Ravens vs. Eagles: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Baltimore

The Baltimore Ravens hit the road to face the Philadelphia Eagles for their Week 2 preseason game. After getting off to a blazing fast start in their Week 1 win over the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore looked like they were sleepwalking to start this game.

The offense got off to a promising start after gaining 36 yards through a balanced attack that got them into Eagles territory. However, Joe Flacco got greedy and went deep for Kamar Aiken, but the pass was deflected and then intercepted to end the drive.

The defense got off to a slow start after allowing Philly to drive into the red zone. Baltimore committed four defensive penalties on the drive to aid the Eagles' drive, which ended with Ryan Mathews scoring on a 14-yard run to give Philadelphia a 7-0 lead.

It was a far cry from last week, when Baltimore's defense was dominant while the starters were in. The front seven allowed big running lanes, while the secondary looked lost in coverage.

The ensuing drive for the Ravens offense didn't make things better after Flacco overthrew an open Marlon Brown and the pass was picked off by Byron Maxwell.

That was Flacco's second interception in just his fourth pass. It's unheard of for Flacco to get off to that kind of horrendous start, and the Eagles once again capitalized.

In just five plays, Philly punched it into the end zone after DeMarco Murray ran for a two-yard score. That put the Eagles up 14-0 just over 12 minutes into the game.

After the Ravens offense stalled the following drive, Philly's offense went right back down the field before settling for a 21-yard field goal to take a 17-0 lead.

At this point, the Eagles had outgained the Ravens 169-59 in total yards. Things would only get worse for the Ravens as the special teams began collapsing as well.

With under four minutes left in the second quarter, Eagles return man Kenjon Barner returned a punt 68 yards for the score to give Philly a 24-0 lead.

While Barner made some nice moves on the return, there were several missed tackles Ravens players had that could have limited the return. It was the kind of poor tackling rarely seen by a Ravens team coached by John Harbaugh, an ex-special teams coordinator.

From there, both teams would slowly begin using their third- and fourth-string players, as neither team did much the rest of the way. The Eagles did tack on two more field goals in the third quarter to build their lead to 30-0.

Baltimore would finally break through and score a touchdown late in the fourth quarter when third-string QB Bryn Renner hit Darren Waller for the seven-yard score.

Baltimore would tack on another field goal and touchdown to make the game look closer, but this was sheer domination by Philadelphia as they defeated the Ravens 40-17.

Position Grades for Ravens

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Position	Grade
QB	D+
RB	B
WR/TE	C+
OL	B-
DL	C+
LB	B
DB	C-
Special Teams	C
Coaching	D

Flacco didn't get off to a good start after throwing an interception in the end zone of Baltimore's first offensive possession. To be fair, it was a great play by cornerback Walter Thurmond, who made a one-handed interception to end the Ravens' first drive.

Flacco threw his second pick on the next offensive drive, with Byron Maxwell intercepting a pass intended for Marlon Brown, leading to an Eagles touchdown and 14-0 deficit for the Ravens.

This was a poor performance for Flacco, and it didn't get much better once backup QB Matt Schaub came in. Schaub did complete 11 of 18 passes for 115 yards.

After not doing much in the preseason opener, running back Justin Forsett got off to a great start with 12-and seven-yard rushes to open the game. Backup Lorenzo Taliaferro converted a 4th-and-1 on that same drive before Flacco threw one of his two picks.

Forsett finished with 29 yards on five carries. Baltimore running backs combined to rush for 120 yards on 29 carries in what was a good game for that position.

It was not a good game for the pass-catchers, though. No Ravens tight end or receiver had more than three catches or 28 receiving yards. Rookie Darren Waller did show some promise with three catches for 21 yards and a score.

The starting defense didn't look good its first time on the field as it committed three defensive penalties that led to automatic first downs.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs took a late and low hit on Sam Bradford that was uncalled for and led to a personal-foul penalty. Elvis Dumervil did get a few pressures and one sack on Mark Sanchez.

The much-maligned secondary got off to a very poor start after allowing the Eagles to go right down the field on their opening possession. Baltimore's defensive backs looked lost and out of position as Bradford picked them apart.

