Failures All Around as Ravens Fall to Steelers

In an epic display of across-the-board failures, the Ravens mustered up a true team effort of inadequacy in blowing a game they should have probably won for  if not for a comedy of errors and a Herculean effort by one T.J. Watt.

Let’s get to the grades.

Offense

Overall: D

Things started out so optimistically. Their first four possessions featured 33 plays, a touchdown and a field goal before a fumble by Justice Hill seemed to change the complexion of the game. Does that sound familiar to the Colts game, except it was Kenyan Drake fumbling away momentum? The Ravens blew scoring opportunities at the end of each half, had three turnovers, made questionable decisions, couldn’t block and dropped close to one trillion catches.

Quarterback: D+

This was hard to grade. Lamar Jackson was far more accurate than his 22-38 would suggest, as he was a statistical victim to those stats. He also made great decisions when to run, and averaged 7.5 yards a tote. But that pick in the fourth quarter was a bad read and a bad throw. The fumble after that was also not ideal, and I didn’t like the toss on the ill-advised (to me) fourth-down gamble. There were a ton of drops. There were also some awful plays. He probably gets too much blame here.

Running Backs: C

Probably the best unit on offense today. Gus Edwards muscled for tough yards through a difficult Steelers’ front, and Justice Hill was explosive when called upon. He’s a sneaky-good short-yardage back, as well, as he uses his vision and burst to find a crease. Hill’s fumble was a momentum-shifter.

Receivers: D-

They made some plays. They truly did. But there were just so many drops — huge, impactful game-changing drops. Mark Andrews had a few go through his hands, but still produced 65 yards on six catches. Zay Flowers had his first questionable-hands game, dropping at least two relatively-easy balls, despite still producing 73 yards on five catches. Rashod Bateman dropped a gimme touchdown, and Nelson Agholor dropped a deep one through his hands, but still put up 64 yards on four catches. There were a lot of yards and points left out there by this unit.

Offensive Line: D

They had some moments, particularly in the run game. But the moments were too short-lived and the lows were disastrous. Watt completely destroyed Patrick Mekari and Daniel Faalele time and time again, and Alex Highsmith was disruptive on the other side. The stats say the Steelers had four sacks and the Ravens averaged 5.0 yards per carry. That doesn’t tell the whole story. Jackson was under pressure throughout the game and there just weren’t a ton of holes.

Defense

Overall: C

They only gave up 289 yards on the day, and 15 points on the road. But Pittsburgh went field goal, touchdown, field goal to basically end the game, and that’s never good. Some good out there, particularly early, but they didn’t get those big plays when needed at money time.

Defensive Line: B

They did a good job against the run, outside of a 16-yarder to Jaylen Warren and an end-around by George Pickens (more on him later). Justin Madubuike had one of him most active games of the year, picking up five tackles and a shared sack. Brent Urban also stood out, picking up a sack and four tackles. Michael Pierce and Travis Jones did a nice job pushing back the Steelers’ line. Jadeveon Clowney flashed again.

Linebackers: B

Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen were all over the place again. Smith had 11 tackles and broke up a pass. Queen had seven tackles and half a sack.

Defensive Backs: C-

Brandon Stephens had his hands full with those back-shoulder throws to George Pickens all day, and Marlon Humphrey got beat by Pickens for a late touchdown. Arthur Maulet had a really good game, getting a big sack, breaking up two passes and being a general pest to the Steelers’ underneath offense. Kyle Hamilton was good again, but Ronald Darby had a few struggles out there.

Special Teams: C

Jordan Stout was great with his first three punts, putting all three of them inside the 20 and not allowing any return yards. Then his fourth was blocked for a safety. So… not as great, but hard to blame him for that one. Kevon Seymour had the huge fumble recovery, which was a big play at the time with 5:29 left — yet another moment the Ravens should have clinched the game.

Coaching: F

It’s a failure. That falls to the staff as much as anybody. I hated the decision to go for it late in the first half, giving up three points and failing to extend past a one-score lead against a team that should have been put away early and often. I also didn’t like the third-and-three run to Hill late in the game. Put it in Jackson’s hands.

The players made giant mistakes all game, but there were strategic errors, as well.

Everybody eats this garbage pie.

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