPO run up middle. The calls for OC Greg Roman’s head have only intensified as this team’s offensive woes continue to rear their head, game in & game out. It’s quite simple, let this offense run & they are a rushing juggernaut. Force them to throw & they look like very vulnerable. The running game has to carry this unit or they will most certainly crumble. That is something that they cannot fix this season, they are just too shorthanded & lack the explosiveness to be any type of threat through the air.
Grade : C

Defense : Another impressive performance by a group that has been carrying too much of the weight right now. The run defense is good despite missing DT Calais Campbell, not their best performance but still a good one as they hold RB Tyler Allgeier to 74 yards on 18 carries, an average of 4.1 yards per carry, including a long of 16 & he catches 4 passes for 43 yards, an average of 10.8 yards per reception, including a long of 26 yards. RB Cordarelle Patterson runs for 17 yards on 8 carries, an average of 2.1 yards per carry & hauls in 1 pass for 14 yards. The Falcons go to a run heavy approach to help their Rookie QB Desmond Ridder, who goes 22/33 for 218 yards, an average of 6.6 yards per pass, making only his 2nd career start in hostile environment & also had the cold weather element to deal w/ as well. They sack the Rookie twice for a loss of 6 yards as ILB Patrick Queen & S Brandon Stephens combine for a sack & DE Justin Madubuike gets to Ridder for the only other one despite generating pressure & forcing Ridder out of the pocket for most of the day. Rookie WR Drake London hauls in 7 catches for 96 yards, an average of 13.7 yards per reception w/ CB Marcus Peters out of the lineup but this secondary does play better, allowing only 2 plays of over 20 yards or more & they force a turnover when CB Marlon Humphrey forces London to fumble after a catch of 20 yards at the 26 when he punches the ball from the young WR, Queen recovers it at the Falcons 25 & returns it 5 yards to the 30. They allow 68 total plays by the Falcons offense for 327 yards & just 4.8 yards per play while holding them to 5-14 on 3rd down & 1-4 on 4th down, the Falcons also pass for 11 1st downs & run for 5. They stop the Falcons on 4 straight runs short of the end zone early in the 4th quarter after a 13-play, 73-yard drive that ate up over 7:31 but resulted in no points after Allgeier was unable to convert on fourth down from the 1. This group holds the Falcons without a touchdown on four red-zone trips, flexing its muscle as it bent but didn’t break all day long, holding the offense to just 3 FG’s despite missing some key pieces & doing its part to secure a much needed home win. This defense has allowed more than 14 points in a game just once since the start of November & ILB Roquan Smith has been a huge part of that as he leads the way w/ 15 tackles, 7 of them solo, but have all played much better as a unit & the communication has also been better in recent weeks. This group is playing well, getting healthy & gearing up for January, there isn’t a lot to complain about right now – they’re forcing turnovers, getting sacks, stopping the run & playing physical. Overall, exactly what you like to see from a team who has expectations to play deep into the winter. They look primed to be a Playoff defense but only time will tell how long they can carry the weight of an under performing offense.
Grade : B+

Special Teams – Another sketchy performance by this normally reliable group as they under perform for the 2nd week in a row. Pro-Bowl K Justin Tucker connects on 3 of his 4 FG’s w/ the only miss being another block & that is the 2nd week in a row that a blocked FG has killed a drive for the offense because this group couldn’t pick up their blocks. That has to anger ST Coach Chris Horton, who takes pride in having his groups ready to go week in & week out. Tucker connects from 21 on the offenses 2nd drive of the game, but on the 3rd drive he has his attempt from 55 is blocked by LB Adetokunbo Ogundeji which is recovered by TE Nick Boyle at the Atlanta 40. Tucker then connects from 27 to make it 6-point lead in the 2nd & Falcons Younghoe Koo hits from 32 yards for Atlanta as time expires in the 1st half w/ a doink off the left upright that bounces in. Koo would trade FG’s back & forth w/ Tucker – connecting from 34 in the 3rd to cut the lead to 8. Tucker then connects from 27 to make it 6-point lead & hits from 21 in the 4th to make it an 11-point game w/ 14:10 to go but Koo hits from 37 amongst the leaping arms of a few Ravens to cut it back to 8 w/ just 2:03 left but the Falcons run too much time off the clock & the Ravens close the game out by picking up a 1st down. RB Justice Hill fills in nicely for the injured Pro-Bowl returner, Devin Duvernay as he returns 3 kicks for 65 yards, an average of 21.7 yards per return, including a long of 24 & James Proche II returns 2 punts for 14 yards, an average of 7.0 yards per return w/ a long of 9 yards. Rookie P Jordan Stout punts it away 3 times for 115 yards, an average of 38.3 yards per punt, including 1 inside the 20 as he continues his fantastic Rookie campaign & is using the tutelage he received from former Ravens P Sam Koch to try to become one of the best punters in the game. The kick coverage is solid as Stout doesn’t allow a return on any of his kicks but 3 different returners get involved for the Falcons as CB Avery Williams returns 2 kicks for 35 yards, an average of 17.5 yards per return, Patterson returns 1 for 16 yards & FB Keith Smith II also returns a kick for 16 yards. ST Chris Horton has one of the best units in the league & seeing blocked FG’s from opposing teams in consecutive weeks had to raise a few eyebrows for him as to how & why they happened & what he can do to fix it because it was very uncharacteristic of this normally automatic & reliable unit. If this group can clean up the messy stuff from the last 2 weeks, combined w/ the way the defense has played & the only thing missing from this team is the passing game. They are sound in almost every area on ST from snaps to holds to kicks to tackles to blocks to returns, this group always finds a way to make an impact on the game or put their stamp on it, they did that in this one too but Justin Tucker’s stat line is 4/7 in his last 2 games & only one of them has come on a missed kick. This group has to perform better moving forward but history has shown that they will.
Grade : B+

Coaching – John Harbaugh is a very frustrating Head Coach. At times he can command the locker room & deliver a heartfelt message to his team that shows his experience & pedigree while showing why he has been regarded as one of the best. That’s the good John. Then there is the Bad John. The HC who constantly resorts to analytics, has no emotion & asks his players what they should do in critical moments & tucks his tail in between his legs when it’s time to take some accountability on the podium. This translates to how his team performs as they constantly play down to their competition, underestimate certain opponents & at times look downright awful. All that being said, this game was a gut check game that bordered on playing down to the competition while still performing well enough to win a game they had to have. They looked ready to go from the beginning, they looked inspired & fired up despite the blistering cold of 17° & the entire coaching staff seemed to understand the importance of what this game meant & how important it was that they do their job. OC Greg Roman stuck w/ the run all day to the tune of a 34 to 17 run/ pass ratio & let his offense do what they do best & run the football to the total of 184 yards. DC Mike MacDonald had his defense ready to go against a Rookie QB in a possible trap game, not getting away from what he’s done for most of this season & allowing things to flow without missing a beat, down a couple of starters. This coaching staff has enough talent around them to beat teams in every phase of the game. The problem is the lack of preparation or attention to detail has been where they have been outcoached at times. Failing to make in game adjustments was an issue earlier in the season as was the lack of communication in the secondary but those have gotten better as the season has gone on. The discipline has also been better as the penalties have gone down in recent weeks, the Ravens were only flagged for 1 penalty in this game for 6 yards, while Atlanta is flagged 5 times for 48 yards. This team will only go as far as the coaching takes them, they can play w/ anybody in the league but the coaching staff has held them back in recent years. Harbaugh took the points on the first 2 drives despite a blocked FG, he still turned to his Kicker early on after not doing so last week & seeing it be the catapult for one of the ugliest Raven games in recent memory. He continued to take the points all day as the offense amazingly never once went for it on 4th down & it showed up in the results, you begin to wonder what if that would of been the case in the Dolphins, Bills, Jaguars & Browns games. 4 games in which he passed up on points to resort to analytics & it came back to bite him. He also needs to make some tough decisions regarding his staff, especially S&C Coach Steve Saunders & OC Greg Roman but after clinching a Playoff berth for the 4th time in 5 years, this time w/ 2 games left in the season, those can wait until the off-season for now.
Grade : B-

Overall Grade : B-

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GO RAVENS!!
#BirdFight

Browns 13, Ravens 3 : Week 15 – Recap & Grades :

