Report Card: Ravens Top Falcons in Frigid Affair

In bone-chilling temperatures with a backup quarterback and a maligned coaching staff catching proverbial arrows from its fan base, the Ravens did just enough on both sides of the ball to land on the doorsteps of a playoff position with a 17-9 win over a pesky Falcons team.

Let’s take a look at some performances:

Offense

Overall: C

The Ravens only had 299 yards of offense and 15 first downs, to go along with one touchdown and a bunch of fizzled opportunities early. That’s below average.

However, they created some of those opportunities with some chunk plays, didn’t turn the ball over and muscled out a first down when they needed one to salt away the game late. And they played their backup quarterback. Let’s credit them with an average score.

Quarterback: C-

Tyler Huntley was 9-for-17 for 115 yards, and did break the Ravens’ touchdown drought with a nice toss to Demarcus Robinson. That being said, this was not a great showing, even when taking weather into account. He missed two fairly easy touchdown opportunities to Mark Andrews and threw low on another one to Isaiah Likely.

Now, the early scramble and toss to Sammy Watkins for 40 was nice, and he threw another pretty one on a third-down conversion to Andrews. I didn’t think he ran the ball particularly well, and seemed to make the wrong decisions on a few options. He was a backup quarterback. That’s fine. He’s a backup quarterback, you know.

Running Backs: A

Gus Edwards (11-99) and JK Dobbins (12-59) continued their recent dominance. Edwards was very good in the second half, and ended the Falcons’ hopes with a big run inside 2:00. His 37-yarder showed power and explosion and everything we love about Gus in one run. I’m hoping these guys have fresh legs going into the playoffs.

Receivers: C-

The Ravens only threw the ball 17 times on the day, so there weren’t a lot of opportunities to impress. Andrews looked as good as he has in weeks, and should have probably had a monster day. Sammy Watkins arrived with a splash, but wasn’t seen much after that, and Robinson put on a terrific inside-outside move and made a nice catch on his touchdown, securing the ball as he landed in bounds. Josh Oliver looked like he could have made a big play in the first half, but didn’t see the ball or lost it or… black magic cast a spell on him at the last minute or something.

Offensive Line: A

They didn’t give up a sack and ran the ball for 184 yards, many of which started with gigantic holes up front. Morgan Moses had another nice week, and created a seal to spring Edwards’ big run. The interior also held up throughout, and Ronnie Stanley just always seems to be in control over there. I’m looking forward to a film breakdown (ahem, Cole Jackson) on the unit this week. It felt dominating on first watch.

Defense

Overall: B

They only gave up 327 yards, and consistently stepped up to make big plays to end Falcons’ drives. It was evident Calais Campbell could have helped up front, but that unit also held its own, and then some. These linebackers are ridiculously good right now. The defensive backfield, by play or design, is just missing something back there from time to time. Usually at the wrong times.

Defensive Line: B+

There were a few times they looked gassed out there, and the Falcons had three double-digit play drives. But, man, they also looked really good for much of the game. Justin Madubuike had seven tackles, five of them solo. He also had a sack and a tackle for loss and another quarterback hit. He was awesome. Broderick Washington was also terrific, with five tackles, and rookie Travis Jones had one of his better games, generating four tackles.

And, folks, how about Isaiah Mack? He had three tackles, and none were bigger than his fourth-and-goal stuff behind the line of scrimmage. Brent Urban destroys a couple plays every week. I love his game.

Linebackers: A

Roquan Smith is a good football player. That’s why I make the big bucks, folks. Smith had 15 tackles, seven of them solo, and had a tackle for loss. He was everywhere, once again. His cohort, Patrick Queen, was also a standout, with nine tackles, half a sack, a pass defended and two quarterback hits. He blew up a late Falcons drive by stuffing a third-and-1, and then contributing to Mack’s big stop on fourth down. The edge guys didn’t do a lot, but Odafe Oweh did have three tackles, including a big stop on a third-down pass to kill a drive.

Defensive Backs: C

The Falcons didn’t exactly dominate the Ravens pass defense, only passing for 212 yards. But rookie Drake London looked very good, and there are too many easy ones week to week, especially at the end of halves. Marlon Humphrey had his hands full with London, but also got his, including a forced fumble and seven tackles. Chuck Clark had a nice game, finishing with seven tackles and a terrific open field stop on a short pass in the fourth quarter. Brandon Stephens played well, had a half sack and didn’t get burnt out there. He did get lucky when he got beat on a first-half fourth-down rep, but the throw was wayward.

Special Teams: B-

Justin Tucker made three easy field goals and had a 55-yarder blocked. James Proche did fine with punt returns, and Justice Hill did nice with his kick returns, including that last one to push the clock to the 2:00 warning for 24 yards. Jordan Stout punted situationally well, and I loved his first-quarter kick to pin Atlanta to their 10. Kickoff coverage was good, limited the Falcons to 16.8 yards an attempt on four kicks. Andy Isabella had a great tackle on the second half opening kickoff. If he wants to stay active, he needs those.

Coaching: D

The Ravens stuck with the run game better this week, until they got in the red zone.

First and goal in the first quarter, and no runs. Then Andrews gets his big catch, and three more passes and another dead drive.

It seemed when they did run in those opportunities, it was by a designed run with Huntley. I get it. Creativity is good. But bashing people in the face and running over their chests is fun and good. Go with fun and well, please.

Then, in the last six minutes of the game, up two scores, the Ravens run one time and throw two incompletions, killing the clock both times and giving Atlanta new life.

That was absurd.

Even if they put 11 guys and a pterodactyl on the line, run it and kill clock.

I didn’t like Harbaugh’s challenge on the play that resulted in Pepe Williams’ pass interference call because I didn’t think there was a deflection, but the call by the official was poor. Maybe they were just hoping for a miracle to overturn it?

There is something broken with the end-of-half defense, and it feels like that is in this space a lot lately.

Otherwise, another stellar performance by that unit.

The post Report Card: Ravens Top Falcons in Frigid Affair appeared first on Russell Street Report.