That would continue to be the case the entire night as Eagles QBs continued to pick apart the Ravens' secondary. They did perform better once Tim Tebow and Matt Barkley were in at QB, but neither of them may even be on the Eagles' 53-man roster.

Baltimore's coaches simply did not have their players prepared for this game. It was clear from the start the Ravens weren't into this game, and that's on the coaches for not getting them more focused on the task at hand.

Important Note No. 1: Penalties Still an Issue

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Penalties were a huge issue for the Ravens in 2014, as they finished with the ninth-most infractions in 2014, according to NFLPenalties.com.

After committing just six in their first preseason game, Baltimore had a meltdown against the Eagles in Week 2. They committed four penalties (two accepted) on the first drive alone, two of which led to automatic first downs.

On the Eagles' third offensive drive, Baltimore's defense committed three more penalties (two accepted), two of which were for automatic first downs.

It never got better in this one, as Baltimore finished that game with 17 penalties for 139 yards. That's ridiculous and must be addressed by the coaches.

While it's on the players to do better at not committing those errors, it's also on the coaches to help give players incentive to not make those errors.

Extra conditioning, taking away playing time,or even cutting players will help get the message across. That may seem harsh, but this kind of performance is unacceptable for a professional football team.

Important Note No. 2: Running Game Has Bounce-Back Game

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The ground game was the focal point of Baltimore's offense in 2014, as they finished No. 8 in rushing offense.

However, Baltimore got off to a slow start in the preseason with just 105 rushing yards on 39 attempts (2.9 YPC) against the Saints in Week 1.

That also featured Ravens running backs rushing for just 84 yards on 33 carries. Against the Eagles this week, Baltimore's running back corps did well to carry the ball 29 times for 120 yards.

As a team, the Ravens rushed for 150 yards on 33 runs (4.5 YPC). While the offense mustered up just 17 points in a blowout loss, it still was a good sign that the ground game got back on track.

It was one of the few positives in a 40-17 loss that featured mostly negatives.

Important Note No. 3: De'Ondre Wesley and James Hurst Injured

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Starting right tackle Ricky Wagner was held out of this game while dealing with a minor leg injury. Getting the start in his place was second-year man James Hurst, who did well in limited playing time as a rookie in 2014.

Unfortunately, Hurst was knocked out of this game early with a potential head injury, and backup De'Ondre Wesley was also lost to a leg injury, according to the Baltimore Sun. Harbaugh noted, "We only had two offensive linemen playing positions they practice. We did have some injuries, but that's part of preseason football—players playing different positions and showing how well they can adjust and play fast."

The injuries forced starting guard Marshal Yanda to play at right tackle for a few series. Losing the starting and backup right tackle helped play into Baltimore's woeful performance, as they dropped this game 40-17.

There will now be questions as to how soon Hurst and Wesley can return to action. For Hurst, he'll now go through the NFL's concussion protocol, and there's no telling if he'll be able to play next week against Washington.

As for Wesley, he's already a long shot to even make the 53-man roster. This injury will only make his chances slimmer.

Important Note No. 4: Defense Looks Very Shaky

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Baltimore's starting defense had about as bad of a performance in this game as they've had in recent memory.

Thankfully, it's only a preseason game, but it was still a red flag that the starting defense looked so bad in this game. It wasn't until midway through the second quarter that most of the starters were taken out, but the damage had already been done.

On Philadelphia's first three offensive drives, which came against the Ravens' starting defense, the Eagles racked up 169 yards and took a 17-0 lead.

By the end of the game, Philly had racked up 474 total yards and notched a 40-17 win over Baltimore. It was a terrible performance by the defense, both by the starters and backups.

Head coach John Harbaugh simply hopes Baltimore learns from this performance and does not allow it to happen again, as he told the Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec: "I just told the team we'll learn from this."

This is not the kind of game you want to see from a unit that's expected to be the team's biggest strength. Baltimore will rely heavily on its defense this year, but if it performs like this, there will be a lot of similar results in the regular season.