Offense – Absolutely Abysmal. Perhaps the worst showing by this group in years. They once again got away from what worked & took to the air w/ a QB who just was knocked out of his last game, after gashing Cleveland on the ground for the entire 1st half. J.K.Dobbins leads the way w/ 125 yards on 13 carries, an average of 9.6 yards per carry & Gus Edwards churns out 55 yards on 7 carries, an average of 7.9 yards per carry as this group rushes for 198 yards on this cold Cleveland night. Tyler Huntley rushes for 15 yards on 6 carries, average of 2.5 yards per carry & goes 17/30 as a passer for 138 yards, an average of 4.6 yards per pass & 1 crucial INT inside the Browns 10 in the 3rd quarter, he is also sacked 3 times for a loss of 12 yards, including back-to-back sacks in the offenses final drive of the game. TE Mark Andrews leads the way in the passing game w/ 3 receptions for 31 yards, an average of 10.3 yards per reception & WR Demarcus Robinson catches 6 passes for 29 yards, an average of 4.8 yards per reception, but loses a crucial fumble after a 14-yard catch w/ 2:00 left in the 3rd quarter to give the Browns the ball back again as as S John Johnson forces it & also recovers it in Ravens territory at the 40. The offensive line does not hold up well in pass protection, even w/ Ronnie Stanley in the lineup as they allow 3 sacks on the night w/ a pair coming on the final drive w/ constant pressure on Huntley which makes no sense as to why OC Greg Roman was dialing up the passing game w/ a QB who just got out concussion protocol & abandoned the run game when it was working w/ the team only down by 1 score in the 2nd half. They go just 5 of 12 on 3rd down & 0-3 on 4th down, run 3 less plays (61) to Cleveland’s (64) but out gain the Browns 324 to 283 while both teams possess the ball 9 times, they also lose the turnover battle – 2 to 0. So they gain 324 total yards, yet lose the TOP battle 26:52 to 33:08. The plays continue to come in late & when they do they’re poorly called in certain situations, especially the red zone & poorly executed in the passing game due to the lack of personnel to run the plays that are being called & the HC isn’t an X & O’s guy who can takeover the play calling. Greg Roman continues to sabotage this team w/ his predictable play calling & terrible situational football while getting away from what he even does best & it’s almost like a guy who wants to prove something about his passing game at this point. This group marches 71 yards on 10 plays on their first possession but come away empty handed after failing to convert on a 4th & 1 FB dive w/ Patrick Ricard & after holding the ball for 6:25 they got nothing – That is absolutely inexcusable & should never happen. Kicking the FG right there would of set the tone right away but instead it led to a 14-play, 84-yard drive by the Browns who do end up kicking a FG & take a 3 point lead so it was essentially a 6-point swing. There has got to be some changes made to the way this unit operates or things will only get worse from here. Now they are missing several more key pieces & while the running game is great, failing to use it & trying to force a patchwork passing game to make plays is absolutely terrible & the fan base has finally started to call for Greg Roman’s head. They have a drive of 10-plays, 49 yards that results in a missed FG by Tucker, the next drive they march 60 yards on 11-plays but Huntley is intercepted, the next drive Robinson fumbles on the first play & the next drive goes for 60 yards on 6 plays but Tucker’s FG is blocked. Missed FG, interception, fumble, blocked FG. 4 absolutely terrible outcomes on 4 straight drives, added to declining to kick the FG earlier & that’s 1 score on 9 offensive drives which is atrocious. That doomed this team in the end, there is no other way around it. Overall, just an ugly effort all together on national television & in prime time for the whole world to see. 3 points scored in Cleveland to a team w/ 5 wins coming in. It doesn’t matter who is behind center, this offense, especially the passing game, is absolutely broken.
Grade : D

Defense : This group did their job again, like they have been doing for the last few weeks. They allow 283 total yards, including 143 on the ground on 33 carries, an average of 4.3 yards rushing as a team as RB Nick Chubb gashes them for 99 yards on 21 carries, an average of 4.7 yards per carry. RB Kareem Hunt also turns out 24 yards on 4 carries, for an average of 6.0 yards per carry. They also lose DT Calais Campbell to a knee injury in the 3rd quarter as guys continue to drop on both sides of the ball for this team. The pass rush gets dialed up a little bit as they get to QB DeShaun Watson 3 times for a loss of 21 yards on the night as DT Brent Urban & S Kyle Hamilton each get to him once & OLB Odafe Oweh & ILB Patrick Queen register .5 a sack each as they both combine for a sack of the Cleveland QB. In only his 2nd game back from his 11-game suspension, Watson isn’t great but he does go 18/28 for 161 yards, an average of 5.8 yards per pass & 1 TD pass to WR Donovan-Peoples Jones. He also rushes for 22 yards on 6 carries, an average of 3.7 yards per rush & leads scoring drives of 14-plays, 64 yards (FG), 9-plays, 27 yards (FG) & 12-plays, 91 yards (TD) against this group who was put in some bad spots for most of the night. After Harbaugh declines to kick the FG on the opening drive & the offense fails to convert, they allow Watson to lead his offense right down the field for 14-plays & 64 yards & kick a FG to take the lead. WR’s Amari Cooper & Donovan Peoples-Jones both haul in 4 passes as Cooper catches 4 for 58, an average of 14.5 yards per catch & Peoples-Jones catches 4 for 31 yards, an average of 7.8 yards per reception, including the only TD of the game. They hold the Browns to go just 5/15, 33% on 3rd down but also allow them to go 2 for 2 on 4th down, both of which were huge, they also hold them to just 4.4 yards per play on the night, even as they survived 33 rushes from a great running attack & a mobile QB w/ fresh legs. This group has helped the offense out week after week, they just couldn’t sustain it anymore. ILB Roquan Smith amasses 11 tackles on the night & Rookie Kyle Hamilton has 6 to go along w/ his sack as this group looks like they have really begun to gel, although the score of this game doesn’t indicate that. This group got after it & if the offense would of held up their end, the outcome would of been different as DC Mike MacDonald has his group playing well at all 3 levels w/ the exception of the secondary possibly being the weak link. They have stopped the run all season long, the linebacker play & tackling has been much better w/ the addition of Smith & pass rush has been better as it’s gotten healthier. Now the only weakness appears to be the coverage although it has been much improved since earlier in the season it is still a weak link at times & just too inconsistent from week to week. This is a defense that knew it would have to carry the offense down the stretch but not to the tune of them scoring only 3 points & putting them in bad situations time & time again. That will not lead to good things & will start to create a divide no matter how together a team is, one group gets tired of carrying another – they have to help each other out. The pressure is now on this group more than ever, the offense doesn’t appear fixable so this group will have to carry the weight, there’s no way around that.
Grade : B

Special Teams : Just 1 week after coming up huge & making plays to bail this team out against Pittsburgh, this group crumbles & falls apart at the seams when it matters most which is very uncharacteristic of them. They don’t get an opportunity for a FG on the game’s first drive & you got the feeling after that missed opportunity that it was going to be one of those nights. Watson then leads a 14-play, 64-yard drive as Browns K Cade York makes a 47-yard FG to give Cleveland the lead. When they finally did get their opportunity, Tucker drills a FG from 53 yards in the 2nd quarter to tie it but York makes another from 23 amongst the leaping arms of the Raven defenders, then the meltdown of this group begins. Tucker misses from 48 yards to try to tie it as his kick sails wide left & when Justin Tucker misses FG’s good things never follow. Tucker then lines up for a 50-yarder that gets blocked by Browns DT Jordan Elliott & recovered by Tucker at the Ravens 48. Tucker goes 1-3 on the night & while his stat line makes you do a double take, the only one that’s really on him is the miss from 48. The block is out of his control but is definitely a break down of what is normally a reliable unit & ST Coach Chris Horton could not of liked what he saw on that play. Tucker took the blame for the miss & as a leader in that locker room, you love to see that accountability from him, he could never make another kick again & he would already have the keys to the city. Pro-Bowl KR Devin Duvernay totals 48 return yards on 2 kick returns for 41 yards, an average of 20.5 yards per return & 1 punt return for 7 yards as this group is never able to make an impact on this game & you could see the difference in how the game was affected by it. Browns KR Jerome Ford returns 1 kick for 21 yards as the only kick return of the night & he is tackled by Tucker & WR James Proche II as the only time kick coverage was required. Rookie P Jordan Stout punts it away only 1 time for 41 yards & it lands inside the 20. Stout has been a nice fill in for former P Sam Koch who left his legacy in Baltimore & even gave Stout some tutelage after he was drafted, showing him a thing or two & passing the torch to the youngster. Games like these come as a shock when you see the best Kicker in the game miss a kick, have a kick blocked & not be used when he could of been, in situations that leave you scratching your head as to why a HC would continue to not use one of his best weapons & let him stand on the sidelines & watch as an offense that has been terrible in the red zone once again failed to convert. As a former ST Coach, John Harbaugh should emphasize the importance of taking the points instead of resorting to analytics but nothing about this team makes any sense when you try to understand why they continue to do what they do. This unit has been, hands down, one of the best Special Teams groups in the league for years & it happens to the best so you take this performance & throw it in the trash, we won’t see a performance like this from this unit for a long time.
Grade : C-

