The Bengals came into Baltimore on Sunday as 6.5-point underdogs and came out with a completely dominant win over the Ravens. The game was relatively close in the first half, but the Bengals absolutely dominated the game in the second half winning 41-17 and making their mark on the AFC north and the AFC as a whole. The Bengals are now the top team in the AFC with a record of 5-2 and owning the tie breaker against the Ravens. This game marked the third time this season the Ravens have given up a 400-yard passer. Burrow and company were essentially doing whatever they wanted, and rookie Ja’marr Chase completely had his way against Marlon Humphrey to a tune of 201 yards on 8 catches. The pass defense was bad, but the bigger problem was the tackling, which has been bad all year and it reared its ugly head once again. The Ravens have a serious problem at tackling and its quite literally costing them games. All 3 of burrows TD passes were a result of a missed tackle. The Ravens have a bye and they need it in the worst way possible to coach up and correct the tackling issue. As always, below I will list the 3 highest and 3 lowest graded Ravens according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).
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Highest Graded Player: Josh Bynes
Josh Bynes came in this week as the highest graded player with a PFF grade of 83.2. Bynes got his second straight start of the year and he has not disappointed. Last week he was the 3rd highest graded defensive player and he follows that up with a great performance yet again. In a game that featured 12 missed tackles by the ravens, Bynes didn’t have a single missed tackle while also adding 7 total tackles for the game. He registered an 89.2 run defense grade which is just a hair under “elite” in terms of PFF’s grading. This is Bynes’ third stint with the Ravens and you can make an argument he has never played better. The ravens desperately needed a veteran to step in and take control of the inside linebacker position. Queen and Harrison have been disappointments thus far, missing tackles and getting torched in coverage. Bynes brings a steady veteran presence to the position that the coaches love and fans should appreciate.
Second Highest Graded player: Justin Houston
Justin Houston finished the game with a PFF grade of 82.7, his highest as a Raven. In the first quarter it seemed as though Houston was in Burrow’s face nearly every drop back. Though he didn’t have a sack, he came away with 5 pressures, 4 hits and 1 hurry. The Ravens as a team had 20 pressures but only one sack as Joe Burrow proved to be very elusive against a very good pass rush. Houston in particular seemed to have his way against Jonah Williams. The veteran edge rushes only needs one sack to reach the 100-sack career plateau. This is Houston’s second time this season making this list and the Ravens will need more of the same from him going forward.
Third Highest Graded Player: Patrick Queen.
To the delight of many Ravens fans, Patrick Queen earned a PFF grade of 82.2. Patrick Queen has now posted 2 straight games with a PFF grade of 80 or better, after posting 4 straight games of 40 or worse. It is nice to see the former first rounder play well, you wonder how much it helps that Josh Bynes has taken over as main linebacker while Queen plays the weakside linebacker now. Queen only had one tackle but it was a huge one, as he knifed in the backfield and stopped the ball carrier for a loss. More importantly with Queen, he wasn’t a liability as a tackler or coverage linebacker. Zero missed tackles and didn’t allow a target into his zone. A stark contrast from Weeks 1-6 where he missed ten tackles and was targeted 24 times. The coaches have a lot to be mad about but it is not the linebacker play. Bynes and Queen have been an excellent tandem so far over the last two weeks.
Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Brandon Williams
Nost tackle, Brandon Williams comes in as the lowest graded this week with a PFF grade of 30.5. This is Brandon Williams’ first appearance on this list but he has been close plenty of times. Through 7 games so far this season, Williams has a PFF grade of 43.5. He really hasn’t made any impactful plays all year and this game was no different. He only had 2 tackles and missed a tackle. Seems like he was constantly getting blocked and not shedding the guy in front of him at all. He now has 6 tackles all season and only 7 pressures in as many games. Not the kind of production you want from one of your highest paid defensive players. Wiliams has always been stout against the run, never grading below 70 in any season since 2013. His run grade defense this season sits at 30.8. One of the lowest grades for any interior defensive lineman in the NFL. Hopefully the bye week will help him get back on track because the ravens surely could use some run stopping help after the Bengals lit them up in the second half.
Second Lowest Graded player of the Week: Anthony Averett
Anthony Averett comes in as the second lowest graded player of the week with a PFF grade of 49.7. Teams continue to pick on Averett. He was targeted 16 times in this game but only allowed 8 catches for 82 yards. He also missed 2 tackles. Averett played admirably in a game in which burrow lit up the entire secondary. Even though he allowed a reception percentage of 50%, allowing 8 catches will still earn you a bad PFF grade. Averett has now been targeted 65 times this season, most in the NFL. Teams will continue to target him as long as Humphrey is on the other side, though he didn’t have a good game either. Even though Averett has been targeted the most out of any corner in the NFL, he has a respectable 75.5 passer rating when targeted. Not bad considering he was thrust into the position as the starting corner when Marcus Peters went down. He’ll have another hard task in 2 weeks when he draws either Adam Thielen or Justin Jefferson when the Ravens host the Vikings.
Third Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Chuck Clark
Clark comes in as the third lowest graded player of the week with a PFF grade of 52.8. Clark has now graded out poorly in 2 straight games. He only had 2 tackles and missed another, while also allowing a long touchdown to C.J. Uzomah. Clark has been a solid player thus far, but the last 2 games leave something to be desired. To be fair to Clark, the entire defense for the most part was bad. Missed tackles and blown coverage defined this game. Clark is a captain and I am sure he will bounce back. He and the Ravens desperately needed a bye week.
The Ravens go into the bye week with some soul searching to do. The Ravens now hold the second lowest PFF grade for tackling, barely edging out the Texans. It is something that has been a point of emphasis nearly every week. Hard to win games if you’re missing tackles the way the Ravens are. After having their best tackling game of the season last week against the Chargers, where they only missed 3, they follow it up with their worst graded game in terms of tackling, missing 12 against the Bengals. Not exactly sure what the problem is, but its plagued them all season. They go into the bye week with a record of 5-2, which is still one of the best marks in a loaded AFC. But they will need to clean up the mistakes as their next opponent will be the Minnesota Vikings. An offense that features one of the best running backs in the NFL in Dalvin Cook and one of the best wide receiver tandems in Thielen and Jefferson.
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.