Ravens Report Card, Week 3: Struggles in the trenches lead to defeat

Quarterback: B

Lamar Jackson was efficient through the air for much of the game. He put the ball in harm’s way twice, once when the ball was poked out and the other on a near-intercepted throw. The former came on a busted play, though, where Jackson had nothing doing on fourth-and-goal on a rollout to the right and tried to buy time. He finished the game with a good stat line of 288 passing yards and three touchdowns, completing 21-of-27 throws. Some of that yardage came on the final drive of the game though, including his third touchdown pass, with the Ravens trailing by two possessions. Jackson was not able to escape pressure on a number of occasions and was under duress often, especially in the second half. He wound up being sacked seven times. As pass blocking broke down, Jackson could have been more decisive as a scrambler instead of waiting for things to develop downfield. He rushed for only 35 yards on seven carries, 13 of which came on one carry in the first quarter.

Running Back: D+

Derrick Henry was more productive than last week’s 23-yard performance, totaling 50 rushing yards and a 28-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. However, he was quiet after that play and largely held in check from there on out. Henry was stuffed on three consecutive goal line runs in the second quarter. Then, he lost another fumble late in the fourth quarter. That was Henry’s third fumble of the season thus far and second fumble in the Ravens’ own territory in a big moment. Sloppy ball security is uncharacteristic from the future Hall of Famer, but it was costly again in this game. Justice Hill and Rasheen Ali did not receive any carries, and the former caught one pass for four yards.

Wide Receiver: C+

After playing a starring role in Weeks 1-2, Zay Flowers was surprisingly iced out on Monday night with only two catches for 13 yards on three targets. His target share dipped while Rashod Bateman’s increased. Bateman had his best game of the year with five catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. The rest of the wide receiver room was relatively quiet. DeVontez Walker had a long 34-yard catch to set the Ravens up near the goal line. Deandre Hopkins caught one 13-yard pass and drew a pass interference in the end zone.

Tight End: B+

After being a non-factor in the passing game through two weeks, both Mark Andrews and Charlie Kolar played a much bigger role in Week 3. Andrews was the team’s catalyst through the air, catching all five of his targets for 64 yards with a 14-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. Prior to that snag in the end zone, Andrews snagged a jump-ball contested against safety Brian Branch. Kolar caught two passes for 22 yards and helped move the chains. The Ravens still clearly miss the presence of Pat Ricard both as a pass blocker and run blocker.

Offensive Line: D+

The Ravens’ offense line struggled in this game as the quarters progressed. They started the game on a high note, opening up running lanes for Henry and giving Jackson time to throw. However, the rushing attack’s effectiveness waned after the first couple of drives. Henry was stuffed near the line of scrimmage on a number of his rushing attempts. The Lions’ defensive front began to get pressure consistently in the second half and sacked Jackson seven times with seven quarterback hits. Aidan Hutchinson got loose in the fourth quarter to poke the ball away from Henry. Maybe some of that can be attributed to Jackson holding the ball too long, but there plenty of times where the pocket collapsed very early in the play.

Defensive Line: D+

At the onset of this game, the Ravens’ defensive front appeared up to the task of holding up without Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) in the middle. They held the Lions to 12 rushing yards on their first seven carries. As the game progressed, though, the Lions rushing attack began to wear them down. David Montgomery in particular was unstoppable at times, rushing for 151 yards on just 12 carries with multiple runs of 10+ yards — including a 72-yard run in the second half. The Ravens held Jahmyr Gibbs to an inefficient 3.0 yards per carry, but the Lions still rushed for 224 yards total on 38 carries with four touchdowns. In the passing game, the Ravens got little consistent pressure through the middle all game. No defensive lineman recorded a sack and only one had a lone quarterback hit and tackle-for-loss. The Ravens’ defensive interior struggled to get off blocks.

Edge Rusher: D+

Like the defensive line room, the early returns on missing a key starter (Kyle Van Noy) in the edge rusher group were not positive. The Ravens needed to get pressure on Jared Goff to throw the Lions’ offensive attack off their game plan and hopefully force turnovers. No edge rusher on the team had a sack. Only Mike Green and Odafe Oweh hit Goff at least once all night. The Ravens were able to limit substantial explosive runs on the edge from Gibbs, but they struggled when trying to crash inside to prevent being gashed up the middle.

Linebacker: C-

The same negative trend continues for the linebacker room. One week after an elite performance from Roquan Smith and promising trend from Teddye Buchanan, the Ravens’ linebackers were not as effective in this game. Buchnan started opposite Smith and played extended snaps again, finishing with eight tackles. Smith did have a tackle-for-loss and quarterback hit. However, the Ravens gave up way too many long runs through the middle of the defense and missed tackles in space. Furthermore, coverage across the middle of the field was an issue at times as well.

Cornerback: C+

This was a forgettable performance for Marlon Humphrey, who struggled to defend Amon-Ra St. Brown in one-on-one coverage. St. Brown beat Humphrey for a long touchdown and then another long fourth-down conversion late in the fourth quarter. In Humphrey’s defense, he was nursing a groin injury entering this game, which he appeared to aggravate at one point. Also, St. Brown is one of the league’s best wide receivers. Aside from the damage he did, the rest of the Lions’ wide receivers were quiet. Jameson Williams had two long catches on the opening drive of the game but did not make another grab after that. Only one other Detroit wideout had a catch all night for four yards. Nate Wiggins had another impressive pass breakup in the fourth quarter and T.J. Tampa made a couple of strong open field tackles.

Safety: C+

Kyle Hamilton led the Ravens in tackles with nine total, but he had no tackles-for-loss or pass breakups. The All-Pro safety wasn’t quite as impactful as he usually is but did not make any notable mistakes either as per usual. Malaki Starks had a tackle-for-loss but also appeared to miss a couple tackles in space and allowed a few catches in his area. Any time the opposing team has multiple long runs of 10+ yards, including a 72-yard near-score, some level of blame has to be placed on the backend and final line of defense.

Special Teams: B+

Jordan Stout’s strong start to the season continued with two different punts of 63 and 56 yards, both of which pinned the Lions deep within their own five-yard line. Tyler Loop made another errant kickoff that was short and was just shy of narrowly missing a 41-yard field goal, which crept inside and over the upright. He made all three extra points. Linebacker Jake Hummel nearly blocked a punt but drew a holding penalty in the process. Rasheen Ali’s four kickoff returns resulted in 105 yards.

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