Coaching : Bad. Awful. Unacceptable. Shameful. Embarrassing. A Coaching staff made up of a Super Bowl winning coach & an OC who was his brother’s OC in that same Super Bowl & this is the results you get? 10 years ago is an eternity in the NFL & it appears that both of them have worn out their welcome in this league while hurting their team in the process. Harbaugh doesn’t appear to care or just seems to think everything is fine which has been the problem for years & it needs to finally come to an end. This is a team w/ way too much talent to be playing the way they are & underachieving year in & year out, once the head coach doesn’t get the results from his team that he used to get, it means his message has fallen on deaf ears. He isn’t holding anyone accountable like he should & that has been one of his flaws his entire career, he is loyal to a fault & it has become detrimental to the team he coaches. OC Greg Roman should of been gone long ago & yet he remains as the fan base only gets angrier, strength & conditioning coach Steve Saunders should have been gone after he was responsible for the COVID outbreak in 2020 but yet once again, nothing was done. Last year this team had the most injuries in the league & yet Saunders kept his job once again. The pattern that you’re seeing here is a HC who continues to get on the podium & point the blame or sugarcoat while never holding himself accountable for what this team has become. DC Mike MacDonald has been much better as the season has gone on & has made adjustments while having guys in & out of the lineup due to injury, meanwhile OC Greg Roman has looked awful at times. There is no balance within this staff, if 1 guy has his unit doing well & the other guy can’t get his together, the margin for winning becomes very slim. Coaches need to have their teams ready to go & on the same page w/ each other so the game can flow & when you have an imbalance plus no discipline in critical situations, the product starts to become sloppy. The team was flagged for 3 penalties for 25-yards in this one which is actually a small amount of penalties for a team who usually racks ’em up weekly. This Franchise has lacked discipline for awhile but the last few years it has only gotten worse & hurt this team even more. The leadership on this team should stem from the coaching staff but instead it seems like the coaching staff is starting to lean on the players instead. Constantly asking your players what they would do & resorting to analytics to make up for your lack of knowledge about game management are all signs that point to your time being up w/ this Franchise. This team was just embarrassed on national television & scored 3 points in Cleveland to a team who isn’t better than them & a QB who had never beaten them, all because their HC once again made bad decisions & made himself & his team look foolish. There is no emotion from a head coach who should be very emotional right now to show his team the importance of this moment, yet there he is, making the same confused faces to the same old sad song & getting the same old results in the end. The entire staff needs to get a complete makeover, they need a new message & a new voice in Baltimore, a voice who understands how the game is played in 2022, one who the game hasn’t passed by & one who can be a true leader of men like Harbaugh used to be before he went soft & let the game snatch his soul. After this season, barring some magical Playoff run to the Super Bowl, it’s time to hit the reset button on this staff.
Grade : C

Overall Grade : D

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GO RAVENS!!
#WhatAJoke

Ravens 16, Steelers 14 : Week 14 – Recap & Grades :

Offense – Getting back to what they do best was the recipe for success. Running the football to the tune of 215 yards on 42 attempts for an average of 5.1 yards per carry on the ground, led by the return of JK Dobbins, who carries it 15 times for 120 yards, an average of 8.0 yards per carry & a TD, including busting loose for a 44-yard scamper in the 1st quarter of his first game since undergoing his 2nd knee surgery in the last 2 years. Gus Edwards carries it 13 times for 66 yards, an average of 5.1 yards per carry & QB Tyler Huntley runs it 9 times for 31 yards, an average of 3.4 yards per carry while going 8/12 for 88 yards, an average of 7.3 yards per pass & is sacked 1 time for -6 yards. Huntley picks up right where he left last week, leading back-to-back scoring drives of 11 plays, 51 yards & a Justin Tucker FG & 2 plays, 48 yards which is falls all on the shoulders of Dobbins for a TD after a 3 & out on the opening drive. They go 4-13 on 3rd down & run 61 total plays for 309 yards & average 5.1 yards per play while winning the TOP 32:59 to 27:01. As good as Huntley has been backing up a former league MVP in Jackson, one area that he has to clean up is running out of bounds instead of taking big hits which is why he got knocked out of the game in the 3rd quarter on a vicious hit by Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick w/ a concussion. Jackson has made avoiding such hits look easy & Huntley absolutely has to fix that aspect of his game. Rookie Anthony Brown shows some poise to come in to the game when he did, backed up in his own territory, on the road, in Pittsburgh as a third string QB who has never seen any game action. He goes 3/5 for 16 yards including a huge 7-yard pass to TE Mark Andrews on 3rd & 4 from his own 39 w/ 8:31 left in the game which leads to a FG by Tucker & caps off a 13-play, 57 yard, clock chewing drive that eats up 7:55. They then put together the game-sealing drive right before the 2-minute warning as Edwards pounds his way through for 6 on 3rd & 3 to seal the deal & it’s a victory formation the rest of the way. Demarcus Robinson catches 5 passes for 52 yards, an average of 10.4 yards per catch & a long of 23 yards. The pass protection holds up well as they only allow 2 sacks for -10 yards on the day against a formidable Pittsburgh front 7 & you can see the difference between this O-line is night & day w/ LT Ronnie Stanley back in the lineup. He is really the X-factor of this entire group as his presence brings stability in the trenches & opens up the running game much better while winning most of his one on one matchups. Even without RG Kevin Zietler, this group got contributions from G Trystan Colon & G Ben Cleveland who fills in after Colon leaves w/ injury & plays well in his absence but it’s the presence of Stanley that changes the dynamics of this offensive line. Overall, this group just bludgeoned the Steelers w/ the run game, made some timely throws & did not turn the ball over despite being down to it’s third string QB on the road in a hostile environment, it doesn’t matter who is behind center when this team is able to run the ball this effectively & control the clock, they can play w/ anybody in the league when they play to their identity & don’t get away from who they are. This was a vintage Ravens offensive performance.
Grade : B-

Defense – This group once again rises to the occasion on the road as they force 3 turnovers, register 2 sacks & allow just 65 yards on the ground while hitting anything that moves & throwing it back to the Ravens defenses of old w/ a dominating performance in Pittsburgh to lift up an offense in need of any help it could get. This group was relentless all day, holding RB Najee Harris to just 38 yards on 12 carries, an average of 2.8 yards per carry, knocking starting QB Kenny Pickett out of the game & forcing backup QB Mitch Trubisky to throw 3 INT’s, all in Ravens territory. Pickett is sacked by LB Roquan Smith on 3rd down & leaves the game 1 series later after entering concussion protocol, only to be replaced by Trubisky who goes 22/30 for 276 yards, an average of 9.2 yards per pass & 1 TD to TE Pat Freiermuth while throwing 3 picks & getting sacked once. Freiermuth hauls in passes for 33 yards, an average of 11.0 yards per reception but WR Diontae Johnson totals 82 yards on 6 catches, an average of 13.7 per catch, while Rookie WR George Pickens hauls in 3 passes for 78 yards, an average of 26.0 yards per reception. No matter the amount of yards gained by the passing game this unit kept the pressure up & for stops when it needed to. Smith & Queen each register an interception on back-to-back drives in the 3rd & FS Marcus Williams makes his presence felt in this rivalry by snagging another on an overthrow by Trubisky which puts the ball on the 1 when Brown takes over for the first time. Smith & Bowser each pick up a sack, Smith on Pickett, Bowser on Trubisky & this group was just nasty all day long, holding the Steelers to 4 for 8 on 3rd down & out of 9 possesions they never allow Pittsburgh to run more than 9 plays on any of them They do allow them 4 1st downs on penalties as the discipline issues this team has had do show up again but they are able to overcome it in the end. The secondary plays better, there is better communication & better tackling then in recent weeks while forcing all 3 interceptions as DC Mike McDonald’s scheme continues to come together, rising to the occasion against their biggest rival on the road. This group will need to repeat these types of performances week in & week out if this offense continues to struggle to score points but that’s fine, this team has won many games that way over the years & it’s actually in their DNA to win that way, anything else is going outside their realm & getting away from who they are. While the offense was high-powered behind Jackson in recent years, the defense regressed & it became almost 1-sided, Roquan Smith has helped restore this defense to the way it used to be, the Ravens defense has allowed the 2nd fewest points in the league since acquiring Smith in Week 9. Having Smith at the MIKE allows Patrick Queen to take his play to the next level at the WILL next to Smith & it’s just a domino effect down the line the rest of the way. This group has the ability to carry this team down the stretch if need be & as a matter of fact, they relish the role of doing so. They are forcing turnovers, registering sacks & stopping the run, the only weakness this group really has is in the secondary but even that has gotten better of late. Overall, an impressive performance but not surprising at all, just flashbacks to the days of old which is a good thing moving forward.
Grade : A

