Ravens report card versus Cardinals
Quarterback– Joe Flacco’s numbers were not fantastic but his play on the field was. After the Baltimore Ravens went into the no-huddle, he and the offense came alive. He led the Ravens on three touchdown drives, which turned into short touchdown runs for Ray Rice. Flacco threw for an impressive 336 yards. It makes you wish the Ravens ran no huddle shotgun more often. Grade A
Running backs– The Ravens started off running the ball but as the Arizona Cardinals started to pull away with the game Rice and Ricky Williams were used less. Rice was still vital in the passing game with seven receptions for 36 yards. Rice also had three short touchdowns. Rick Williams also 29 yards on only 4 carries. Rice did have a stupid taunting penalty. Grade B+
Receivers– Anquan Boldin, Dennis Pitta, and Ed Dickson were all great in helping Flacco lead the Ravens comeback. Boldin was uncoverable with 145 yards on 7 receptions. Pitta and Dickson each had six receptions. Torrey Smith had a rough game dropping a perfect pass which was deflected for an interception. LaQuan Williams also dropped a crucial 3rd down pass. Grade B
Offensive line– This unit played poorly again. The Ravens offensive line could not provide enough protection for Flacco while running under center. They still were bad on pass protection even while running out of the shotgun. This group really needs to improve. Grade C
Defensive line– Paul Kruger had a career high two sacks and this group overall had tons of pressure on Kevin Kolb. Very solid all game. Beanie Wells had 83 yards on the ground, something that does not happen against the Ravens very often. Grade B+
Linebackers– Terrell Suggs continues to have a terrific season. He added a sack and 13 tackles, four of which were for a loss. He was great against the run and the pass. The rest of the linebacker group played solid as usual. Grade B
Secondary– This group was outstanding, they were helped by a strong pass rush but still kept Larry Fitzgerald to only three catches. They only gave up 153 passing yards in the game. Ravens first round pick Jimmy Smith even got to see a little bit of action on defense and played well. Grade A
Special Teams- They gave up a punt return touchdown early in the game, I saw a huge hold on David Reed on that return. Still the group missed about five tackles on that return. Billy Cundiff was perfect on field goal tries and won the game in the last second. Grade B
Coaching staff– Early in the game was a disaster, but credit has to be given to the coaching staff for making adjustments and going no huddle. The Ravens came out a different team in the second half. Still, the Ravens have to go back to destroying the lower level teams. Grade B
