Team Grades: Ravens Lose Grasp Of Playoff Spot With Huge Loss To Texans
By Samuel Njoku
The mission for the Ravens was clear as day. Win the next two games and you’re in the playoffs. But after losing a horrific game to the Houston Texans, Baltimore’s destiny is out of their hands. Now they’ll need some help to return to the playoffs or risk missing out for the second straight season.
Offense Grade: F
The Ravens offense was downright putrid on Sunday against the Texans. Houston’s defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel dialed up blitzes on nearly every single down to not only keep Flacco uncomfortable, but shut down the run game. Justin Forsett was ineffective and made the Ravens a one dimensional offense. JJ Watt single handedly destroyed the Ravens upfront disrupting the flow of the offense on nearly every play.
Baltimore’s receivers were basically a non-factor because of the front 7. They made the most of their opportunities, but those were few and far between. Eugene Monroe and Rick Wagner both suffered injuries in the game. If neither are able to play next week, you may see a similar performance from this unit against Cleveland.
Defense Grade: C-
It may have been against a third string quarterback, but the Ravens defense did their best to keep Baltimore in this game. The secondary did a decent job of covering Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins. CB Rashaan Melvin is the best cornerback on the field for the Ravens. Considering he wasn’t even an afterthought for the Ravens a few weeks ago, that is both impressive and sad at the same time. The Ravens front 7 were not able to get much pressure on the QB and struggled containing Arian Foster.
Matt Elam has been a disaster for the secondary this year and Baltimore continues to put him on the field. Though his play time has diminished considerably over the past few weeks, Baltimore can’t afford to have him on the field at all. He’s that large of a liability.
Quarterback Grade: F-
If there was a grade lower than an F- to give Flacco, he would have got it. The Ravens QB struggled so mightily that it was hard to watch at times. To be fair, Flacco had no protection for most of the day. His pocket was non-existent and he was rattled from the moment the ball was snapped. But the few times he had time to make a decision, his passes sailed over the head of his receivers. It was an overall ugly wwperformance by the unit, but it starts with the quarterback. No excuses for that awful performance.
Special Teams grade: B-
Jacoby Jones huge return put the Ravens in great position to acquire their first touchdown of the game. But Patrick Scales and Sam Koch didn’t appear to be in sync in this contest, and it led to one of the worst punts for Sam Koch this season.
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Samuel Njoku was born and raised in Baltimore, MD and is a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Samuel has covered the Ravens for Examiner.com since 2010. Prior to 2010, Samuel was an avid blogger and radio personality in Salisbury, MD. Samuel Njoku is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Ravens_Examiner.