Special Teams : Clutch. The backbone of this team shows up again when they are needed most but this time they do it every way possible & show why they are perhaps the best ST unit in the league. Justin Tucker connects on all 3 of his FG’s from 42, 35 & 30 yards out, Rookie P Jordan Stout punts it away 3 times for 174 yards, an average of 41.3 yards per punt, including 1 inside the 20. Also, the kick coverage is solid as Steven Sims Jr. totals 29 yards on 2 kick returns for 0 yards & 1 punt return for 29 as this group continues to be solid in kick coverage & has for a long time. RB Justice Hill returns 2 kicks for 39 yards, an average of 19.5 yards per return & WR Devin Duvernay returns 1 kick for 9 yards in a game that didn’t have a lot of scoring so neither team had many opportunities to make an impact in the return game. The biggest play made by this group was Calais Campbell blocking a FG attempt by Steelers K Chris Boswell on the 20 yard line on a kick that would of cut the lead to 3 & ultimately would of factored into the Steelers winning this game instead of losing it. This group showed why they are the best, why they can be depended on & why they are always just 1 play away from changing the outcome of a game. Campbell’s block was nothing but clutch & was something that had been missing from this unit for awhile. It also sparked the offense to all but close the game out as they execute a 13-play, 57 yard drive that takes up 7:55 & leads to a FG by Tucker to make it a 2-score game w/ 3:19 left. ST Coach, Chris Horton has had his group ready to go every single week & they continue to be one of the most dependable units in the league & one of the reasons that this team sits where it does. Tucker’s automatic leg, Stout’s precise punts, Duvernay’s excellent returns, Campbell’s blocks, Hill & Seymour’s solid coverage & one of the best ST coaches in the league on a team who’s HC cut his teeth as a ST Coach & the product you get is nothing but the best. This group is & always will be the backbone & it won’t change any time soon. The attention to detail that this unit has in top notch & that starts w/ the coaching & philosophy that this unit has had over the years, they have been amongst the top of the NFL forever no matter who leaves & who stays, the faces can change but the play & performance will be the same, the results will always be positive more then they are negative, nothing will be easy against this group & they can beat you in so many ways. Having a Kicker like Tucker is a weapon who can cut the field in half, Duvernay can break loose at any time in the return game & Campbell has blocked more than his share of kicks in his time. CB Kevon Seymour & RB Justice Hill have carved out roles for themselves on this unit & continue to get better every week while also contributing to their respected position groups. A great performance once again, perhaps their best showing of the season in a game where they were needed more than ever & they delivered once again in the biggest of moments.
Grade : A+

Coaching – The respect between Steelers HC Mike Tomlin & Ravens HC John Harbaugh is mutual & while both teams beat each other up twice a year on the field, both of these coaches are used to this hard-hitting affair & while they have seen the faces change over the year, their teams have maintained the same intensity in this rivalry that dates back over 2 decades & the record is now 32-25 in favor Pittsburgh. Something about this game brings out the best in this coaching staff & they seemed to know exactly what approach to take against their most hated but respected rivals in this one to snap a 4-game losing streak that lingered over this team regarding this rivalry. These 2 coaches may be holdovers from a different era of this rivalry, but they have maintained the same message about how to approach this game & what it means to these 2 Franchises. The faces have changed along w/ the records but these teams are still recovering from a 6-8 year run of some of the most intense & physical football we may have ever seen. As far as the game goes, the strategy should of been the same regardless of who the QB was because w/ Ronnie Stanley back in the lineup the running game is at it’s best & the passing game isn’t asked to do a lot. The preparation was good, the team seemed ready to go from the beginning & there was no slow start, the intensity was relentless & they never took their foot off the gas. This coaching staff seemed to understand the importance of this game & what it meant going forward, given the QB situation & needing to keep pace in the Playoff race, they never blinked & neither did this team. They were on the road & down to their third string QB, yet you still got the feeling that things were going to be fine & there was no reason to panic, which has been a rare feeling this season. OC Greg Roman understood that they were going to have to run their way out of Pittsburgh if they wanted to come out victorious, so he made sure they did just that. DC Mike MacDonald had his group ready to attack right away & led by LB Roquan Smith & FS Marcus Williams welcoming themselves to this rivalry, they feasted & were relentless all day long, as MacDonald himself made his imprint on this rivalry early by dialing up pressure early & often, forcing the Steelers to be one-dimensional for most of the game. The entire coaching staff was on the same page, there were adjustments made, there was communication, the attention to detail was there & there was no let down or lack of preparation, this team was locked in for all 4 quarters & the discipline was better as well, the penalties & red zone troubles didn’t show up like they have in recent weeks. These Ravens had lost 4 in a row to the Steelers, there were 8 Ravens who had never beaten Pittsburgh & seeing as how Coach Harbaugh hadn’t beaten them since Week 17 of the 2019 season, this win was refreshing in many ways. These are the kinds of games that start to make you believe in this team, they looked good in all 3 phases & were in control for pretty much the entire game. When this coaching staff coaches like this, the results speak for themselves & this team just plays differently no matter who the opponent is. They just have an edge to them that can’t be explained & it seems to always come out when the coaches use the talent they they have properly. No trying new things for the sake of trying them, no overthinking, no getting away from what they do best – just using the talent they have on this roster the way it should be used, imagine that? This team will go as far as this coaching staff takes them, it doesn’t matter who the QB is, they can win by running the ball & playing solid defense while letting one of the best ST units in the league do what they do best but the coaching staff is the deciding factor as to how well this team plays & how far they go. Overall, when this staff coaches well the results usually speak for themselves & this was just another example of knowing how to get the best out of your football team.
Grade : A-

Overall Grade : A-

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GO RAVENS!!
#BlackAndBlueBrawl

Ravens 10, Broncos 9 : Week 13 – Recap & Grades :

Offense – Another ugly showing by this group as they continue to struggle without LT Ronnie Stanley, RB JK Dobbins, WR Rashod Bateman & now QB Lamar Jackson who suffers a strained PCL at the end of the 1st quarter after being sacked by Broncos LB Jonathan Cooper & will be out 1-3 weeks. Tyler Huntley comes in to replace Jackson & goes 27/32 for 187 yards & 1 INT through the air but also leads the way on the ground as well as he rushes for 41 yards on 10 carries, an average of 4.1 yards per carry , including the game-winning TD w/ :28 seconds left after leading a 16 play, 9-yard drive against the 3rd ranked defense in the league. Kenyan Drake carries it 7 times for 29 yards, also an average of 4.1 yards per carry as the offense rushes for 103 total yards on the day on 28 rushes, an average of 3.7 yards per carry. Mark Andrews hauls in 4 passes for 53 yards, an average of 13.3 yards per reception & Demarcus Robinson catches 7 passes for 41 yards, an average of 5.9 yards per reception, Devin Duvernay totals 43 yards as he rushes for 9 on 2 carries, an average of 4.5 yards per carry & catches 6 passes for 34 yards, an average of 5.7 yards per catch as Tyler Huntley worked the ball underneath a lot & took very few kill shots downfield like Jackson does. The play calling by OC Greg Roman was once again poor & his worst call of the day comes when he dials up a reverse pass on 2nd down at the Denver 29 as WR James Proche II throws into quadruple coverage & gives S Justin Simmons his 2nd INT of the day, just a terrible decision by Roman to call it but an even worse decision to throw it by Proche. The pass protection holds up well despite losing backup LT Patrick Mekari in the 1st half & Rookie Daniel Faalele holds his own once again in pass protection as the Broncos aggressive pass rush registers 4 sacks on the day – 2 on Jackson for a loss of 10 yards, including the one by Cooper that injures him & 2 on Huntley for a loss of 6 yards. The offensive line play was way better when Stanley was starting & has dropped off since he got injured again, RT Morgan Moses has been good but the penalties by him continue to kill this group & RG Kevin Zeitler’s play has also dropped off from last season. They continue to struggle in the red zone but Huntley finally puts an end to that w/ his go-ahead score & the clock issues of breaking the huddle late & getting the plays off seemed to go away as Huntley was in command & they even went no huddle w/ no issues or penalties. This unit struggled to the tune of 3-13 on 3rd down but excelled on 4th down going 3-3 including converting a huge 4th & 2 on the Denver 15 w/ a 3-yard run by Huntley. They hold the ball for 32:29 to Denver’s 27:31 not exactly dominant but they do win the TOP battle, they also run 69 plays to Denver’s 52 & only outgain them 285 to 272. Huntley engineers both scoring drives as he also leads a 10 Play, 62-yard drive that leads to a FG by Tucker in the 2nd quarter to tie the game & despite the struggles of this group in recent weeks no matter who the QB has been, Huntley was able to do enough to lead the game-winning drive & win a game that they almost had no business winning. So now this team faces almost the exact same position that it was in last season when Jackson went down & Huntley took over, going 0-3 in the final 3 games after winning against Chicago a few weeks earlier when Jackson was sick. The difference is this season there is way more talent around him w/ the exception of the WR position & the defense has play makers. Overall, an ugly, gutsy effort that equaled a win but playing like this will not get it done against the AFC’s elite.
Grade : C

