The Ravens and the Chiefs squared off for a 4th straight season, this time on Sunday Night Football, and the result was something that the Ravens, and Ravens Flock needed in the worst way. Last week, The Raiders defeated The Ravens in a Monday Night thriller that left the Ravens and its fans concerned going into Week 2 knowing the high-flying Chiefs offense was coming into town. Over the last 3 seasons, The Chiefs and Quarterback, Patrick Mahomes have completely dominated The Ravens. Mahomes consistently picked apart the Blitz, while Lamar had some of his worst games as a starter playing the Chiefs Defense. Monday Night saw a similar story on the first drive. Lamar throws a pick 6 to start the game on a pass intended for former Chief, Sammy Watkins. But Lamar and the Ravens did not give up. Jackson played a nearly flawless second half which was capped off by a gutsy 1-yard run on 4th and 1 to give Lamar his first victory against Mahomes. The Ravens had a number of players who had excellent performances; like last week, I will highlight the 3 highest graded players, and the 3 lowest graded players via Pro Football Focus (PFF).

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Highest graded overall player of the week: Alejandro Villanueva

Ravens fans should be thrilled seeing Villanueva as the highest graded player this week. Villanueva had an 89.5 grade this week, with an 81.4 pass-blocking grade. Last week, I wrote an article highlighting Villanueva as the ravens lowest graded offensive player while also having an abysmal pass-blocking grade. Villanueva last week allowed 10 pressures against Oakland, this week, he allowed 0 pressures. Playing his natural position, Left Tackle, you could tell how much more comfortable he looked. Surely the Ravens want Stanley back as soon as possible, but knowing they have a capable backup tackle like Villanueva, should put them and their fans at ease. Another interesting stat was his 89-run blocking grade. Villanueva has always been known as a great pass protector but not as a great run blocker, so seeing that type of performance from him is also very encouraging.

Second highest graded player of the week: Marquise Brown

For the second straight week, Hollywood Brown makes the highest graded players list. Brown registered an 88.7 PFF grade which was the second highest of the week amongst all Wide Receivers, only trailing Cooper Kupp. Brown was targeted 10 times and caught 6 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown. Brown’s numbers could have been even bigger if Lamar Jackson did not overthrow him for an 80-yard bomb in the first quarter. Brown has missed some time since being drafted in 2019, but he has always been solid. He has graded in the 70’s via PFF’s grading through his first two seasons. So far through 2 games this season, Brown is PFF’s third overall rated Wide Receiver. The Sample size is small, but if he can maintain this level of excellent play, the Raven’s offense can present a real challenge from a passing game standpoint especially when first-round pick, Rashod Bateman returns from injury.

Third highest graded player of the week: Odafe Oweh

Odafe Oweh is the third highest graded player this week and also the highest graded defensive player coming in with a grade of 86.3. The Ravens pass rush was mostly nonexistent in this matchup, only registering 7 total pressures. But Oweh had 3 of those pressures, and most notably, had the game winning forced fumble and recovery. Oweh had an excellent game, he was responsible for both of the Chiefs’ turnovers; first the pressure on Mahomes which forced the errant throw that led to an interception, then the aforementioned game winning fumble recovery. Last week he flashed with a chase down sack of Derek Carr, this week he makes the game winning play. But not only that, he was very efficient, he did not have any missed tackles. The Ravens very badly need to have a pass rusher that can win one on one matchups. They cannot rely on zero blitzes all the time especially with so many injuries in the secondary. Oweh has all the tools to be that guy for them, an edge rusher with 4.3 speed is something you can’t teach which is why the ravens took him with the 29th overall pick in the draft. Next week against Detroit he gets to match up with fellow first rounder; Left Tackle, Penei Sewell. The Ravens will need him to be a force once again.

Lowest graded player of the week: Patrick Queen

The lowest overall player and the lowest graded defensive player was inside linebacker, Patrick Queen. Queen earned a 27.1 grade this week, for those unfamiliar with PFF grading, anything under 50 is considered poor. Queen last year, was the 85th overall linebacker out of 86 qualifiers. An ultra-athletic linebacker, Queen plays very fast all the time, which is something that fits the style of defense Wink demands, as evidenced last week when he had the delayed sack on Derek Carr. He will make impact plays like that but the real issue is his coverage. He was targeted 10 times which led the team and allowed 9 catches for 104 yards against the Chiefs, which resulted in a coverage grade of 27. Another problematic thing is his tackling, he had 3 missed tackles which also led the team. Last week, Queen had a solid game, he was the 4th highest graded defensive player and only missed 1 tackle. The Chiefs targeted Queen last year as well, he had a 27 grade and allowed 6 catches while being targeted 6 times. Asking to defend Travis Kelce is not an easy task, and there is no shame in not playing well against one of the best Tight Ends in NFL history, I do not think his poor play will continue, he is too talented to let that happen. Another former LSU linebacker got off to a similar poor start; Devin White. Ever since his rookie year, White has improved consistently. Linebacker is a hard position to play in today’s defense, but Queen has all the tools to succeed at the NFL level.

Second lowest graded player of the week: Malik Harrison

Malik Harrison comes in as the second lowest graded player with a grade of 37.5. Harrison made this list last week as well. Similar to queen, the coverage grade was the thing that sticks out here, 28.6. Harrison was targeted 3 times and allowed all the targets to be caught for 75 yards. Mahomes just has a way of targeting young inexperienced linebackers, he diced up Harrison and Queen all night. Harrison did have a good game in terms of run defense and tackling, he had a run defense grade of 70 and a tackling grade of 77.5 which are both solid marks. But when you have a coverage grade that low, it’ll naturally bring down the overall grade. Queen and Harrison have had to face Darren Waller and Travis Kelce through two weeks, their next test is TJ Hockenson, another good tight end but nowhere near the caliber of Waller and Kelce. Hopefully they can get back on track and I think both players will have much better games.

Third lowest graded player of the week: Justin Madubuike

Rounding out the lowest graded players this week was yet another defensive player, Justin Madabuike. Madubuike had an overall grade of 30.6. A promising young player, I doubt we will see him much on these lists in the future. Madabuike offered nothing in the pass rush department, 0 pressures, hits, and hurries. He did have a good tackling grade with 69, but still not a good game for one of the Ravens most promising young players.

The biggest takeaway from this week was the ravens pass protection. Last week, the ravens offensive line allowed 22 pressures on 39 drop backs, by far the worst in the league. This week, the offensive line allowed 0 pressures on 28 drop backs. Villanueva was phenomenal, and Patrick Mekari, who has never played right tackle in his career, did an excellent job of blocking Chris Jones all night. The Ravens will be preparing to play the Lions this week, a game the Ravens will be favored in. Coming off of such a huge win, the ravens should not take the petal off the gas. They need to stick with what works, run the ball consistently while sprinkling in play action off of it. Harbaugh will not allow this to be a letdown game, he has proven to be one of the best coaches in the last decade and this should be a decisive win against an undermanned Lions team.

Mirzet Salihovic
Mirzet Salihovic

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.

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