The Ravens traveled to Cleveland on Saturday to face the Browns to potentially further their grip on the AFC North number one spot. The Ravens lost 13-3 and also saw the Bengals come from behind to beat the Buccaneers and overtake the number one spot in the division. The loss was yet another pathetic offensive performance from the Ravens. The team now has just two touchdowns over their past three games and has not topped the 30-point mark since Week 3. The running game was as efficient as you can ask for. They ran for nearly 200 yards and saw both of their running backs average over 7 yards per carry. They deferred to passing for 30 times in a close game in which Huntley averaged under 5 yards an attempt. This offense simply does not scare anybody and will surely be the reason they get bounced right away in the playoffs unless Lamar can play Superman and lift the worst WR core in the league for an epic playoff push. But the writing is on the wall for this team, unless they can figure something out quickly, we will be seeing some early Mock Drafts yet again for this team while the other teams are bidding for a Super Bowl. Below I will highlight some of the good and bad performances from certain players with the 3 highest, and 3 lowest graded players of the week courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

Highest Graded Player of the Week: Morgan Moses

Moses comes in as this week’s highest graded player, he finished the game with a PFF grade of 86.4, his second highest graded game of the season. The running game was excellent in this contest and Moses was the main contributor. He finished with a run-blocking grade of 94.6, which amazingly was not his best showing of the season. That came in week 9 vs the Saints when he had a 95-run blocking grade. Moses has had a very solid season since signing a very modest contract this past off-season. He has solidified the right side of the offensive line and has not been a liability compared to Villanueva last season and other stop-gap players. It is too bad the team abandoned the running game because the Browns had no answer for it. Moses and the offensive line will face the Falcons defensive front next who boast an average run defense grade on the season.

Second Highest Graded Player of the Week: Parick Ricard

Ricard finishes as the second highest graded player this week with a PFF grade of 84.3, his second highest grade of the season, his highest grade was last week vs the Steelers in which he had an 85.3 grade. People will remember Ricard not converting a fourth and 1 early in the game when he was stymied by a safety amongst other players. But it would be unfair to Ricard to kill him for that when he was a complete force in the run game as a blocker. He had an 89.4 grade as a run blocker and was constantly opening holes for Dobbins and Edwards to burst through. Ricard is an invaluable piece to the

Ravens system and will most likely receive another Pro-Bowl bid after having another good season. He is an integral part of the running game and provides a mean streak that few other fullbacks have in this league. He is PFF’s top graded fullback.

Third Highest Graded Player of the Week: J.K. Dobbins

Dobbins rounds out the list this week as the third highest graded player of the week. Dobbins finished the game with a PFF grade of 84.1; his highest grade of the season and his second highest graded game of his career, his highest being in week 17 as a rookie vs the Bengals. Dobbins now in back-to-back weeks has shown the explosiveness and shiftiness as he did during his rookie season when he led the NFL in yards per carry. The former Buckeye has now gone over 8 yards per carry in back-to-back games and has 107 yards after contact on only 28 carries during that span. It is unfortunate Dobbins did not even receive a carry in the second in a close contest. Dobbins has been their best player over the last two games and not using him at all in the fourth quarter is an indictment on this coaching staff. I understand the team wants to use the entire stable of running backs but Dobbins is clearly to focal point of this backfield and simply needs to be featured as much as possible. Through the last two games he has 28 carries and 10 first downs on those carries. He is showing why he was one of the best running backs in college when he came out. The coaching staff needs to get everything out of him because as well all know the wide receivers are not the season the team has 9 wins this season. Dobbins will look to continue his elite play next week vs the Falcons.

Other Notable High Grades:

Kyle Hamilton: 74.1 (highest graded player on defense)

Tyler Linderbaum: 76.7 (currently PFF’s 6th highest graded Center)

Ronnie Stanley: 76.1 (his highest graded game of the season)

Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Travis Jones

Jones comes in as the lowest graded player this week with a mark of 37, his lowest graded game of the season. Jones had his lowest graded game mostly due to the elite interior front of the Browns. The rookie has 9 pass rush snaps and did not manager a pressure. He was completely blanked from the pass rushing stat list. He was also a liability in the run defense game as he was completely unable to get off of any blocks. He recorded only one tackle from 13 run defense snaps and missed another tackle. His two lowest graded games came at the hands of the Browns this season. I would not worry too much in this case as the Browns have a very good interior front and Jones is still only a rookie. He might have another tough outing next week vs the Falcons as they currently own PFF’s number one run blocking grade as a unit and the 11th pass-blocking unit. Expect Jones to possibly play more as well. Veteran Calais Campbell suffered an injury and did not return. His status is still up in the air.

Second Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Tyus Bowser

Bowser finishes this game with a PFF grade of 44.4, his second lowest grade of the season. It is worth noting Bowser also played 46 snaps, a season high, but did not do much with them. On 15 pass rushing snaps, like Jones, he did not record a pressure, QB hit, or hurry. He was also underwhelming in the run-defense department as he was getting swallowed up by Browns tackles. Since returning from injury, Bowser only has 9 total pressures on 109 pass rushing snaps. They’ll need more from Bowser and the rest of the edge rushers going forward. The only sack of the came from rookie safety, Kyle Hamilton on a Blitz in which he was not even blocked. Bowser and crew draw a formidable Falcons pass-blocking unit next week.

Third Lowest Graded Player of the Week: Demarcus Robinson

Robinson rounds off this week’s list by finishing with a PFF grade of 45.6, his second lowest graded game of the season. Robinson was targeted 6 times and caught all targets for a whopping 29 yards. Sadly, that tied Duvernay for the most yards in this contest from the wideouts. Andrews led the way with a blistering 31 yards. Robinson had a forgetful game, he averaged 4.8 yards per reception and had two awful looking fumbles. One was recovered by the defense and the other rolled out of bounds for a 7-yard loss. Robinson leads the WR core of the last three weeks with 18 receptions for 122 yards (6.7 yards per reception). It is about as bad it gets for this unit over the last several weeks. It seems like no can create separation or the offensive coordinator cannot dial up anything deep. The team desperately needs someone to step up in this position group. The Ravens have not had a touchdown by a wide receiver since Week 3. That almost does not even seem possible in today’s NFL, but here we are.

Other Notable Low Grades:

Tyler Huntley: 51.2 (his third straight game with under a 63 overall grade)

Mark Andrews: 56.7 (his fifth straight game with under a 70 overall grade)

Broderick Washington: 45.6

The Ravens have three games left this season and will most likely make the playoffs. They will probably not be hosting a playoff game because the Bengals right now look like the AFC’s best team. There is a very real possibility the Ravens get beat in Week 18 by the Bengals and then again, the following week in Cincy again. That would be a nightmare scenario for Ravens fans. The defense has been exceptional over the last two months but the offense has been the complete opposite. Something needs to change on this offense if the Ravens want to think about having a realistic chance at winning games in the postseason. The lack of even a competent passing attack is very concerning, and Lamar Jackson is showing his value every week he does not play. Even though the passing attack was not great with Jackson, he provided a threat defenses had to account for. The Ravens need him back in the worst way and need Greg Roman do dial something, anything up for these pass catchers. Luckily the team will play at home next week vs the Falcons but after that it is Pittsburgh and then Cincy. The Ravens open up as 7-point favorites vs the Falcons.

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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