Defense – A great effort by this group against an enept offense but they did what they were supposed to do by keeping an offense that has struggled to find the end zone out of it again. They hold the Broncos to just 272 total yards on the day, as former Raven, Latavius Murray runs for 47 yards on 17 carries, average of 2.8 yards per carry & catches 4 passes for 41 yards out of the backfield, an average of 3.5 yards per catch. Russell Wilson passes for just 189 yards, as he goes 17/22 on the day & is sacked twice by the Ravens pass rush for a loss of 5 yards as CB Marlon Humphrey & OLB Odafe Oweh each get to Wilson. They struggle to contain TE Greg Dulcich who hauls in 85 yards on 6 catches, an average of 14.2 yards per reception & that same before mentioned pass rush is dialed back a little bit by a Denver offensive line that is able keep Wilson upright for most of the day. This group registers fewer than 3 sacks for the first time in 8 games as they had really been getting after it as of late but were taken down a notch in this game. What they did best in this game was basically just get stops & force the offense off the field as they Denver goes just 2-12 on 3rd down, including 3. 3 & outs but their streak of forcing a turnover ends at 14 games. This group just kept getting after it no matter what despite what the offense was doing as ILB Roquan Smith’s presence continues to be felt to the tune of 11 tackles & despite losing ILB Patrick Queen to a thigh injury late in the game they kept plugging away & keeping the Ravens in the game. They hold Denver to only 3 FG’s as the Broncos have drives of 11 plays, 3 plays, 5 plays, 3 plays, 5 plays, 3 plays, 8 plays, 5 plays, 4 plays, 5 plays, 5 plays & 4 plays on the day to keep them out of the end zone. DC Mike McDonald’s scheme is hit or miss although they’ve been more hit then miss of late they looked great against Carolina & Denver but had a rough one against Jacksonville w/ a Pittsburgh team who isn’t exactly a Juggernaut looming next. This is the time for the defense to carry this team because scoring may be a little down w/ Huntley in although you have to feel good about this team’s chances based on the opponents. If this group can continue to force turnovers & dial up the pressure they can go hand in hand w/ an offense that’s gonna be a lot of ball control, run the football & dominate the clock style of play. It’s time for the leaders on this unit to step up & rise to the occasion because they will be leaned on heavily in the coming weeks. The elite teams in the AFC will pose a way bigger threat then this Broncos team who is offensively challenged, it’s time to get serious as guys are also getting healthy at the right time. Overall, they did their job & played well despite not forcing turnovers or doing anything dynamic while the team earned a win, not too much you can complain about there.
Grade : A-

Special Teams : Justin Tucker connects on his only FG, Jordan Stout has a busy day & this group was solid once again as they helped this team pick up a hard earned win. Tucker hits from 26 yards out in the 2nd quarter to tie the game & watches as the offense fails to sustain drives & his fellow P kicks it away 6 times for 303 yards, an average of 50.5 yards per punt, including a long of 63 yards & 5 touchbacks. Pro-Bowl return man, Devin Duvernay returns 3 kicks for 62 yards, an average of 20.7 yards per return & 1 punt for 3 yards on 7 punts by Broncos P Corliss Waitman, while LS Nick Moore, CB Kevon Seymour & CB Daryl Worley combine for all 3 tackles on Broncos KR Montrell Washington who is held to 26 yards on 2 kick returns, an average of 13.0 yards per return & upman, TE Eric Suebert runs back a kick for 6 yards as well for Denver. The defense holds until the final :02 when K Brandon McManus ironically misses from 63 yards as the kick falls short a week after Tucker’s 67-yarder fell a yard or two short in Jacksonville as several Ravens also lunge & leap to try to block the game-winner. Worley & Seymour have carved out roles for themselves along w/ ILB Kristian Welch as this unit continues to roll along as one of the best in the league from the kicking aspect to the smallest attention to detail, this group strives to get even better then they already are behind ST Coach Chris Horton. The names have changed but the results continue to stay the same in Charm City, this group rarely blinks when called upon to do their job & it’s been like that for the last decade or so – of the 3 phases of the game this group comes in #1 just ahead of the defense because they may be the most important part of this team. Jordan Stout is growing into a solid punter in this league after some tutelage from former Raven, Sam Koch & Justin Tucker shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Duvernay is a threat to break one every time he touches the ball & Worley, Seymour, Welch & Hill are all picking up the slack for the veterans who have departed like (Co-Cap) S Anthony Levine & S Jordan Richards who were some of the best in the league. This group continues to shine week in & week out at a time when they need to be nearly perfect, they continue to never disappoint.
Grade : A-

Coaching : The same tired old song from this coaching staff. Playing down to your competition & looking lethargic offensively once again, that’s 3 weeks in a row where an inferior opponent was taken lightly & allowed to hang around for way too long before this team woke up. Lack of preparation, no sense of urgency, getting away from what this team does best & not making adjustments in game. OC Greg Roman’s play calling was very predictable & vanilla once again regardless of who was playing QB until the last drive where Huntley was bailed out by a pass interference call on the 16-play drive in the final 5:02 but the plays did come in faster & the there were no delay of games. Roman is really starting to feel the heat & rightfully so as this offense has hit a wall while he gets mentioned for the HC job @ Stanford. HC John Harbaugh’s message has started to wear thin & it looks like he has shed some of the analytical things he was doing in the last year or so but this team looks unprepared the last few weeks & his body language says the game may have passed him by. DC Mike MacDonald has this defense playing well as of late minus the slip up in Jacksonville & the pass rush & turnovers have come on a regular basis before this game despite the 4 blown leads, you can see the progress that this group has made since the beginning of the season. Something is broken on this team & it looks more & more like it’s leadership & a culture that has gone stale. There is too much talent on this team for it to continue to underachieve the way it has, that points directly at HC John Harbaugh & his staff not using the talent they have in front of them properly. It may the be the message, it may be the preparation, it may be the lack of leadership, it may be the lack of adjustments being made or it may just be poor coaching all around. Whatever it is, this team lacks that killer instinct that it once had, it lacks the swagger & attitude that used to define it & more importantly, it lacks a true leader who knows how to kick his team into another gear when the going gets tough. That guy used to be John Harbaugh but those days have passed him by, if this was 2011 he would be fine but it’s 2022 & the game has evolved while he hasn’t. Nothing will change w/ this team until the person getting that message across is gone & a new voice is heard in that locker room. John Harbaugh might be a breath of fresh air for another team but for this team, his message has worn thin. His inability to take accountability or hold any of his coaches accountable as well as his head trainer, Steve Saunders accountable will be his downfall, he is loyal to a fault it has hurt this football team. It’s time for a change & we may be counting the games he has left to coach.
Grade : C

Overall Grade : C+

🏈🏈🏈
GO RAVENS!!
#DejaVu

Jaguars 28, Ravens 27 : Week 12 – Ravens Recap & Grades :

Offense – Effective enough but terrible in the red zone which was ultimately their downfall. 5 trips to the red zone but only 2 TD’s including FG’s on their first 3 trips as the issues that this team continues to have stem from everything from penalties to bad play calling to dropped passes to delay of games & have really plagued this team the last 2 weeks which is odd because they are just coming off the Bye Week. They out gain the Jaguars 415-332 in total yards, win the TOP 32:39 to 27:21 & out rush them 162-38. & go 8-14 on 3rd down. Lamar Jackson leads the charge on the ground as he rushes for 89 yards on 14 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry but also loses the football on a weird 4th & 1 QB sneak which gives the Jags the ball & leads to a TD just 4 plays later. Gus Edwards rushes for 52 yards on 16 carries, an average of 3.3 yards per carry & a TD but also has a crucial fumble inside the 20 that is recovered by Jacksonville & leads to a go-ahead FG another 4 plays later. Jackson goes just 16-32 through the air for 254 yards & a 12-yard TD pass to Josh Oliver that puts the Ravens back ahead w/ 2:02 to go, he is sacked only once on the day though as the pass protection holds up well despite still not having their Pro-Bowl LT Ronnie Stanley. Oliver hauls in 4 passes for 76 yards, an average of 19.0 yards per reception w/ a career-long 40 yarder & a TD to lead the way in the passing game while also making the last catch & running into Jaguars territory w/ : 02 seconds left, giving Tucker a chance to win it from 67. Desean Jackson catches 2 passes for 74 yards, an average of 37.0 yards per catch, including a beautiful 62-yard bomb from Jackson which leads to the TD pass to Oliver a few plays later. This group was able to generate enough offense to win but 2 lost fumbles & failed to score TD’s in the red zone eventually caught up to them in the end. The pass blocking kept Lamar clean for most of the day but the play calling was terrible for the 2nd straight week as OC Greg Roman once again came out passing the ball early & trying to spark a passing game that just hasn’t been there of late. The decision to start an injury prone Edwards over Kenyan Drake who has been healthy & done his job when given the opportunity is a head scratcher. Drake would of been a great start in this game & they could of went more run heavy by using Edwards to spell him but the decision to start Edwards just felt rushed & forced. This offense has got to be able to close out games down the stretch but they just have not been able to sustain the 8-10 minute close out drives of the past to put teams away which is putting a lot of pressure on the defense to have to be close to perfect. This group really misses WR Rashod Bateman right now & it’s starting to show more & more as the weeks go on. His presence took a lot of pressure off of Duvernay & Robinson, allowing them to slide down to the 2nd & 3rd options. James Proche III has really got to step up because 36-year old Desean Jackson is giving it his all, while he & guys like Tylan Wallace are nowhere to be found, that may fall on the coaching staff but it has to he fixed, regardless. Another issue is the lack of use of Duvernay once again although better than last week, still a low number of touches (5) & you start to get the feeling they may be holding him back for the Playoffs while depending on guys like Josh Oliver & Demarcus Robinson to take them there. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the play clock issue that once again keeps showing up & that is a major concern for OC Greg Roman that needs to be addressed – he has got to get the plays in faster & this offense has to break huddle quicker than they are. Things need to improve & fast.
Grade : C-

