Ravens report card versus the Patriots: The offense
The Baltimore Ravens lost to the New England Patriots 41 to 7. The score was not pretty but the score was close until the last two five minutes.
Quarterback: Joe Flacco was obviously hurt in this game. Flacco sprained his knee against the Detroit Lions and it was obvious that his performance was hampered. Flacco went 22 out of 38 for 260 yards and two interceptions and honestly it was probably the best he could do. The numbers were not pretty. Grade C
Running backs: Ray Rice only had 40 yards rushing in a game in which the running game needed to be there. Rice did have a decent average at 3.6 yards per carry but the Ravens needed a lot more. Bernard Pierce had 31 yards on 10 carries. Grade C
Receivers: Marlon Brown, Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta each had four catches. With an injured Flacco this unit was not as valuable because even when they were open Flacco had trouble hitting them accurately. Torrey Smith has destroyed the Patriots in the past but only had three catches. Smith did have 69 receiving yards however. Grade B
Offensive line: Flacco was not nearly as mobile as in the past and the line really needed to protect him. Allowing four sacks in a big game is not acceptable. The line also needs to get better at run blocking but it may be too late for that. Late in the game when Tyrod Taylor was in they could not even get a shotgun snap down right. Grade D
Overall: I am not counting what happened when the backups came in when I am doing this report card. Flacco was hurt and I question why he was playing. Taylor came in too late and had his problems but a different form of offensive might have worked over risking further injury to the teams franchise quarterback. The running game could not come up big when the Ravens needed it to. Grade D
