The Baltimore Ravens suffered a third consecutive loss in Week 8 and their second straight game losing by 20+ points, falling to the Buffalo Bills by a score of 36-10. Here are report card grades for the team’s position groups from yesterday’s defeat.
Quarterback: F
Lamar Jackson’s injury on his first play of the game took the wind out of the team’s sails immediately. Tyler Huntley’s short stint in the opening quarter, prior to exiting with a foot injury, was eventful for the wrong reasons. Huntley’s four
pass attempts resulted in zero yards and he lost a fumble in the Ravens’ own territory. Joe Fagnano made his NFL debut and played most of the game. After completing back-to-back throws immediately upon entering the game, Fagnano struggled. He completed 10-of-21 passes for only 93 yards with an interception and lost fumble. Fagnano also was banged up but finished the game. All three quarterbacks were under duress during their time on the field.
Running Back: C-
Derrick Henry broke his scoring drought and should have another touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. While he ran more efficiently than recent weeks (4.8 yards per carry), Henry only had 11 carries and the Ravens didn’t make a concentrated effort to ride him after Jacksonw went down. He also continues to be inconsistent as a pass-blocker. Justice Hill had seven touches for 35 total yards and Rasheen Ali was given a pair of carries as well.
Wide Receiver: D+
The Ravens’ wideouts were victim to the team’s quarterback and pass protection struggles. However, it was still disappointing that Zay Flowers failed to catch any passes on five targets against a leaky Bills’ pass defense that was missing multiple players. Rashod Bateman and Ja’Kobi Lane each caught one pass for a first-down conversion, but that was the extent of production from the wide receiver room.
Tight End: C-
It was another quiet day for the Ravens’ tight end group. Like the wide receivers, they too have to be graded on a curve given the in-flux state of the quarterback position and pass blocking issues. Nevertheless, Mark Andrews continues to be make a minimal impact (three catches, 14 yards) and Matt Hibner was blanked from the stat sheet for a second straight game. Josh Cuevas caught one reception for 15 yards.
Offensive Line: F
The Ravens’ offense line struggled mightily in pass protection against the Bills’ front seven. The Ravens surrendered 12 quarterback hits and four sacks, with all three quarterbacks facing pressure consistently when on the field. Roger Rosengarten was beaten multiple times by Gregory Rosseau, Cam Jurgens appeared to miss linebacker blitz pickups, and both starting guards also allowed multiple hurries. They did better in run blocking this week, but it meant little in the grand scheme of the game.
Defensive Line: C
The Ravens did an okay job bottling up the Bills’ run defense for most of the game. While they wound up with 146 rushing yards, James Cook was limited to 3.8 yards per carry with a longest run of 16 yards and Josh Allen ran seven times for 30 yards. Broderick Washington made a huge defensive play by coming up with an interception off a dropped pass, which led to the Ravens’ only touchdown of the game. Nnamdi Madubuike was the only defensive lineman to record a sack or quarterback hit.
Edge Rusher: C
Trey Hendrickson and Mike Green each had a quarterback hit, with the latter also recording a half-sack in tandem with Madubuike. Hendrickson and Zion Young each made some plays against the run as well. Overall, though, the Ravens didn’t get a ton of disruption on Allen and failed to bring him down a few times.
Linebacker: C+
Roquan Smith played much more inspired than he has in recent weeks, totaling 11 tackles with two pass breakups and a forced fumble. He had a huge first-half showing, but his impact tailed off as the game progressed late, along with the rest of the defense. Trenton Simpson had a quarterback hit with four tackles, and Teddye Buchanan had his most impactful performance so far this year with six tackles. Both Buchanan and Simpson were on the wrong end of open-field juke moves, but otherwise appeared to make no mistakes.
Cornerback: C
The Ravens’ cornerbacks were much better than last week, which was anticipated given they weren’t matching up with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins again. Marlon Humphrey was beaten by D.J. Moore for a long 49-yard reception, but he was in position to make a play. He made a pass breakup on the very next play in the red zone and also nearly had an interception. Chidobe Awuzie had a nice pass defended as well in coverage of Kincaid and backup T.J. Tampa made an impact and his return to action. Tampa recovered a fumble and broke up a two-point conversion attempt. For the Ravens to be most successful in the backend, they might need to play Humphrey in the slot with Awuzie and Tampa taking outside corner reps opposite Wiggins. Keyon Martin, and Chandler Rivers when he was playing, often appear too undersized and overmatched.
Safety: C
Kyle Hamilton rebounded from an uncharacteristic performance last week with a better showing against the Bills. He finished with seven tackles, including another big tackle for loss on a conversion run attempt in the red zone. Malaki Starks made a few tackles against the run including one tackle for loss of his own. Starks was beaten by Dalton Kincaid for a late touchdown pass, and Kincaid also had a first-down catch with Hamilton in coverage early in the game. K’Von Wallace had six tackles, playing an elevated role again with Jaylinn Hawkins absent.
Special Teams: C
Rasheen Ali had a great kick return for 59 yards, where he appeared bottled up but then broke free for a huge gain. LaJohntay Wester had another quiet outing as a punt returner with just one return for two yards. Ryan Eckley also made some nice punts again, including a long 62-yarder. The biggest negative on special teams was another missed field goal from Tyler Loop, which came from just 34 yards out. In the grand scheme of a 26-point loss, one missed field goal is not a huge deal, but at the time it could have cut the Ravens’ deficit to three points.