Defense : Just when you think this group has it together & is starting to gel they have games like this where they flash right back to their habits from earlier in the season. They allow 18 4th quarter points & 2 TD passes to Trevor Lawrence including the go-ahead 2-point conversion w/ 14 seconds left. CB Marcus Peters has an especially rough day as he allows 6 receptions for 55 yards & 3 TD’s on 8 targets including the TD pass to WR Marvin Jones Jr. on the game-winning drive which was reviewed but upheld after a borderline call. They were also put in some tough spots but stood tall, like the Edwards fumble which gave the Jags the ball at the Ravens 16, they were able to force a FG, not a TD which kept them in the game & allowed the offense to take the lead on the next drive. They also had break downs on the back end just like earlier in the season as they lose RB Jamycal Hasty on a wheel route out of the backfield which gives the Jags the lead in the 1st half & gives Hasty his first-career receiving TD. This unit holds the Jaguars to 38 total rushing yards & pretty much eliminate any running game they might of had after RB Travis Etienne leaves the game in the 2nd quarter after just 3 yards on 2 carries, an average of 1.5 yards per carry. Hasty rushes for 28 yards on 12 carries, an average of 2.3 yards per carry & hauls in 5 passes for 67 yards as the Jaguars offense is pretty much one dimensional for the 2nd half but is still able to move the ball against this unit. Lawrence goes 29/37 for 321 yards, an average of 8.7 yards per pass & 3 TD’s despite being sacked 4 times for a loss of 27 yards by the relentless Ravens pass rush but shreds the secondary even while under duress. CB Marlon Humphrey, DT Broderick Washington, DT Calais Campbell (his 99th) & OLB Tyus Bowser all record a sack, including a strip sack & recovery by Bowser that turns into a TD 7-plays later. WR Zay Jones absolutely torches the secondary for 11 receptions & 145 yards in the air as he continues to play well against the Ravens after catching the game-winning TD pass in OT of Week 1 last season for the Raiders in Las Vegas. Leading by 9 points in the 4th quarter this group wanted to pin their ears back & attack but instead Lawrence burned them & the pass rush for 18 points over the final 15 minutes, including the back-breaking 10 play, 75-yard drive in only 1:48 & they once again blew another 2 score game when it was all said & done. This group had made strides in recent weeks but took some major steps back in this game. They hold Jacksonville to 4-13 on 3rd down but fail to get a stop on the most important drive of the game when it mattered most. Odafe Oweh continues to see his snaps decrease so David Ojabo’s presence will be much needed when he & FS Marcus Williams return as this defense needs a boost to the pass rush & needs to sure up a secondary that keeps failing to communicate & continues to have breakdowns at the worst times. This will be up to DC Mike MacDonald to fix soon as the secondary was way to giving once again & these issues will definitely be exposed against the elite of the AFC if they are not corrected because this defense may have to carry this team in January.
Grade : C-

Special Teams – This normally reliable unit had a few critical errors that figured into this loss but it’s certainly not all on them. Justin Tucker does his job as the offense continues to struggle in the red zone while he kicks 4 FG’s of 27, 29, 55 & 24 while almost pulling off a game-winning 67-yarder to win it that falls just a yard or two short. Tucker was devastated as he will put it on himself to make that anyway because inside he believes he could & you have to respect that from the Pro-Bowl, Hall of Fame Kicker. Pro-Bowl return man Devin Duvernay makes a critical error by not downing the ball in the end zone, runs it out instead, is tackled at the 6 & Edwards fumbles it on the next play which leads to a Jacksonville FG. Duvernay has 1 kick return for 6 yards, FB Pat Ricard runs one back for 15 yards on the muff kick after the TD & TE Nick Boyle also contributes 14 yards on 1 return. Rookie P Jordan Stout boots it away only once on the day for 53 yards & a touchback as the offense was pretty efficient & kept him on the sidelines. There were no kick or punt returns by the Jags & despite Logan Cooke’s 3 punts there were no punt returns by the Ravens either so both teams were spared a few of their guys getting banged up & any time you can avoid contact you’ll take it. Duvernay made a terrible decision to bring the ball out but it’s possibly his only real mistake all year as he has been one of the best return men in the league the last few seasons & miscues like that are extremely rare for him. You’ll see this unit play at an extremely high level next week as they do not take well to making mistakes or mental errors & not being able to win the game when the team needs them. ST Coach Chris Horton has been amazing w/ this group, he is in charge of one of the best ST units in the league & has them functioning in sync on a consistent basis as they continue to be the backbone of this team. One aspect that would be great to see is more blocked punts or kicks that would really help out the offense by giving them short fields & such. This group is good enough to do things like that & make plays to change a game when needed but let’s not take anything away from how good they have been. Just a few minor hiccups this week but overall a good job of playing their parts & doing their jobs as usual.
Grade : A-

Coaching – This is an issue that continues to rear it’s ugly head as they are the cause of the dysfunctionality that has plagued this team all season. Blown coverages & bad communication is on the coaching. Poor clock management is on the coaching. Lack of preparation is on the coaching. Bad play calling is on the coaching. Blowing leads is on the coaching. Well coached teams don’t continue to make the same mistakes & not learn their lesson, they fix the issues at hand & make sure they never show up again. Coaching has been the main reason for every single one of this team’s issues because the fact that they continue to show up time & time again are proving that they aren’t being corrected. It’s once again time for this coaching staff to look in the mirror the same way they did before they ran off 4 wins in row & looked like they might not lose again based upon how easy the schedule was. Things have once again become much harder than they should be as poor play calling & the inability to get the plays in from the booth to the huddle has become a huge issue & showed up again, costing the offense a delay of game in the red zone & forcing them to kick another FG. There is no excuse for the offense to be breaking the huddle w/ 5 seconds left on the play clock & barely getting the play off almost every single time. OC Greg Roman has got to fix that or it will continue to plague this team at the worst time & HC John Harbaugh has got to address this & fix it instead of talking about it. As for the defense, these breakdowns at the end of games are becoming an all too recurring theme & are the main issue w/ this group. They are stopping the run & forcing turnovers plus getting to the QB but the one issue that has been their achilles heel has been the breakdowns in the 4th quarter & blown leads that just despite how well this defense has played just continue to happen & it’s killing the Ravens softly. It has now cost them 4 games alone & there aren’t many free losses you can just keep handing out in this league. There has to start being some accountability moving forward instead of singing the same old tired song, fix it or watch the season slip away. There is just too much talent on this team to be not utilizing it the way it should be used. John Harbaugh’s message has worn thin & seems like the same tired message that has been delivered over & over. Losing a game like this to a 3-win team a week after barely beating another 3 win team is leaves a lot to be desired. One week it’s the offense bailing out the lost defense & the next week it’s the defense bailing out the enept offense yet they never seem to play well together & put it all together completely. This staff has got to do a better job of getting their message across & having this team ready to go for the ENTIRE 4 quarters, they seem to only know how to play hard for 3. Jacksonville was 0-175 when trailing by 7 in the final minute but due to the Ravens poor coaching & discipline this team made history & became their first win in 176 tries. That is absolutely inexcusable, while also making history they gave Trevor Lawrence & the Jags their coming out party & a moment they will never forget while leaving Ravens fans angry & confused once again.
Grade : C

Overall Grade : C-

🏈🏈🏈
GO RAVENS!!
#SleepWalking

Ravens 13, Panthers 3 : Week 11 – Recap & Grades :

Offense – Ugly, Just Ugly. This was the worst performance by this group all season, the play calling was terrible right out of the gate & never got any better the rest of the day. Facing a very underrated defense who had their number all game, they were never able to keep any drives going or get the running game revved up for most of the afternoon.
They are held to 115 yards on 30 carries as a team, an average of 3.8 yards per carry as their streak of rushing for over 150 yards for the 8th straight games is snapped – it was the longest streak since the 1985 Bears did it in 9 straight. Kenyan Drake carries it 10 times for 46 yards, an average of 4.6 yards per carry & Lamar Jackson rushes 11 times for 31 yards, an average of 2.8 yards per carry & the days only TD, also goes 24-33 as a passer for 209 yards & 1 INT to DT Bravion Roy but is sacked 3 times for a loss of 16 yards. Demarcus Robinson has his best day as a Raven, hauling in 9 receptions for 128 yards, an average of 14.2 yards per catch w/ a long of 31 yards. Mark Andrews grabs 6 passes for 63 yards, an average 10.5 yards per catch. This group just kept sputtering & sputtering, they amass only 308 total yards, average only 4.7 yards per play & go just 6-15 on 3rd down on a day that they also committed 10 penalties as a team for 93 yards. They averaged minus-0.11 expected points added per play, the third-worst mark any team has posted against Carolina in a game this season & the 13 points are the fewest that the Ravens have scored w/ Jackson as QB. They drive 67 yards on 12 plays on thier third possession of the 2nd half but it only results in a FG but they get bailed out by the Defense forcing a fumble & are able to finally find the end zone 3 plays later after Drake rips off his longest run of the season (29 yards) & Jackson runs it on from 1 yard out 2 plays later to put the Ravens ahead for good. That drive was about the extent of what this group was able to do in the 2nd half against a very underrated Panthers front 7 that kept swarming all day & was also getting help by the terrible play calling by OC Greg Roman. The pass protection has got to be better & LT Ronnie Stanley re-injured his surgically repaired ankle which will be another setback for this unit, who seems to be so great at run blocking but is still trying to find it’s footing against the pass rush. Calling 33 pass plays on a windy day against a good pass rush made no sense, the game plan should of been more of the same from the running game early & often mixed w/ some of Lamar’s legs as well. The lack of production in the red zone is just unacceptable, going 1-4 against a 3-6 team was unacceptable & the penalties were a major reason for the ineffectiveness. Also lost in all of this is the fact that WR Devin Duvernay touched the ball only twice for a combined 7 yards, he had 1 carry for 4 yards & 1 reception for 3, just completely unacceptable to have a guy w/ his skill set being non-existent, he has rarely been targeted in the 2 games since WR Rashod Bateman has been out of the lineup & that is going to have to change. He will have to be a focal point of the offense going forward if this team wants to make a serious run in January. Overall, just a lackluster performance by a group that can be so much better but keeps being inconsistent week in & week out. They were supposed to win this game convincingly but once again they made it way harder on themselves than it should if been.
Grade : D

