Full Baltimore Ravens Report Card Heading into Week 11 Bye

If I would have said the Baltimore Ravens would be 6-4 entering their bye in Week 11, you probably wouldn't have been surprised at all.

Given the fact that this team is coming off an 8-8 campaign while breaking in a new offensive coordinator in Gary Kubiak, it was fair to expect several wins to go with an occasional hiccup.  

Now, we are at Week 11, and the Ravens are a game above .500 and just one game out of the playoff picture. They sit just a half a game behind the AFC North-leading Cleveland Browns.

The 6-3 Browns have been one of the NFL's most surprising teams, but Baltimore has already won at Cleveland in addition to hosting the Browns in Week 17.

Even if Baltimore can't win the division, it sits just a half game behind the 5-3-1 Cincinnati Bengals for the final wild-card spot. The biggest reason for the Ravens' success has been a strong defense that ranks No. 3 in points allowed per game.

However, a banged-up secondary and an inconsistent offense has led to some tough losses. With improvement, this team can not only earn a playoff berth, but win a game or two in the postseason.

It's time to take a look at how each Ravens position has performed leading up to the bye.

Quarterback

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The play of quarterback Joe Flacco was one of the biggest reasons why Baltimore fell to 8-8 in 2013 one year after winning the Super Bowl.

Flacco completed just 59 percent of his passes while throwing 22 interceptions to just 19 touchdowns. He also finished with a career-low QB rating of 73.1.

However, the seventh-year veteran made dramatic improvements this offseason, and he's on pace to have arguably the best season of his career. 

Through 10 games, Flacco is completing 62.4 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns versus just eight interceptions. 

His 63.7 QBR would be the best he's ever finished a year with if the season ended today. Flacco has also fumbled the ball just once this year. The fewest he's ever finished a season with is six, and it's clear Flacco is making a more conscious effort to not turn the ball over. 

Oh, and Flacco is on pace to throw for over 4,000 passing yards, a mark he's never reached in his seven-year career. This has been a great year for Flacco, and his play has helped keep the Ravens afloat in the playoff picture. 

Grade: B+

Running Back

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The feel-good story of the 2014 Ravens has been the emergence of journeyman Justin Forsett. The six-year veteran running back has spent most of his career as a seldom-used backup. 

In the previous three seasons Forsett played in before joining the Ravens, he carried the ball a combined 115 times. 

He simply wasn't being used during stints with the Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Ravens became his fourth team in four years when they signed him to a modest one-year, $730,000 deal this offseason. 

Forsett joined Baltimore with the expectation of playing behind Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce while challenging rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro for the No. 3 spot. 

However, things have changed significantly. Rice was suspended and later cut by the team for his offseason arrest for allegedly hitting his then-fiance. 

Pierce was recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, which caused him to miss OTAs and minicamp. Because of this, Forsett got a lot of reps with the first-team offense.

That translated into his climbing the depth chart to the point he was the No. 2 RB heading into Week 1. After Pierce got the start and played poorly in the first half of the Ravens' game versus the Bengals, Forsett came in and got most of the carries in the second half. 

He finished with 70 yards and a score on just 11 carries. Since then, he's become the No, 1 RB while rushing for 721 yards on 133 carries (5.4 YPC) to go with five touchdowns. 

Prior to Baltimore's bye week, Forsett was No. 4 in the NFL with those 721 rushing yards. His 5.4 yards-per-carry average is also the highest of any NFL running back. 

Because of an unfortunate set of circumstances, Forsett was given an opportunity to succeed, and he's done that and then some. 

As for his backups, Pierce and Taliaferro have split duties as the No. 2 RB as the season has progressed. Those two have combined for 486 rushing yards and six scores on 125 carries (3.89 YPC).

They've not been spectacular, but the duo has done enough to be a solid complement to Forsett. As a team, Baltimore ranks No. 8 in rushing offense. 

The ground game has been the strength of the offense, and the RBs have made that possible. 

Grade: A-

Wide Receiver

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The Ravens receivers have played great at times, but too often they've disappeared in games, causing the offensive output to suffer. 

Part of that has to do with how good the rushing attack has been, and Baltimore has won several games while going with a run-heavy game plan. 

Steve Smith joined the Ravens this offseason after the Carolina Panthers cut him. Though he's 35 years old, Smith looked like he was 25 and back in his prime over the first half of the season. 

In the first six games, Smith broke the 100-yard receiving mark four times while also catching four touchdowns. 

