Ravens report card versus the Steelers: The offense
The Baltimore Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 19-16 in a tight game that had a lot of long drives. Lets get into the report card.
Quarterback: Joe Flacco played very well against the Steelers in a not so friendly environment for quarterbacks. I was impressed by how well Flacco spread the ball around to his receivers. Flacco hit nine different receivers and completed 24 of his 34 passes for 215 yards. Flacco also rushed for 14 yards and had a passing touchdown, his final qb rating was 97.1. Grade A
Running backs: The running game seemed a little better in this game, the Ravens finally broke an average above three yards a carry. Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce were useful in the passing game. Grade C+
Receivers: This group continues to impress when Flacco has time to find them. Marlon Brown and Jacoby Jones both had four catches. Torrey Smith had some fabalous catches and had 61 yards receiving. Tandon Doss made some very critical third downs. The tight ends were pretty good in this game, Dallas Clark had the Ravens only touchdown and Ed Dickson had two catches. Grade B+
Offensive line: This unit only allowed one sack and kept Flacco clean for most of the game. The line still had some issues run blocking. I was impressed by the play of Eugene Monroe, he blocked very well. The penalties this unit had were too much and put the Ravens in bad downs. Grade C+
Overall: This unit played pretty well for a road team in Pittsburgh. The penalties really hurt the Ravens, some of which were questionable. The Ravens offense continues to play better in the no huddle. This game went very quickly and the offense did not have many chances. The offense needs to learn how to finish drives with touchdowns and not field goals. Grade B
