The Ravens extended their winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here’s the Report Card
Offense
Quarterback: Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards with five touchdowns for a 158.1 rating. He also threw some of his best deep balls of the season and had a 49-yard scoring pass to Rashod Bateman against an all-out blitz. It was another MVP-caliber performance. Grade: A
Running backs: Derrick Henry had an 81-yard run late in the third quarter to set up the Ravens’ fourth touchdown. Henry finished with 169 yards on 15 carries and caught a touchdown pass. Wide receiver Zay Flowers had a 19-yard run. Grade: A
Wide receivers/tight ends: Ravens tight end Mark Andrews caught two touchdown passes and has 43 in his career, which surpassed Todd Heap (41) for the most in franchise history. Bateman caught four passes for a season-high 121 yards with a touchdown. The pass-catchers did a solid job getting open and tracking back for the ball. Grade: A
Offensive line: This unit dealt with several pre-snap and holding penalties, which hampered drives. Center Tyler Lindrebaum snapped a ball into Flowers, which caused a fumble. Jackson was sacked twice, but the offensive line did a good job of run-blocking. Grade: B-
Defense
Linebackers: Inside linebacker Roquan Smith had a dominant game and finished with 18 tackles. His counterpart, Trent Simpson, had eight tackles and managed to get some pressure on Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. Outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh each had a sack. However, Tampa Bay’s running backs had success getting through to the next level. Grade: B-
Defensive line: It was the first time this unit struggled this season. Tampa Bay finished with 125 yards on 30 carries and found seams through the defensive line. Nnamdi Madubuike had another critical roughing the passer penalty that helped extend a drive. Travis Jones managed just one tackle. Grade: C
Secondary: It was another uneven performance for this group. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey had a career-high two interceptions but had to leave the game in the second quarter with a knee injury. Mayfield was 31-for-45 for 370 yards with three touchdowns. There continued to be miscommunication in the secondary, which led to several big plays, including a 23-yard touchdown by Rachaad White to make it a 10-point game with just under two minutes left. Safety Kyle Hamilton finished with 11 tackles. Grade: C
Special teams: The Ravens failed to corral an onside kick for the second time this season and each of those miscues led to touchdowns. Justin Tucker converted field goal attempts from 28 and 52 yards, and Jordan Stout averaged 43.5 yards on two punts. Justice Hill and undrafted rookie Chris Collier had kickoff returns of 37 and 35 yards, respectively. Grade: B
Coaching: The Ravens started slowly, falling behind by 10 points, but they answered with 34 consecutive points. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken had a game plan that amassed 508 yards on 30 runs and 22 passes. Defensive coordinator Zach Orr still has a lot of work ahead of him because the players sometimes look confused and out of position. Grade: B
