Odell Beckham Jr. Among PFF's Highest-Graded Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens won their season-opener at M&T Bank Stadium 25-9 Sunday over the Houston Texans, as talent prevailed in the second half.
It wasn't as clean of a game as the Ravens would have liked, as quarterback Lamar Jackson threw an interception in the red zone, fumbled twice and lost one giving Houston a short field en route to a field goal. That was all while committing a league-high 13 penalties for 106 yards.
However, Baltimore's defense came to play, sacking Houston rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud five times for 46 yards and limiting the Texans to 1-for-4 on third downs.
Here are the Ravens' five highest offensive and defensive grades, according to Pro Football Focus.
Top-5 Highest PFF Offensive Grades
G John Simpson, 87.2
T Morgan Moses, 79.3
WR Zay Flowers, 78.2
C Tyler Linderbaum, 76.1
WR Odell Beckham Jr., 66.3
It's no shocker that the Ravens' offensive line headlines three of the offense's top-five grades. Baltimore only ran for 3.4 yards per carry but punched it in three times on the ground.
Simpson, Moses and Linderbaum allowed five of Houston's 13 pressures with the right tackle being the only of the three to allow one of the Texans' four sacks.
Linderbaum will likely miss Sunday against the Bengals with an ankle injury.
Jackson didn't have a good day at the office but took a liking to Flowers, who displayed shiftiness in the open field, and Beckham, who was playing his first game since 2021 after tearing his ACL for the second time in his career.
Flowers caught nine passes for 78 yards and Beckham had two receptions for 37 yards, including a 29-yard completion which was the longest play of the game.
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Top-5 Highest PFF Defensive Grades
LB Roquan Smith, 86.2
OLB Odafe Oweh, 83.4
SAF Marcus Williams, 83.4
LB Malik Harrison, 79.6
CB Ar'Darius Washington, 79.4
Smith and Patrick Queen (who was the seventh-highest-ranked Ravens defender) were a two-man wrecking crew Sunday against Houston. Smith had a game-high 16 tackles, two for loss and a sack.
Harrison played 15 snaps and used his speed in pass coverage, while also chasing down Stroud on scrambles and recording two tackles.
Williams was on the field for 24 snap and was the third-best Ravens defender in coverage, recording a 77.5 PFF grade in that category. Williams went down with an injury that "may not be a season ender," head coach John Harbaugh said, but will sideline him for a bit.
