The Ravens drop another winnable game

Once again, the Ravens faced an inferior opponent that seemingly had no chance of keeping up with the vaunted Ravens. Once again the Ravens have laid an egg. And then they fried the egg. And then they threw it into a dirty ashtray.

Let's look at some notes:

attack

Overall: C

The Ravens managed 387 yards of offense and averaged 5.9 yards per rush. They also saw their MVP candidate quarterback throw a few touchdowns and have a rating of 101.8. Oh, and there were no sales. But still, they were pretty mediocre for most of this game. The offensive line seemed overwhelmed at times, the quarterback missed some throws, the receivers cried on some catches, and misplaced penalties hit them again. They were also a pitiful 2 for 10 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down. Not a great performance.

Quarterback: B-

Lamar Jackson did some good things today, racking up 335 yards of offense and throwing two touchdowns, but he also missed a few big opportunities, including an easy touchdown pass to Zay Flowers in the second quarter and a wide-open Isaiah Likely late. The Browns also dropped a few relatively easy picks today. It wasn't a bad day by any means, but the Ravens needed a superhuman performance from their star today and that didn't really happen. That being said, there were a few moments. The third-and-six for Likely in the third quarter while he was shut out was exceptional, as was the touchdown pass to Agholor when he climbed into the pocket and fired a laser. The Ravens also just needed him to knock down one or two more of the easy goals today.

Running Backs: B

Derrick Henry rushed for 73 yards on 11 carries, had a touchdown and ran for a 39-yarder. Justice Hill added 19 yards on three catches, but badly missed a block on a sack in the third quarter. Patrick Ricard had a nice block on Henry's touchdown. They were fine today, but probably weren't used nearly enough.

Recipient: B

Zay Flowers had a nice day, rushing for 115 yards on seven catches. Rashod Bateman had a great 28-yard catch, but missed a super-easy pass when he stumbled in the fourth quarter and allowed another drop in the third quarter. Nelson Agholor had a touchdown, but also a big drop. Mark Andrews continued his improved play and grabbed his touchdown catch well, using his body to shield the defender. Andrews also scored a big PI in the third quarter.

Offensive line: D+

They were overwhelmed far too often today and both Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linderbaum suffered costly penalties. Linderbaum massively blocked a catch-and-run from Likely on the first drive. Roger Rosengarten had a big block on Henry's touchdown. They lost this battle more times than they won throughout the day, which didn't give Jackson enough clean pockets.

defense

Overall: D+

Many of the same problems, except Eddie Jackson was the culprit in many games and not Marcus Williams. They managed just two sacks, allowed even more interceptions than the Browns and couldn't generate pressure without blitzing, which obviously exposed an undermanned and poorly playing defensive field.

Defensive line: C

They lost Michael Pierce and Brent Urban early, which put them at a pretty big disadvantage, and I suspect fatigue played some role in their inability to impact Winston. Tavius ​​Robinson botched a run in the first quarter and combined with Nnamdi Madubuike for a sack at the end of the first half. Broderick Washington ended a drive by intercepting a pass, and Odafe Oweh stuffed Nick Chubb late in the first half.

Linebacker: C-

Roquan Smith had eight fairly quiet tackles. Trenton Simpson recovered a fumble on Kyle Hamilton's sack and made a big run stop on third down to snuff out a fourth-quarter drive. Kyle Van Noy was involved in a big run stop in the third quarter and blew a screen in the same quarter.

Defensive Backs: D+

Hamilton was great most of the day, but he will long regret missing a simple interception that would have ended the game one play before the Browns' touchdown. Still, he had 10 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, two quarterback hits, two passes defended and some hard-hitting hits. Eddie Jackson was involved a lot, but not always in a good way. He dropped an interception in the end zone in the first quarter. Was beaten by David Njoku for a touchdown in the third quarter. Missed a tackle on another touchdown. And then got whipped by Jerry Jeudy on a crosser in the third quarter. Oh, then he got beat again on the winning touchdown. Jalyn Armor-Davis allowed a few catches but wasn't bad overall. Ar'Darius Washington blew a run in the second quarter for a loss.

Special Teams: C

Justin Tucker didn't look sharp and missed a big 50-yarder when he hit it left in the fourth quarter. Sanoussi Kane had a huge goal on kickoff in the second quarter. Jordan Stout was good, averaging 52.3 yards on four punts, launching two bombs from his own end zone and landing another at the Cleveland 13 in the third quarter. Tylan Wallace made the questionable decision to land a punt inside his own 10 , but the Ravens still scored on the ensuing drive.

Coaching: B-

There were a few things I didn't like – like getting cute on two short yardage plays. Derrick Henry is a beast, but using him as a Wildcat on 4th-and-1 when Lamar Jackson is there diminishes the Ravens' effectiveness simply by subtraction. I also didn't like the shovel pass to Likely in the red zone in the third quarter. Don't think about it too much. Sometimes I also think it would be beneficial for the Ravens to force the run game even if the defense is willing to prevent it. The defense needs someone to consistently attack the quarterback when the Ravens have trouble covering the back end. One of these things has to be good, and right now it isn't. I'm not sure what coaching is and what the lack of people doing things they get paid for is.

Either way, the Ravens need to improve this defense or they will be beaten if their offense doesn't work.