Defense – This was vintage Ravens defense & brought back memories of the glory days.
Flying around & hitting anything that moved, getting constant pressure on the QB & forcing turnovers. The Roquan Smith effect has turned this entire defense into a completely different animal & they definitely look primed to be a Championship Caliber group. They hold RB D’Onta Foreman to just 24 yards on 11 carries, an average of 2.2 yards per carry & hold the Panthers to just 36 total yards rushing on the day, an average of just 2.1 yards per carry. Shutting down the ground game meant teeing off on QB Baker Mayfield & they did that too – they sack him 4 times for a loss of 27 yards while getting constant pressure all day from a relentless front 7 that is finally starting to round into shape & they never let up all day long. ILB Roquan Smith, OLB Jason Pierre-Paul & DE Calais Campbell each register 1 sack each & ILB Patrick Queen & OLB Justin Houston combine for another as Mayfield is harrased all day long, passing for just 196 yards (4.6 yards per pass) & 2 INT’s to go w/ being sacked 4 times. This unit holds Carolina to just 3 for 12 on 3rd down & a TOP of 26:46 on 54 plays. They force all 3 Carolina turnovers in the final 8:14 to seal the deal after the offense kept stalling & the Panthers didn’t have a single drive top 40 yards until their garbage-time sequence on the final possession. CB Marcus Peters strips WR Shi Smith after a 4-yard catch & at the 29 & CB Marlon Humphrey recovers on the Carolina 31 w/ 8:22 left, Humphrey picks off Mayfield at the 41 w/ 3:35 left & Pierre-Paul catches a deflected pass by DT Broderick Washington for a pick w/ 0:49 left to seal the deal. They do allow 76 yards on just 3 receptions by WR Terrace Marshall Jr. but that was the extent of the damage done by the passing game all day. The difference that Smith has made in the middle is absolutely ridiculous, him playing the MIKE allowed Queen to slide to the WILL & has changed the entire dynamic of how this defense looks up front while allowing the now healthy pass rush to get pressure which has allowed the secondary to play at a high level as well – they all go hand in hand. This group is good enough & has enough depth to be a Super Bowl defense now, they are getting healthy & they are starting to gel together & more importantly DC Mike MacDonald is figuring out how to dial it up in the NFL. This is as good as this defense has looked all season, all be it against a lesser opponent but the difference is still night & day compared to the first half of the season. The turnovers are coming at a rapid rate as this unit keeps getting them by the bunches, they have become much more opportunistic of late & it has become infectious of late, forced fumbles, strip sacks, interceptions – it doesn’t matter to this group, they just keep on forcing turnovers while waiting on probably their best ballhawk, Marcus Williams to return soon. Sky’s the limit for this group, they’re good enough to go up against any offense which brings back the days of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs & company which has been quite a long time coming. This is who this team is, this had always been who they are. They got away from their identity & turned into something they weren’t, now they have come full circle & channeled the days of Ravens past. Defense. Defense & more defense.
Grade : A+

Special Teams – Death, taxes & Ravens ST. Devin Duvernay is held to just 5 yards on 2 punt returns, an average of 2.5 yards per return despite 6 Carolina punts & kept completely off the box score on kick returns because Carolina only kicked it off twice all day long as both teams struggled to put points on the board. Justin Tucker connects on both of his FG attempts from 32 & 37 yards, the 2nd of which breaks the tie in the 3rd & puts the Ravens ahead for good on a windy day which made routine kicks anything but easy. Rookie P Jordan Stout punts it away 7 times for 251 yards, an average of 35.9 yards per punt including 4 inside the 20 & a touchback w/ a long of 52 yards. Panthers Rookie RB Raheem Blackshear returns 1 kick for 8 yards & WR Shi Smith totals -3 yards on 2 punt returns as the kick coverage is solid all day long as usual. ST Chris Horton has full grasp of this unit, he has is guys ready to go week in & week out without flaw as they continue to be one of, if not the best ST unit in the NFL. Led by Pro-Bowlers Duvernay & Tucker while also getting solid contributions from guys like LS Nick Moore & gunners like RB Justice Hill, CB Kevon Seymour & LB Kristian Welch who have all played well when given the chance. Seymour makes a huge play on a punt by Stout when he swipes the ball out of the end zone & downs the ball at the 6 after the initial call was a touchback & it gives Carolina the ball in their own territory. The play wouldn’t really matter in the long run as the Panthers would pick up a 1st down 2 plays later but still a heads up play by Seymour as plays like that will only earn you more time. This is a group that has always been very tight knit & despite the faces changing the results still remain the same. The comrade amongst this group is amazing, they all have each other’s backs & they all like to have fun but they’re all about business at the end of the day, from the old school to the new school this phase of the game has always been a Ravens specialty. Tucker is the seasoned vet & has taken the reigns as the best Kicker in the league while still having humility & staying humble, he is the epitome of what Ravens special teams is. Guys who like to laugh & have fun while also doing their job better than anybody else in the league. From the snapping of the football to kicking it, from fighting off blockers downfield to running back kicks, from staying in their lanes & sticking to their assignments to making plays without the football, this group never misses a beat. They have faced a few good returners this season & held their own, they’ve had some slip-ups here & there like a blocked kick or 2 but those occurances are a rare instance & happen once in a Blue Moon. This group never disappoints, it’s usually the same thing week in & week out, the only thing that may change is the amount of snaps by Nick Moore. Nothing to see here, just the Ravens ST being themselves.
Grade : A

Coaching – This is who needs to take the blame for this ugly win. It has to be, 100% on the offense not doing their job like they normally do. HC John Harbaugh did not have this team ready to go like they should of been, at least offensively. He’s now 12-3 coming off of Bye & this might have been the worst one in recent memory. Just a lethargic outing to start the garne by OC Greg Roman & it never improved until the last quarter if you even want to call if improved or bailed out by the defense. The defense appeared to have gotten the message that this was an important game but the offense missed the memo. Sometimes 1 side of the ball plays better than the other, that’s understandable but to look so bad offensively against a team that has already fired it’s HC & had a fire sale by dumping some of their best players & doesn’t know who it wants to play QB is a little concerning. One could argue that Harbaugh & his staff was outcoached in this game by an interim Coach in Steve Wilks, as the Panthers had a real game plan & tried to beat the Ravens at their own game. They ran the ball & played hard nosed defense while Harbaugh & his staff looked uninterested for most of the afternoon. DC Mike MacDonald had his defense playing well from the start & single handedly keeping the Ravens in the game while Greg Roman’s group continued to disappoint. Ot using players like Devin Duvernay & going pass heavy to start the game were both head scratchers & signs of flat out poor coaching. This was a game that this team should of came out of the gate fresh & ready to go coming off of the Bye but they fell flat early & had to force themselves off the mat instead of taking control early. It looked like a combination of rust, wind, poor play calling & a defense that was better than they thought – which resulted in an ugly win that this team might of needed as a reality check. Let this be a lesson as to the fact that there are no easy wins in this league & when you underestimate your opponent & play down to your competition, you can get caught slipping if you don’t have your guard up. The offense has got to be more consistent moving forward if they want to compete in January, the schedule is very easy down the stretch but not if this team is sleepwalking offensively. Playing like this will not get it done against the likes of Buffalo, Kansas City, Tennessee & others. This team has got to get more disciplined & that has been a huge weakness of this team in recent years – 10 penalties for 93 yards hurt them in this game & has seemed to rear it’s head when this team plays poorly, that falls coming on the HC. One area where Coach Harbaugh got it right was winning 2 challenges on 2 borderline calls that could of gone either way & that was eye catching but it didn’t really factor into the outcome of the game. This offense has to find another gear in the coming weeks or they will falter against better opponents but for now this team is 7-3 & every win isn’t going to be pretty but there are some measuring stick games & this one was hard to gage, if they run they finish strong down the stretch against inferior opponents then we won’t know how good they really are until January. Lots of room for improvement here, time to put their foot on the gas & accelerate, no time for sputtering against losing teams.
Grade : C

Overall Grade : C

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GO RAVENS!!
#WakeUpCall

Ravens 27, Saints 13 : Week 9 – Recap & Grades :

