Analytical Review of Ravens at Saints

The Ravens marched into New Orleans on Monday Night Football to take on the 3-5 Saints. Lamar and company came out on top 27-13 with an all too familiar game plan. The team turned back the clock to 2019 by dominating time of possession and running the ball effectively. The team rushed for 188 yards and had 37 minutes in time possession. The Ravens are now 6-3 and will go into next week with a much-needed bye. The team was without their top wide receiver, tight end, and two top running backs and still managed to have their way vs the Saints in their house. You love to see that sort of effort. This week featured many players who graded positively and not many players who graded too poorly. But I will get into the top 3 and bottom 3 this week with and will also outline a few players who just missed the cut (there were many). All grades courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

Highest Graded Player of the Week: Morgan Moses

Morgan Moses checks in as this week’s highest graded player with a mark of 93, his highest of the season. Moses has been a solid tackle all season but this game he just blew up. He had a run blocking grade of 95, which is his highest run blocking grade of his 9-year career. The Ravens simply dominated the Saints up front and Moses led the way with his outstanding run blocking effort. He also was solid in the pass blocking department, he only surrendered one pressure on 24 drop backs. Moses had a complete game and was deserving of the highest graded player this week. He currently holds a 75 overall grade on the season which is ranked 18th overall amongst 78 eligible tackles. He and the entire offensive line played well and will be rewarded with a much-needed bye week coming up.

Second Highest Graded Player of the Week: Calais Campbell

Campbell finishes as the second highest graded player this week with a PFF grade of 89.6, his highest grade of the season. Campbell was a complete force in this game. He generated 2 pressures, one hit, one batted pass and a bone crushing sack on Andy Dalton. The entire Ravens front had an excellent showing but Campbell was a force all night long. Campbell currently has a 14.8 pass rush win percentage which ranks 18th amongst all interior defenders in the NFL, and he has the tenth overall pass rush grade amongst all interior defenders as well. The Ravens front 7 is slowly getting better and better as the season continues and Campbell is the anchor. He and the front 7 have a bye this week then will have a juicy matchup at home vs the struggling Panthers.

Third Highest Graded Player of the Week: Kevin Zeitler

Zeitler rounds off this list by finishing with a PFF grade of 85.7, like the 2 players above him, it is also his highest graded game of the season. It was a perfectly balanced game in terms of grading for Zeitler. He finished with an 80 run-blocking grade and an 81-pass blocking grade. A pillar of consistency throughout his entire career, Zeitler has only one season where he has graded under a 72 overall. This season his PFF grade is, you guessed it, 72 overall which ranks tenth overall amongst all guards. He only surrendered one pressure this game and was stout vs the run. The Ravens lost Marshal Yanda due to retirement but have replaced him with one of the most consistent players in the NFL since 2012. Zeitler and the offensive line have turned into one the best units in the league. They currently rank as a top 3 unit overall in PFF’s offensive line rankings.

Other Notable High Grades:

Lamar Jackson: 81.6

Kenyan Drake: 79.8

Tyler Linderbaum: 73.3 (his highest graded game this season)

Jason Pierre-Paul: 88.3 (played only 7 snaps but had 2 pressures)

Patrick Queen: 85.1 (6 tackles, zero missed tackles)

Roquan Smith: 82.6 (also had a team high run defense grade of 87.5)

Kyle Hamilton: 81.4 (currenly ranked as PFF’s 6th graded overall Safety)

Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Odafe Oweh

Oweh comes in as the lowest graded player this week. He finished the game with a mark of 42.2, his second worst grade of the season. The Front 7 had a solid game but Oweh unfortunately was not a reason why. He was pretty much shut down all game and barely won any one-on-one matchups. He only managed two pressures on 19 pass-rush snaps and was also a liability in run defense, though he only had 8 snaps in run defense, he graded poorly regardless. Oweh is still a promising young player but he has not had a good season thus far. He currently has a 53.3 overall PFF grade which ranked 94th out of 115 qualified players. He is graded poorly in both run defense and pass rushing; his run defense grade is 48.2, and his pass-rushing grade is 66.1 which is not horrible but it is slightly inflated by one really good game where he managed a 90-pass rushing grade, the rest have all been under 70 and multiple games in the 50’s. He’ll look to rebound after the bye week vs the lowly Panthers.

Second Highest Graded Player of the Week: Ben Powers

Powers comes in with a PFF grade of 46.3, his second lowest grade of the season. Powers allowed 2 pressures and 2 hurries in route to a poor pass blocking performance and an equally bad run blocking performance. But Powers has been a force as a pass protector this season. He still has not allowed a sack and has only given up 7 pressures all season. He currently has an 83.8 pass blocking grade on the season which is one the highest amongst guards in the NFL but in contrast has been a liability as a run blocker with a season grade of 47. Powers has been improving since his rookie season and will look to have a solid outing in 2 weeks vs the Panthers.

Third Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Chuck Clark

Clark finishes off this week’s list by managing a final game grade of 46.5, his lowest grade of the season. Clark did not make any noticeable plays on 51 snaps. He was the culprit of the defensive pass interference in the first quarter that led to an interception by Hamilton. Clark has been solid as a tackler and run defender but has done next to nothing in coverage. His PFF grade has been dropping steadily but I would not look too much into the grade. He wears the green dot for the team and does an excellent job of getting everyone lined up. He is a perfect example of why the PFF grade does not tell the whole story of a player’s worth. You would like to see him perform better but he is grading well in other areas and has the full confidence from the coaching staff. The safety unit as a whole has played amazing all year and Clark is the leader of that unit.

The Ravens will now have a bye week to get rested up in some key positions before taking on the Panthers at home in 2 weeks. The team should expect to get David Ojabo back soon to further bolster the pass rush. They should also expect to get back Gus Edwards and maybe even Charlie Kolar. The only concerning thing about this game was the Ravens leading receiver only had 24 yards, Isaiah Likely. But the game script was focused on the run so maybe this was just a blip. The team still dominated a team on the road and held a double-digit lead. As a fanbase, we cannot complain. The Ravens are getting outstanding contributions from rookies and vets alike. They’ll look to continue the dominant play after the bye.