After 5 straight home losses dating back to last year, the Ravens managed to find a way to win against their division rivals on Sunday Night. The Ravens won the contest 19-17 on the foot of their Hall of Fame Kicker, Justin Tucker. The defense played lights out; only holding the Bengals to 291 total yards and limiting Ja’Marr Chase to 50 yards on 7 catches. The much-maligned defense only allowed one reception over 20 yards after getting torched through the air over the first four weeks. The offense was not spectacular but did enough to compliment the defense. Lamar Jackson did not grade particularly well but had some important throws (especially on the last drive) to seal the win vs their arch rival. Below I will highlight some of the stars of the contest and some players who did not particularly play well. All grades are courtesy of PFF.
Highest Graded Player of the Week: Patrick Queen
Queen comes in as the highest graded player of the week with a final game grade of 81.9. After a rocky start out of the gates, Queen put together easily his best game of the season. The former LSU Tiger finished with 7 tackles and had a crucial interception against his former teammate, Joe Burrow. It is Queen’s second career interception and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Queen missed two more tackles, one of which resulted in a first down but you can’t criticize him too much, he had an excellent game overall. As I’ve mentioned before this is a huge season for Queen because the team will have to decide on his fifth-year option next off-season. But if he can continue to have these types of games, that decision should be easy. He’ll look to build on this effort next week as he will be tasked with limiting Saquan Barkley.
Second Highest Graded Player of the Week: Devin Duvernay
Duvernay finishes this game with a final PFF game grade of 78.3; his highest grade of the year. With Rashod Bateman inactive, the Ravens decided to feature Duvernay in an expanded role. His final stat line read as follows: 5 catches for 54 yards, and 3 rushes for 24 yards. He had 31 snaps as a boundary wide receiver, 15 snaps in the slot and one lined up as a running back. The Ravens used him extensively in the jet sweep and misdirection. Duvernay is slowly emerging as one of the most important pieces in Greg Roman’s system. The former third round pick is showing he can do more than just be a stellar special teams’ player. With Bateman still questionable, he might be asked to contribute a lot once again next week when the Ravens travel to New Jersey to square off against a surprising Giants team.
Third Highest Graded Player of the Week: Morgan Moses
Morgan Moses caps off this week’s highest graded list by finishing with a season-best 77.7 PFF grade. From 37 pass-blocking snaps, Moses did not surrender a single pressure, QB hit or sack. After allowing 2 sacks last week, Moses bounced back mightily with a really strong performance. He kept Lamar Jackson upright all night long and was also very good in the run blocking department as well. Brought over as a free-agent, the Ravens wanted to solidify the right side of their offensive line, and so far, it has paid dividends. Once Stanley can get healthy and back to his former All-Pro self (hopefully), the Ravens would feature one of the better tackle duos in the league. Next up for Moses is a Giants defensive line who had been better than expected.
Other Notable High Grades:
Josh Oliver: 84.8 (highest graded offensive player technically but did not play enough snaps)
Malik Harrison: 89.3 (highest graded defensive player, not enough snaps)
Mark Andrews: 74.9
Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Damarion Williams
“Pepe” comes in the lowest graded player this week. The rookie had a final PFF game grade of 50.4. After being one the lowest graded players last week, Williams once again had a rocky performance. He was targeted 7 times and allowed all 7 targets to be caught for 65 yards. Williams works in the slot primarily and saw a few different guys in coverage. Chase had 3 catches, Boyd had 2, Hurst had one and Samaje Perine had one as well. The rookie currently has a QB rating of 132 when being targeted this season and a reception percentage of 76.2. Both are concerning stats but the season is young and he is being thrust into extensive game action due to Kyle Fuller being put on IR. He’ll look to bounce back next week against the Giants’ weak wide receiving core.
Second Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Josh Bynes
Bynes comes in as the second lowest graded player this week with a PFF grade of 53.9. Bynes’ grade is driven down by the allowed touchdown to Hayden Hurst. He otherwise had a solid game, he sacked burrow and added 4 tackles with zero missed tackles. But the one touchdown will naturally bring his grade down. Though 53.9 is not the worst grade if appearing on this list. Bynes is still an integral part of the Ravens defense and will look to bounce back next week against Daniel Jones and company.
Third Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Demarcus Robinson
Robinson rounds off this list by finishing with a PFF grade of 56.6. Robinson was an essential non-factor considering he played 49 snaps. He ran 23 routes and only managed one catch for 8 yards. He did however produce a run blocking grade of 85.8, so it was not all bad. Robinson is purely a depth piece and will be another one of those 1-year Ravens veteran wide receivers who most likely will not be on the team next season.
Other Notable Low Grades:
Kyle Hamilton: 34.8 (lowest graded player technically but did not have enough snaps)
Now that the Ravens have put the Bengals in their rear-view mirror, they’ll look forward to a meeting with their former defensive coordinator, Wink Martindale. Wink has the Giants defense playing really well; the Giants are coming off of a huge victory in London vs the Packers and the defense essentially won the game for them at the end. It’ll be interesting to see how Greg Roman devises a game plan against his old running mate. The Giants are unsurprisingly blitzing at one the highest marks in the NFL. But Lamar is one of the highest graded passers vs the blitz this season. He currently holds the fourth highest grade in the NFL when being blitzed. Another thing to watch is how the Ravens offensive line will deal with Dexter Lawrence, who has been an absolute force so far. Powers and Linderbaum will have their hands full. The Ravens open up as 5.5 road favorites
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.