Offense – Another impressive performance by this group despite being short handed for the 2nd straight week as they get production from all the backups & don’t miss a beat in the process. They rush for over 150 yards for the 8th straight game, rushing for 188 on 40 carries, an average of 4.7 yards per rush. Kenyan Drake leads the way w/ 93 yards on 24 carries, an average of 3.9 yards per carry & 2 TD’s, Lamar Jackson rushes for 83 yards on 11 carries, an average of 7.5 yards per carry & also goes 12-22 as a passer for 133 yards & 1 TD. His only TD pass comes on a beautiful rollout 24-yard throw to TE Isaiah Likely on a flag pattern for the first score of the game (Likely’s only catch) but he makes a few tough throws in the pocket, including a 16-yard pass to the newest Raven, WR DeSean Jackson, the only catch of the game for the veteran. He is sacked 3 times against a tough New Orleans pass rush but only for a loss of 2 yards, as the pass protection holds up well but the run protection on the other hand absolutely took control of the game from the beginning & just kept mauling. Jackson orchestrates a 12-play, 81 yard drive in the 2nd quarter in which he runs for 7, 16 & 12 yards & Drake runs it in to the end zone untouched to add to the lead while the Saints defense is left scratching their heads as to how to put a stop to the running game & Jackson who just kept having their way all night long. This group converts on 9 of 15 3rd downs & amasses 319 total yards while winning the time of possession 37:47 to 22:13 as they just kept pounding away at the Saints front 7 time & time again. Jackson spreads the ball around to 10 different receivers w/ 2 of his main targets out & continues to do it even after losing DeSean Jackson to a hamstring injury in the 2nd half. This group was amazing all night long considering the personnel they had & being on the road on Primetime but the bright lights were not too big for this unit. WR James Proche catches 2 passes for 22 yards, an average of 11.0 per grab & TE Josh Oliver hauls in 1 pass for 19 yards as well as Jackson had the passing game moving the chains when they weren’t gashing the Saints on the ground. This was an impressive performance all around as the continued running of the football & use of play action when needed just ripped out the heart of the Saints defense & nearly had them waving the white flag. If this group can run the ball & assert their will on teams the way they did in this game they can beat anybody on any field, in any stadium, just a very impressive performance by this unit given the circumstances.
Grade : A

Defense – Where do we start? This unit was absolutely amazing all night long. They turned in one of the best performances of the season as the pass rush was relentless, the front 7 flew around & made plays & the secondary had the back end on lock. Going against a pretty good Saints offense, they hold RB Alvin Kamara to just 30 yards on 9 carries, an average of 3.3 yards per carry & hold the Saints to just 48 rushing yards on 15 carries, an average of 3.3 yards per carry. They hold New Orleans to just 243 total yards & QB Andy Dalton to just 210 yards passing while sacking him 4 times for a loss of 28 yards as OLB Justin Houston leads the charge w/ 2.5 sacks & records the only interception on a tipped pass by DT Brent Urban that lands in Houston’s arms & is returned 5 yards to the New Orleans 17. OLB Tyus Bowser also made an impact in his season debut after being activated from the PUP list as his presence is felt on more than one occasion in the pass rush & CB Marlon Humphrey picks up 1 of the 4 Ravens sacks on the night while leading the way w/ 7 tackles & DT Calais Campbell also registers .5 a sack, including 2 tackles. The real story is the impact of ILB Roquan Smith who registers 5 tackles & makes his presence felt 5 minutes into the game when he stuffs Kamara on a 3rd & 1 on the Saints 2nd drive of the game & forces a punt which leads to an 11-play, 76-yard TD drive for the offense. This was vintage Ravens defense at it’s finest & a throwback to what this group used to look like on a weekly basis. The Saints go just 3-11 on 3rd down & are held to just 49 total plays, while only holding the ball for just over 22 of the 60 minutes as this unit forces 5 punts in 10 possessions. They allow a late TD in garbage time on what looked like a busted play but the final score doesn’t even reflect the level of dominance that this group displayed all night. DC Mike McDonald’s defense now ranks 3rd in total takeaways w/ 16, ranks 4th in sacks w/ 27 & is holding teams to just a 33.7% 3rd down conversion rate, which ranks 6th in the league. After struggling early & blowing 2nd half leads, this group has come together nicely in recent weeks & really started to gel as of late while only getting better w/ the new addition of Smith & adding Bowser w/ even more help on the way. If this group plays like this then the sky’s the limit for what they can do against any team in the league, they can rush the passer now, they can stop the run & even w/ the loss of FS Marcus Williams they can defend in the secondary. This group was the real highlight of the night, they played w/ a tenacity that we haven’t seen since the days of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed & Terrell Suggs & company. This Ravens defense looks familiar, this Ravens defense looks Championship Caliber.
Grade : A-

Special Teams – Just another day at the office for this unit as Justin Tucker kicks FG’s of 32 & 41 yards, Rookie P Jordan Stout punts it away 4 times for 193 yards, an average of 48.3 yards per punt, including 2 inside the 20 as he continues to fill in nicely for Sam Koch who’s help working w/ Stout in the off-season after retiring has shined through. Pro-Bowl returner, Devin Duvernay doesn’t get a chance to return anything but RB Justice Hill returns a kick 9 yards while the coverage is solid once again, holding WR Rashid Shaheed to 41 total return yards, 33 on 2 kick returns, for an average of 16.5 per return w/ a long of 20 while gaining just 8 yards on 1 punt return. This group has been solid week in & week out, they continue to do the underrated things that nobody sees like holding their position on kick coverage, not committing dumb penalties & being solid in communication as a unit. As mentioned before, this group has lost some key pieces in recent years but hasn’t missed a beat while continuing to be great on a weekly basis despite the new names & faces. They are still the only unit in the league w/ a kick return TD, thanks to Duvernay & have the best FG% thanks to Tucker. Not a lot to talk about w/ this group & that’s a good thing, that means they just continue to do their job every week & know their assignments, they are a reliable, trustworthy group that has been performing at a high-level for a long, long time. There are 3 guarantees in life, death, taxes & the Ravens special teams, while the offense & defense have taken a dip at times or underperformed here & there, this unit has been as sturdy, if not sturdier than any group in the league year in & year out. From the old Wolfpack to the new, the new faces to the old, from coach to coach, gunner to gunner, Kicker to Kicker & Punter to Punter, one might argue this may be one of the best ST groups the Ravens have ever had in the last 20+ years, going back to the Matt Stover, Kyle Richardson & Jermaine Lewis days. Coach Harbaugh being a special teams guy has helped but it has been the veteran presences & solid gameplanning of ST coach Chris Horton in recent years that has put this group at the top of league every single season. Overall, this game was just another day in the life for this group who made it business as usual, under the lights, in a dome or under the sun, outdoors it doesn’t matter where or how….this group will always get it done.
Grade : A

Coaching : This game was the absolute best this coaching staff looked all season. This was their most impressive & consistent game in every phase as the team looked ready to go from the beginning despite missing some key pieces & didn’t miss a beat on offense. This team has discovered it’s identity & it begins w/ running the football & playing stout defensively – OC Greg Roman was able to continue the success on the ground but also dial up a few surprises like the TD pass to Likely on the flag pattern that looked like a designed run & moved the defense up enough for Likely to get behind. The designs of the running game & sustained success on the ground all night long was a thing of beauty as Roman’s use of the pistol & relentless running attack allowed the offensive line to win in the trenches & keep mauling until the Saints front 7 nearly tapped out. The coaching staff used their talent properly in every aspect, they attacked weakness on both sides of the ball & kept it coming all night, this was a flashback to the days of old where the defense & offense went hand in hand & helped each other out, bludgeoning teams w/ their physicality & just wearing them down mentally. It looked like this coaching staff used the 10 days off to tweak some things & start coaching to this team’s strengths, they are utilizing their talent to the fullest no matter who is on the field & they are using what they do best to step on team’s throats & never letting up. DC Mike MacDonald has this defense in absolute attack mode, they are hitting anything that moves & are starting to return to form, they are rounding out nicely as a unit as key parts of this pass rush have emerged or returned from injury & are now playing 60 minutes of football every week. They have learned how to get back to closing teams out & are doing it now w/ relative ease. Remaining undefeated in the Superdome is no easy task but it seems like that building seems to bring out the best in the Ravens for some reason, this team just goes to another level in the Big Easy. Overall, a great performance by this coaching staff, just an absolute masterpiece on Prime Time where this team is now 2-0 this season, they look like for now they have fixed all the issues that were plaguing them early – penalties, bad analytics, blown coverages & miscommunication have all drastically been reduced & it is showing in the results from week to week. The Ravens now have a 3-game winning streak & it’s due to health, improving, players starting to get in a rhythm & guys getting on the same page but more importantly it’s because of this coaching staff finally molding this squad into a team w/ an identity, something they were searching for since the season started. This coaching staff is the reason for the success in recent weeks & they have this team playing better than they have all season despite missing some key parts, it’s a pretty impressive job.
Grade : A-
Overall Grade : A-

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GO RAVENS!!
#PuttingItAllTogether