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Ravens vs. Bengals report card
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To make my job easier, I was tempted to just copy and paste the report card from the last meeting into this space but ultimately decided against it. All jokes aside, it seemed like a rerun of the meeting between the two teams earlier in the year, which makes you wonder why the Ravens didn't make any adjustments. You have every right to be digusted by a team that is on the verge of greatness but vastly underachieving and putting out a very questionable effort on a week-to-week basis. Now for the grades ....
Quarterbacks: As well as Joe Flacco has played in the fourth quarter this year, he has been just that bad in the opening frame. Flacco had his usual trouble keeping the ball down in the first quarter, and the offense's inability to put points on the board in the first half dug the Ravens too deep of a hole. He tossed two interceptions on the day but it easily could have been twice that amount. Either yesterday or the first meeting with the Bengals will go down as Flacco's worst game of the season. Grade: D-
Running backs: Ray Rice turned in another strong effort, but the offensive line wasn't opening up too many holes. You have to love how hard Rice plays, though. He never gives up until the whistle is blown. Where was Willis McGahee? All this talk about getting McGahee more involved was apparently a bunch of nonsense, as he didn't even touch the field. Le'Ron McClain rumbled for a nice gain on a screen but was not featured in the offense. Grade: C-
Wide receivers: Derrick Mason managed to catch three passes this time around, but he had to really work for all of them. He had trouble getting open yet again, as did Mark Clayton. Great effort by Clayton on Flacco's second interception (note the sarcasm). You have to go up and fight for the ball a little bit. It was right there. The Ravens failed to get Kelley Washington involved in the middle of the field, but Todd Heap did have a few catches.
Grade: F
Offensive line: Very inconsistent day from this group with regards to pass protection. Sometimes Flacco had all day to throw, but other times he was swarmed by Bengals defenders. This group did not do a very good job with opening up holes for the running game, and there were far too many penalties. Grade: D-
Defensive line: It was a slow start for the defensive line, but they started to get things going in the second half. Justin Bannan played a solid game and is the team's second best lineman behind Haloti Ngata, whose absence certainly hurt. Trevor Pryce gets held constantly and it isn't called, yet Jared Gaither was flagged for similar infractions. I'm really at a loss with the officiating these days. As for Terrell Suggs, has anyone seen him lately? If you find him, let him know he should pay back at least half of the money he "earned" this season. He and the rest of this unit still can't generate a pass rush on their own. Grade: D+
Linebackers: Ray Lewis played a strong game, especially in the second half as the defensive line began to control the line of scrimmage. He has lost a step and all of that, but he just never stops competing. Jarret Johnson was fairly quiet, while Tavares Gooden continues to overpursue and fail to maintain his gap, which leads to big gains for opposing running backs. Grade: D
Secondary: After getting abused early on, this group settled down a little bit in the second half. Fabian Washington injured his thigh and wasn't able to return, but he wasn't really missed. Is there any group of cornerbacks that slips and falls down as much as the Ravens? Do they need different cleats or are they just clumsy?
As for Ed Reed, what's up with the shoulder tackles? Is his neck that big of an issue that he can only try to throw guys down by their shoulder pads? He did force the one fumble, but he is really starting to cost the Ravens with his poor tackling. It wasn't as big of a deal in the past because the rest of the defense was so good at tackling, but those days are long gone. The big bright spot was the play of Lardarius Webb, who is already the best cover corner and tackler in the secondary. Grade: D
Special teams: Awful. Just awful. Steve Hauschka has essentially had two kicks under pressure this year and missed both. If he makes that kick, the Ravens have a decent chance at sending the game into overtime. The miss sealed their fate, and that makes two games he has now botched. You cannot miss 38-yard kicks and field goals inside a dome. Chris Carr is horrible. He can't cover anyone and is a glorified fair-catch punt returner. In fact, whenever he does try to return a punt, he is so slow that the two-yard gain is nullified by a penalty caused by his return style. You are telling me there is no one else out there that can do his job a little bit better? If you believe that, you aren't looking hard enough. Grade: F
Coaching: Once again, I'm baffled. That was the best Cam Cameron could come up with after the offense was embarassed in the first meeting against the Bengals? Greg Mattison started blitzing in the second half and it worked (imagine that), but he already dug the team a hole with his vanilla defense in the first half. I really loved that three-man rush that resulted in the first Cincinnati touchdown. The Ravens can't get any pressure with four-man rushes and he sends three guys? Brilliant. Three-man rushes that give the quarterback ten seconds to throw when Chris Carr is on the field trying to cover a receiver is a disaster waiting to happen.
As for John Harbaugh, he has to take blame for the way the Ravens come out of the gate slowly every week on both sides of the ball. He also deserves blame for continuing to let Mattison use poor defensive schemes and for all of the penalties assessed against the Ravens. For all of the talk about a disciplined, well-coached team, this group is worse than the Billick years in terms of penalties, and it's not even close. Grade: F
