The Baltimore Ravens secured a much-needed victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 8, winning by a score of 30-16 at home to snap their losing streak. How did each position group fare in this game? Let’s
break it down via a report card overview.
Offense
Quarterback: A-
Tyler Huntley had the task of leading the Ravens’ offense in a dire must-win game, while doing so in his first start since last season. Huntley responded to the pressure well and played an efficient game at quarterback, while orchestrating some explosive plays both through the air and on the ground. Huntley completed 17-of-22 passes for 186 passing yards and a huge touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give the Ravens a 10-point lead. He also unsurprisingly contributed as a runner too, adding 53 rushing yards on eight carries. Perhaps most importantly, Huntley turned the ball over zero times against the NFL’s leading forced turnover defense. The Ravens had been plagued by turnovers during their four-game losing streak and Huntley kept the ball out of harm’s way.
Running Back: B+
Derrick Henry was predictably given another workhorse diet of carries. He was not as efficient this week after exceeding 120+ yards last game, turning 21 rushing attempts into 71 yards. However, he scored two touchdowns just a few yards out of the end zone – an area where the Ravens have gone four-and-out on multiple occasions this year including in Week 6. A huge offensive X-factor for the Ravens was Keaton Mitchell, who finally gave the team juice out of the backfield. Mitchell only ran four times but gained 43 yards with a breakaway run of 25 yards. He looked as explosive as ever and in premier athletic form. No running back caught a pass in this game.
Tight End: B-
In some of his prior year starts for the Ravens, Huntley had often heavily targeted Mark Andrews and other tight ends. That wasn’t the case in this game, with Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Charlie Kolar earning a combined six targets out of 22 throws. Andrews caught three passes for 34 yards, while Likely had two catches for only eight yards and Kolar had a 1-10-1 stat line. Kolar was the recipient of Huntley’s lone touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, which was paramount to the Ravens winning. Pat Ricard made his long-awaited season debut and had a noticeable immediate impact in the blocking department.
Wide Receiver: B+
Different quarterback, same story for Zay Flowers – who was the team’s leading target-getter by a comfortable margin. Flowers was targeted nine times and reeled in seven passes for 63 yards, with a longest reception of 20 yards. Much of Flowers’ damage was in short-yardage areas, but he made timely catches to move the chains. Rashod Bateman caught only two of four targets but gained 51 yards, his second-best total of the year, thanks to a long 36-yard catch. Deandre Hopkins made a key 10-yard reception on third down to extend a drive late in the fourth quarter. Bateman and others made impact blocks in the open field to help create running lanes.
Offensive Line: B
The Ravens’ offensive line has been much maligned this season but seemingly played a solid overall game in this matchup. Aided by the return of Ricard and mobility of the quarterback, the five-man front helped Henry, Mitchell and Huntley total 167 rushing yards on over 5.0 yards per carry. In pass protection, Huntley was sacked twice and hit three times, but the pocket was cleaner than in week’s past. The Bears suffering some injuries up front certainly helped matters a little, but the Ravens still needed to hold up in the trenches. Ronnie Stanley exited with an injury late in the game but quickly returned to finish out the fourth quarter, which was a welcome development after the veteran has been in-and-out of the lineup.
Defense
Defensive Line: C+
It was another quiet statistical game from the Ravens’ defensive line group, but they did a fairly good job of containing a potent rushing attack on the other side. D’Andre Swift was limited to a long run of 13 yards and just 45 yards overall. Overall, the Bears gained 96 rushing yards on 23 carries. Still, it would be a welcome development for the Ravens to get more disruptive plays in the middle of the line. Travis Jones and company combined for four total tackles with no sacks, quarterback hits, nor tackles-for-losses.
Edge Rusher: B
The Ravens opted to have only three edge rushers active in this game as they adjust to life without Odafe Oweh and now Tavius Robinson (IR), too. Kyle Van Noy had a tackle-for-loss and quarterback hit, while rookie Mike Green finally recorded his first career sack. Green also had a TFL himself, too, while David Ojabo had three tackles. The Ravens brought some safety support and manufactured pressure via scheme, but the edge rushers overall did a solid job keeping Caleb Williams in the pocket and limiting explosive running plays outside.
Linebacker: B+
Roquan Smith returned to the starting lineup and was a tackling machine once again versus his former team, recording a game-high 12 total tackles. Smith made some open-field tackles that helped limit big plays. His new running mate Teddye Buchanan reverted to more of a robin role and had six tackles with two tackles-for-loss. Veteran special teams ace Jake Hummel also had a tackle-for-loss and made a huge hit on Swift at the goal line to stop him in his tracks.
Cornerback: B+
The Ravens surrendered 285 yards through the air and had some difficulty slowing down Rome Odunze, who caught seven passes for 114 yards on 10 targets. They had more success against D.J. Moore, who was quiet for much of the game before making a long one-handed grab in garbage time late. The grade for this group overall has to be bumped by Nate Wiggins’ interception in the fourth quarter, which was arguably the most impactful play of the game for the Ravens. Wiggins didn’t have his best performance in coverage on the day but made a break on the ball for a pass thrown to Odunze to force a turnover with 9:08 left in the fourth quarter. That interception set the Ravens up just nine yards out from the end zone, which led to a quick touchdown that gave the team a 23-13 advantage. Marlon Humphrey had a quarterback hit and a near would-be forced turnover himself that was questionably ruled a completion via forward progress.
Safety: B+
In his second game with the team, newcomer Alohi Gilman once again played a big role in the secondary. He racked up five tackles and had a pass breakup. Malaki Starks also had five tackles all of which were solo wrap-ups. All-Pro Kyle Hamilton produced a big quarterback hit and made some impact plays as a downhill tackler around the line of scrimmage. The Bears were able to produce a few big plays through the air, but the safeties mostly played a big part in keeping Chicago out of the end zone for all but one time in the game.
Special Teams: A–
Tyler Loop was perfect on the day making all three of his field goals and three extra points, too, bouncing back after missing the first attempt of his career in the previous game. The Ravens didn’t return a punt in this game, but Rasheen Ali and Keaton Mitchell combined to average 30.8 yards per kick return on five total kickoff takebacks. Jordan Stout’s two punts totaled 95 yards, and both landed inside the 20 yard line.