However, Smith's production has dropped off significantly since then. Over the past four games, he has just 14 catches for 155 yards and no scores. 

Either age is catching up to him or Smith is just in a slump. Either way, he needs to play better going forward. 

As for the No. 2 receiver, Torrey Smith has also had an up-and-down season. Over the first five games he caught just 11 passes for 176 yards and one score.

Torrey has since upped his production, catching 16 passes for 270 yards and five scores over his past five games. To put it shortly, Steve was the No. 1 WR over the first half of the season, but Torrey has since become the No. 1 option. 

As for the other wide receivers, they've not done much to speak of. Kamar Aiken has caught 13 balls for 138 yards. Marlon Brown has 10 catches for 93 yards. Michael Campanaro and Jacoby Jones have combined for 10 catches for just 135 yards. 

Needless to say, the Ravens have gotten good production from their top two WRs, but the rest of the group has left a lot to be desired. 

Grade: C+

Tight End

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This was supposed to be one of the strongest units for the Ravens coming into the season. However, a season-ending hip injury to starting tight end Dennis Pitta in Week 3 put this position in serious question.

With Pitta out, veteran Owen Daniels has taken over as the No. 1 tight end, and he's done admirably. He's caught 35 passes for 348 yards and three scores in nine games. 

While Daniels has been good, there's been nothing to speak of behind him. Rookie Crockett Gillmore has just six catches for 53 yards and one score. 

Kyle Juszczyk has caught 13 passes for 154 yards and a score while playing tight end and fullback. Baltimore is getting enough production out of this unit for the time being. 

However, if Daniels goes down with an injury, this could quickly become the weakest position on the team with the lack of depth.

Grade: B-

Offensive Line

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The Ravens offensive line was one of Baltimore's weaknesses in 2013, but this unit has been a strength in 2014. After allowing 48 sacks in '13, the Ravens' line has surrendered just 14 this year.

With six games still left, that's a rate of just 1.4 sacks per game allowed compared to the 3.0 it gave up last year. 

Needless to say, Baltimore's line has done a much better job of protecting quarterback Joe Flacco, which has helped the offense to perform adequately. 

Perhaps even more than pass protection, the line is doing great at run blocking as well. It's opening up wider running lanes for the running backs to go through for big gains. 

Last year, Baltimore finished the year averaging 3.1 yards per carry on the ground. This year, the rushing offense is averaging 4.4 yards per carry, the ninth-best rate in the league. 

The line has played a big part in that, as well as the improved passing offense. 

Grade: A-

Defensive Line

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For much of the past decade, Baltimore has relied heavily on a strong defense, and that begins with the defensive line. In the Ravens' 3-4 defense, the job of the D-linemen is mostly to occupy their gaps and keep opposing offensive linemen from getting to the second level to block the linebackers.

With four 'backers often behind the line to make the tackle on running backs or rush the quarterback, the linemen don't do much in terms of box-score stats. 

However, that doesn't apply to Ravens All-Pro Haloti Ngata. The veteran defensive tackle has once again been a force on the interior.

Through 10 games, Ngata has recorded seven pass defenses, two forced fumbles, 28 tackles, two sacks and 13 quarterback hurries, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). 

He's been the MVP of the line, but nose tackle Brandon Williams has been solid as well. He's third on the team with 20 stops (tackles causing an offensive failure) in addition to his 23 tackles, according to PFF. 

DeAngelo Tyson, Chris Canty and rookie Timmy Jernigan have all also gotten significant playing time as part of a D-line that's one of the best in the NFL. 

Grade: A

Linebacker

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Entering the year, the linebacker position looked like the best unit on the Ravens. Not only has that held true, but this is arguably the best linebacking unit in the entire NFL. 

That's due in large part to the emergence of rookie inside linebacker C.J. Mosley. Drafted out of Alabama in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft, Mosley was expected to challenge Arthur Brown for one of the two starting inside linebacker spots. 

He blew away Brown to win the job, and he's become a star for an aging Ravens LB unit. In 10 games, Mosley has notched a team-high 90 tackles and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions to go with a team-high four tackles for loss.

According to Pro Football Focus, Mosley's 12.9 grade is the second-highest of any ILB. That's how well he's played, and unsurprisingly, Mosley is a candidate for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. 

Mosley is joined by Daryl Smith to form one of the best ILB combos in football. Smith is second on the team with 84 tackles to go with two forced fumbles, which is tied for the most on the team. 

