Team Grades: Elvis Dumervil Helps Bring Down Dolphins
By Samuel Njoku
What a difference a week makes for the Baltimore Ravens. Last week, many were wondering how they could recover following a crushing loss to the San Diego Chargers. Now, after a convincing win against Miami, fans are thinking playoffs again.
Offense Grade: B
The offense picked up from where they left off last week with another strong performance. Miami did a great job in the beginning of containing the Ravens running game. Early on, Baltimore went with Lorenzo Taliaferro for a good number of carry attempts. He had a decent amount of success, but not the kind of success necessary to take over a game. Then the Ravens leaned on Justin Forsett a little more for help controlling the game. Miami would still contain Forsett a great deal. But it wouldn’t take long for Forsett to explode as he garnered most of his yardage in the second half. He finished with 71 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.
Baltimore’s receiving corps was hampered a great deal with the injury to Torrey Smith. Prior to warmups, it appeared as if Torrey would be fine. But his knee would swell back up after the Ravens already activated him for the game. They’d have to use him, but he was largely ineffective. Instead, receivers like Kamar Aiken and Marlon Brown stepped up. Aiken, averaged 10.8 yards per reception and finished with a touchdown along with Steve Smith. The Ravens don’t have a truly dominant receiver, so they’ll need every receiver to contribute in order to succeed.
Defense Grade: B-
The Ravens defense took control of the game in the second half. Elvis Dumervil recorded 3.5 sacks and broke the Ravens single season sack record with 16. Peter Boulware set the previous record in 2001. It was Dumervil’s play that set the tone for the entire defense. Of course, Baltimore’s secondary still struggled to perform at a high level. But Miami doesn’t have the team to take advantage of their shortcomings. The loss of Haloti Ngata was felt as well, as Miami had little trouble moving the ball on the ground before the Ravens offense took off. With injuries to Danny Gorrer and Anthony Levine, it will be interesting to see how the Ravens defense performs moving forward.
Quarterback Grade: A-
Joe Flacco had a very impressive game on Sunday. Since the bye week, Joe has taken control of the offense and moved the ball with precision. The offense struggled early on to move the ball down the field as they were unable to get a single first down in the first quarter. That changed afterwards and Flacco is a large part of it. With the run game faltering early, Flacco had to take it upon himself to get points on the board. Not only did he make some big league throws, but he scampered for a big first down run to keep the chains moving. It's plays like this which define a game and keep a season alive when many expected Baltimore to stumble to the finish line.
Special Teams Grade: B+
Justin Tucker continues his Pro Bowl campaign, along with Sam Koch who made great punts to keep the field position battle even. Jacoby Jones didn’t get many opportunities, but was a big part of the Ravens offense this week.
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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.
