The Browns came into Baltimore on Sunday night looking to keep pace in a tight AFC north by attempting to dethrone the Baltimore Ravens as the top seed in the division. The Browns ultimately fell to the Ravens 16-10 in what was easily one of the sloppiest games we have seen from the Ravens in the Lamar Jackson era. The defense was the story in this game, for the second straight week the defense allowed under 14 points and has looked much better compared to earlier in the season. However, the offense has looked bad for about 4 straight games and this was easily their worst performance. I will outline players who graded well this week and players who graded poorly via Pro Football Focus (PFF) below.
Highest Graded Player of the Week: Tyus Bowser
For the second straight week Tyus Bowser gets the nod as the highest graded player of the week with a PFF grade of 85.4. Bowser has been on fire over the last few games, pressuring the QB, covering tight ends, and setting the edge in the run game. Against the Browns, he tallied 4 pressures, 1 sack, 2 hits and one hurry. He also added 2 tackles in the running game and didn’t miss any. But he was most impressive in coverage, he was targeted 4 times and only allowed one reception for seven yards which led to the game clinching tackle he had on the Browns final possession. Bowser is showcasing that he is one of the most complete defensive players in the NFL. He, along with edge defenders Odafe Oweh and veteran, Justin Houston are quietly playing their best football. Oweh and Houston will not make the 3 highest graded list but they came in as the 4th and 5th highest graded players this week (Houston, 76 grade, Oweh 71 grade). The Ravens will continue to rely on these 3 players as they will have an easier matchup in the trenches next week against the Steelers.
Second Highest Graded Player of the Week: Mark Andrews
Mark Andrews comes in this week as the second highest graded player, registering a PFF grade of 80.3. The elite tight end enjoyed yet another good game. Andrews was responsible for the Ravens’ only touchdown of the game; a broken play in which Lamar had to drop back nearly twenty yards while evading multiple defenders to eventually find Andrews open in the endzone for a touchdown. Andrews also had a ridiculous 39-yard one handed reception while being interfered with. Andrews has been as reliable as it gets this season, he now has 86 targets and only 2 drops on the year. He’ll look to continue his dominance next week against the Steelers who have surrendered 41 points in back-to-back weeks.
Third Highest Graded Player of the Week: Anthony Averett
Averett comes in as the third highest graded player this week with a PFF grade of 77.6; his highest of the year. After being one of the most targeted cornerbacks in the NFL for much of the season, Averett has put together 2 very good games in a row. Averett was targeted only twice and didn’t allow either target to be caught, he also added a pass break up. Averett now has back-to-back games with PFF game grades of 75+. Given, the two games were against sub-par QBs but it is encouraging to finally see Averett play at a high level after being a weak link in most of the games this season. He will have another chance at a good game against Ben Roethlisberger who is currently PFF’s lowest graded QB this season.
Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson comes in this week as the lowest graded player of the week; registering a PFF grade of 41.7, his lowest of the year and his lowest since 2019 against the Chiefs. Lamar Jackson has now had 3 straight games with PFF grades of under 60. He threw 4 interceptions against the Browns and 3 of them were ugly. Not sure if it was miscommunication or a lack of practice, but he has never thrown so many careless, forced passes in his career. He only mustered 165 passing yards and 39 came on a heave to Mark Andrews who made an amazing one-handed catch. It did not help that he was pressured 18 times, but the bigger problem was his 32.2 grade when he was kept clean. He just wasn’t seeing safeties and corners; he was forcing too many throws. It was a game he and the Ravens offense want to forget. Things don’t get easier for the former MVP, as he will look to have a better game against division rival, Pittsburgh, a team who has given him problems. In two career games against the Steelers, Lamar has had game grades of 55.8 and 47.7.
Second Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Marlon Humphrey
Marlon finished the game with a PFF grade of 42.3; his lowest of the season. Humphrey is the Raven’s best corner but he did not have a strong showing in coverage. He was targeted 10 times, for 7 receptions that resulted in 101 yards. It is his second game this season allowing more than 100 yards, the other was against Ja’Marr Chase when he allowed 227. Other than those two games, Humphrey has been very good. Besides the aforementioned games, he has allowed 7 or less catches in every other contest, and multiple games allowing 2 or less catches. Humphrey is not a player I would be worried about; he has been one of the best corners in the league since being drafted in 2017. He and Averett will look to matchup against Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool in another huge division game for the Ravens.
Third Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Josh Bynes
Bynes rounds off the list as the third lowest graded player of the week coming in at a PFF grade of 46.8. Bynes was quite good against the run, he finished with 3 tackles and zero missed tackles, which led to a
run defense grade of 76.2. But the low grade was due to his coverage stats; he allowed all 3 of his targets to be caught for 45 yards. Bynes has impacted this defense in multitude of ways so I would not look too much into this game for him. He’ll look to bounce back next week against the Steelers.
The Ravens will be happy to get away with a win against a division rival in which Lamar Jackson had his worst game of the year. He and the offense could not do anything against the stout pass rush of the Browns. It was the Ravens defense that bailed out Lamar for once. Countless times this season, Lamar and the offense were forced to come from behind after major lapses from the defense. They will need the defense to continue playing at a high level but will need Lamar to get back into form. Lamar has now played 10 games, in his first 5 he had 3 interceptions, but he has had 9 in his las 5. Yet the Ravens are still winning and are atop the AFC with a record of 8-3. But you just wonder how long they can keep overcoming these close games with lackluster showings from the offense. They’ll need the former MVP to revert to his early season form if they want to make a serious run as we approach the end of the year and into the playoffs. He will look to get back on track next week in yet another pivotal AFC North game as they travel to Pittsburgh to face their arch rival, the Steelers.
Mirzet was born in Bosnia and raised in upstate NY. Mirzet became a huge fan of the ravens when he first moved to the country and has never looked back. Mirzet is also a former base data analyst at Pro Football Focus. Using advanced metrics and stats has always been a passion of his when discussing anything football-related. Salihovic also lived in Baltimore shortly after he went to college at SUNY Cortland, he currently resides in Utica, NY.