The Ravens traveled to Cleveland to battle the Browns in hopes to sweep the season series for a second straight season. The Browns were able to split the season series as they overcame a fourth quarter comeback from backup Tyler Huntley, ultimately winning 24-22. Lamar Jackson left the game in the first quarter with a low ankle sprain, early indications are that it is not serious and the Ravens will hopefully have him available next week vs the Packers. Huntley, however, played admirably in Lamar’s absence. He finished the game with 270 passing yards and a touchdown to Mark Andrews to get the game to 2 points at the end. But the Browns defense proved to be too much to overcome, as Huntley fumbled twice, one which led to a strip-sack TD from Myles Garrett. Like every week, I will highlight the 3 highest and 3 lowest graded players of the week, courtesy of Pro Football Focus (PFF).
Highest Graded Player of the Week: Josh Bynes
Bynes checks in as the highest graded player of the week with a PFF grade of 82.8; his third highest grade this season. Bynes had yet again another strong showing albeit in a loss. He finished the game with 4 tackles, 2 assists and 0 missed tackles. But he was a force in coverage, he was targeted 3 times, allowing only one reception for –1 yards. Bynes has been one of the best players on the Ravens defense all season, and now that Humphrey is out for the year, you can make a case he is their best defensive player on the roster other than Calais Campbell. Bynes is as sure of a tackler as it gets, he now hasn’t missed a tackle in 3 straight games. The Ravens had yet another strong showing in run defense as they held Nick Chubb to 17 carries for only 59 yards. Bynes will be needed next week both in coverage and against the run as they face the Packers and Aaron Jones.
Second Highest Graded Player of the Week: Kevin Zeitler
Zeitler comes in as the second highest graded player this week with a PFF grade of 82.4; his highest of the season. Zeitler had easily his best game of the season, he finished the game with a clean sheet in pass protection (0 hits, 0 pressures, 0 hurries, 0 sacks). He has been solid all year in pass protection, the difference this week was his run blocking, he finished with a 77.1 run-blocking grade which was his highest of the season. He’s only had 4 games above a 70 run-blocking grade, but has had 8 games above a 70 pass-blocking grade including 3 straight games above an 83 grade. Zeitler and Bozeman have been steady presences along the Ravens interior, both having PFF grades of 73.1 on the season which leads all Ravens linemen. They’ll have their hands full next week as they face off with Kenny Clark, who is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league.
Third Highest Graded Player of the Week: Christ Westry
Westry rounds off this list finishing with a PFF grade of 79.5; his highest of year. Playing in place of all-pro cornerback, Marlon Humphrey, Chris Westry played a very good game. Westry only allowed 4 receptions for 47 yards on the day and added a pass break up. After getting torched during his last start against the Bears, a game in which he allowed 133 yards and a touchdown, Westry redeemed himself nicely against a division rival. The Ravens desperately need him and Anthony Averett to play good football down the stretch. They play a murders row of wide receivers in the next coming weeks: Devante Adams, Jamar Chase, Cooper Kupp, and Diontae Johnson. They will need their secondary to not be a disaster down the stretch if they have any hopes at making the postseason.
Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Tavon Young
Tavon Young checks in this week as the lowest graded player with a PFF grade 32.5; his second worst performance of the year. Young allowed only 2 receptions but one went for a touchdown, he also had a back breaking pass interference penalty in the endzone which resulted in an eventual touchdown well. Young has had a somewhat disappointing season so far, he only had one game over a 75 grade while having 11 games under a 70 grade. He has only allowed 2 touchdowns so far which is solid but is giving up 10 yards per reception on the year. Not the type of year he or the coaches were expecting. But he has been healthy all season which is a good sign because has had problems staying healthy in the past. He’ll look to bounce back next week with his normal slot duties.
Second Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Brandon Williams
Brandon Williams comes in as the second lowest graded player of the week with a PFF grade of 44.8; his second worst grade of the year. Williams finished the game with zero tackles and one missed tackle, and for the third straight game did not record a pressure, hit or hurry. Williams is having his worst graded year of his career. He has a PFF grade of 46.2 on the year which puts him at 112 out of 129 qualified interior defenders. He has also missed 5 tackles which is the most in the last 6 years for him. He just isn’t the dominant run stuffing presence like he once was. But with all the injuries to the defense, the Ravens will still need him going into the final 4 games of the year. He’ll look to rebound next week against the Packers.
Third Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Patrick Queen
Queen rounds off the list with a PFF grade of 47.8. Queen did not have an impactful game, only registering two tackles, and allowed all 3 targets to be caught for 20 yards. Queen had a tough time fighting off the elite guards of the Browns, as they swallowed him up in the running game. Queen has had a bad year but has been playing much better since taking over the weak side linebacker position. He has been missing less tackles and has been knifing into the backfield creating huge losses on run plays. The uber athletic Queen will have a tough matchup next week against mismatch nightmare, Aaron Jones.
The Ravens now sit at 8-5, still first in the AFC North after the Bengals lost in overtime to the 49ers. But with injuries piling up and a tough schedule coming up, you wonder if the Ravens can even make the playoffs let alone with the division. They take on the Packers next which they have already opened up as 3-point underdogs at home, but after that they will face the Bengals in Cincy which will be a must-win game, if they lose that one, they will fall to 1-4 in the division and almost have no chance at winning it unless they get help from other teams. But first up is a Packers team who is firing on all cylinders. They will need to play their best game of the season to have any chance at beating this offensive juggernaut.
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.