Then there's the greatest outside linebacker trio in football in Elvis Dumervil, Pernell McPhee and Terrell Suggs. Those three have combined for 23 sacks, 25 QB hits and 54 QB hurries, according to PFF. 

They've terrorized opposing quarterbacks while blitzing off the edge. This unit has played phenomenally over the first 10 games, and it's the best Ravens unit.

Grade: A+ 

Secondary

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Injuries and inconsistent play have caused this to be the weakest unit for the Ravens. It started early in the year when starting cornerback Lardarius Webb missed most of the first month with a back injury. 

It's taken him a while to get back into football shape and comfortable with a starting role again. He does have six pass deflections over his past six games, but he'll need to do more to make up for a depleted secondary. 

As Webb was getting back into form, Asa Jackson was starting at cornerback along with Jimmy Smith. Those two were playing great together to form a solid CB combo that was excelling at locking down opponents' top receiving options.

However, Smith suffered a foot injury in Week 8 that will require surgery to repair. This was a huge loss, as Smith had just 20 passes completed against him for a mere 163 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.

As for Jackson, he was lost after five games to a serious toe injury that led Baltimore to place him on the injured reserve-recall list.

He isn't eligible to return to practice until Week 13. Jackson can then play in Week 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Then there was a midseason change that saw two key defensive backs get cut. During Baltimore's Week 9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chykie Brown and Dominique Franks were two of the top three CBs. However, they played horribly in that game, and Baltimore finally had enough.

Both were waived so Baltimore could sign Tramain Jacobs off the practice squad and Danny Gorrer off waivers from the Detroit Lions.

Against the Tennessee Titans in Week 10, Jacobs, Gorrer and Lardarius Webb were the only true cornerbacks active while backup safety Anthony Levine got the start at CB across from Webb. 

They helped limit Tennessee to just 167 passing yards as they blanked Titans receivers for much of the game. 

Was this just a one-game fluke, or is the CB position fixed? That remains to be seen, but it seems to at least be improving. 

At safety, Matt Elam and Darian Stewart haven't been asked to do much other than sit back and prevent big plays from happening. They've combined to notch just 72 tackles and three tackles for loss in 10 games to go with six pass deflections. 

They'll need to start doing more to help account for the weakness at CB. Overall, this unit has performed OK given the circumstances, but it's still clearly Baltimore's biggest weakness. 

Grade: C

Special Teams

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The Ravens special teams have been solid this season, especially kicker Justin Tucker. He's converted 19 of 22 field-goal attempts this year, and all three misses were from 50-plus yards. 

Tucker is currently tied for third in the NFL with his 19 made field goals, and his three 50-plus-yard field goals are tied for fifth-most. 

Punter Sam Koch is quietly having a great year as well. His 42.2 net punting average is fifth-best of any NFL punter. He's also tied for the third most punts downed inside the 20-yard line with 19. 

On kickoff returns, Jacoby Jones has remained the primary returner and for good reason. He's got a healthy 31.7 yards-per-return average on 20 attempts in addition to a 108-yard return for a score versus the Steelers in Week 9. 

He's not done much on punt returns with just 26 attempts with an 8.2 yards-per-return average. Overall, the special teams have been a strong unit for Baltimore.

Grade: A-

Coaching

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It's been tough times for the Ravens coaches with an usual amount of adversity and outside distractions. It all started with the Ray Rice fiasco that could have easily took the players' focus off football.

However, Baltimore's coaches did a good job keeping the players focused on the task at hand, as evidenced by Baltimore's 5-2 record after seven games. 

It looked like the Ravens were quietly becoming a Super Bowl contender, but injuries in the secondary left the defense exposed, which led to a two-game losing streak.

In those two games, Baltimore surrendered 70 points after allowing only 104 in its first seven games. That's a points per game difference of 35 and 14.6. 

Baltimore appeared to bounce back well against the Titans in Week 10, but we'll need to see more going forward to feel confident about that issue. Defensive coordinator Dean Pees has done a great job at managing it while allowing the rest of the defense to thrive. 

As for the offense, it's been solid for the most part, but the Ravens have some games they lost because of poor coaching. The strength of the offense is the run game, but offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has had several games in which he's used a pass-happy game plan that ultimately hurt the team. 

As for head coach John Harbaugh, he's done a good job of overseeing all of this while not trying to handcuff his coordinators and take control from them. 

He's also done a good job of keeping the team focused on football and not outside distractions or who is injured. Harbaugh keeps his team's spirits high even in adverse times. 

The Ravens coaching staff has done well with what it's had to work with.

Coaching A-