Ravens Bye Week Report Card
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens managed to go 5-2 at their bye despite playing inconsistency this season.
Here's their Report Card.
Offense
Quarterback — Lamar Jackson has carried the Ravens offense. He has thrown for 1,943 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Jackson also leads the team with 480 yards rushing with another two scores. He has been sacked 21 times. Jackson has also taken several late hits and has dealt with a sore back.
Grade A
Running Backs — The Ravens are ranked fourth in the NFL with 149.4 yards per game, largely because of Jackson. The Ravens are not getting much production out of their current group of running backs. Latavius Murray, Devonta Freeman and Le'Veon Bell are averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Murray does run hard and leads this group with 212 yards despite missing a game because of an injury. Of course, the running attack was going to struggle after the team lost all three players on its depth chart to injuries in training camp. However, the performance will need to improve over the second half of the season. Grade: D
Wide Receivers — Marquise Brown leads the Ravens with 566 yards receiving with six touchdowns. He's also been targeted a team-high 57 times and has 37 receptions. Over two games, rookie Rashod Bateman has seven receptions for 109 yards. Sammy Watkins has dealt with a thigh injury but leads the team with 16.2 yards per reception. Overall, Watkins has 18 receptions on 32 targets for 292 yards. Tight end Mark Andrews is having a Pro-Bowl caliber season and Patrick Ricard has dominated opponents. Grade B+
Offensive Line — This group has played well despite being hampered by injuries. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley is out for the year with an ankle injury. Right tackle Patrick Mekari is also dealing with an ankle injury. Tackle Alejandro Villanueva, guards Ben Powers and Kevin Zeitler, and center Bradley Bozeman have been mostly solid. Grade: B-
Defense
Defensive Line — The Ravens are ranked fourth against the run. Nose tackle Brandon Williams has played mostly unevenly. Defensive end Calais Campbell has been one of the team's best players. Justin Madubuike has filled in well for the injured Derek Wolfe. This unit does tend to wear down late in games. Grade: C+
Linebackers — After some struggles, Patrick Queen has performed better since moving back to weakside inside linebacker. The transition has given him an opportunity to see the game better and play faster. Josh Bynes has moved into the role as the inside linebacker. Outside linebackers Justin Houston and Tyus Bowser have been mostly effective. Tackling has been an issue. Grade: C
Secondary — The Ravens' defensive backs have been admittedly inconsistent this season. They allowed an opponent to rack up more than 500 yards of offense two times in three weeks. Opposing quarterbacks have found holes in Baltimore's secondary, which is hindered by the season-ending knee injury to cornerback Marcus Peters. Anthony Averett has filled in admirably in Peters' absence despite being targeted the most times in the NFL. Marlon Humphrey managed his first turnover of the season with an interception against the Bengals in Week 7 but has missed several tackles. The safeties — Chuck Clark and DeShon Elliott — have also performed unevenly. The Ravens have allowed 2,073 passing yards over seven games, the worst performance in franchise history. Baltimore is just the third team in NFL history to allow three 400-yard passers in the first seven games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Grade D
Special Teams
Justin Tucker has converted 14 of 15 field-goal attempts, including an NFL-record 66-yarder against the Lions. Sam Koch is averaging 46.2 yards per punt. Devin Duvernay is among the league leaders in punt returns. Coverage has been solid. Grade: A
