Tennessee Titans vs. Baltimore Ravens: Full Game Grades for Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens entered Week 10 having lost two straight games, losing 43-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 9. That put Baltimore at 5-4 and in last place in the AFC North.
Needless to say, hosting the Tennessee Titans at home looked like a good opportunity to rebound and get back to their winning ways.
Tennessee had other plans, and so too did rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger. The rookie was starting in just his second career game, but he looked like a seasoned veteran against Baltimore in the first half.
Mettenberger completed 13 of 20 passes for 138 yards in the first half, including a three-yard touchdown to running back Leon Washington on the Titans' second offensive possession to take a 7-0 lead.
Baltimore's offense would respond with an eight-play drive that culminated with Justin Forsett running for a nine-yard touchdown on 4th-and-1 in Titans territory.
From there, both defenses would dominate the rest of the half as the two teams went into halftime tied at seven all.
Baltimore would get their offense fixed during the break, and looked more in sync in the second half. The Ravens went on an 11-play, 72-yard drive in the middle of the third quarter that ended with Forsett scoring on an 11-yard run.
That gave Baltimore a 14-7 lead, and from there, the defense would take control. Baltimore would ultimately win 21-7 after Flacco threw a late touchdown to Torrey Smith.
Here are my grades for each Ravens unit.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Joe Flacco got off to a slow start versus the Titans, but he would rebound well in leading his team to victory.
Early on, the Titans were constantly getting good pressure on Flacco and forcing him throw on the run or with a guy in his face. Flacco was also missing receivers even when they were open, and it took him awhile to find his rhythm.
However, once Baltimore's offensive line settled down, Flacco began picking apart the Tennessee defense. He finished the game completing 16 of 27 passes for 179 yards with one score and one interception.
It seems like a bad state line, but given how Baltimore was in control for much of the game, the Ravens went with a run-heavy game plan they never deferred from.
Flacco will have to play better against better teams, but on this day, he was good enough for Baltimore to get the win.
Grade: B-
Running Back
2 of 10
Baltimore wanted to rely on their run game to carry them to a win, and that's exactly what they did. Tennessee's run defense has been exposed in several games this year, and Baltimore became that latest team to do so.
The Ravens running backs finished with 153 yards rushing on 31 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per carry, to go with two scores.
Justin Forsett was arguably the best offensive player on the field Sunday. He rushed for a game-high 112 yards and two scores.
He did that on just 20 carries, giving him a 5.6 yards-per-carry average. His 37-yard run was the longest play from scrimmage by either team.
Bernard Pierce and Lorenzo Taliaferro chipped in 41 yards on 11 carries.
Grade: B+
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
With the running game doing so well, the pass game took a backseat for much of the game. Unfortunately, they were doing that even when the game was tied or Baltimore was trailing.
Torrey Smith had a good day with his five catches for 75 yards and a score. However, Ravens receivers and tight ends caught just 16 passes for 169 yards.
Steve Smith had his worst game of the year, catching just three passes for 17 yards. Kyle Juszczyk caught three passes for 26 yards.
This was a day to forget for Ravens pass-catchers, as they found it hard to get open against an average Titans secondary.
Grade: C+
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The Ravens offensive line had a good overall game, but that wasn't the case early on versus Tennessee.
The Titans were routinely getting penetration into the backfield and either hitting the running back behind the line of scrimmage or pressuring Joe Flacco.
Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey was a load on the inside, and linebacker Derrick Morgan sacked Flacco in the first half.
As the game wore on, Baltimore's line began protecting Flacco better while providing improved run blocking to allow the backs to have a big day.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Like the offensive line, the Ravens defensive line was getting taken advantage of early on in this one. The Titans gained 137 yards on their first two offensive possessions, including the game's first touchdown.
On that score, running back Leon Washington caught a shovel pass and took it right up the middle of Baltimore's defense at the goal line.
From there, however, the Ravens stiffened up and shut Tennessee down for the remainder of the game. The Titans gained just 73 yards the rest of the contest after those first two drives.
Defensive lineman Haloti Ngata also forced a fumble on Tennessee's first drive that got all the way to the 1-yard line.
Ngata stripped Shonn Greene at the goal line, and defensive tackle Lawrence Guy recovered the fumble to prevent the score.
Rookie defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan recorded his first NFL sack to halt an early Titans drive. He also notched four tackles and one tackle for loss.
Grade: A
Linebacker
6 of 10
The Ravens linebackers were once again their strongest unit. They were key in helping Baltimore limit Tennessee to just 210 yards and seven points.
Outside linebacker Terrell Suggs had a big game, notching one tackle for loss to go with 1.5 sacks and two QB hits.
Suggs also finished with a team-high six tackles. He was constantly in the Titans backfield wreaking havoc.
His fellow outside backer, Elvis Dumervil, also came up big. He notched 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and three QB hits.
Grade: A+
Secondary
7 of 10
The Ravens secondary was dangerously thin coming into this game. During Baltimore's Week 9 loss to Pittsburgh, Chykie Brown and Dominique Franks were two of the top three cornerbacks.
Both of them were cut this week so that the Ravens could sign Tramain Jacobs off the practice squad and Danny Gorrer off waivers from the Detroit Lions.
In this game, Jacobs, Gorrer and Lardarius Webb were the only true cornerbacks active. Backup safety Anthony Levine got the start at corner opposite of Webb.
Despite a banged-up secondary, the unit played well against the Titans. They helped limit Tennessee to just 167 passing yards as they blanked Titans receivers for much of the game.
Gorrer grabbed a fourth-quarter interception to seal the win for Baltimore. This was one of the better games of the year for the undermanned Ravens secondary.
Grade: B+
Special Teams
8 of 10
The Ravens special teams wasn't asked to do much on this day. Kicker Justin Tucker didn't even attempt a field goal, but he did convert all three extra points.
Punter Sam Koch punted seven times for an average of 45.3 yards per punt. He also downed four punts inside the 20-yard line.
Jacoby Jones had just one kickoff return for 27 yards. His four punt returns netted just 24 yards, but he did have a long of 15.
Overall, the special teams weren't asked to do much this game, but when called upon, they came through for the most part.
Grade: A-
Coaching
9 of 10
The Ravens played a much cleaner games versus the Titans after laying an egg in theWeek 9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Baltimore finished that 43-23 loss with a season-high 10 penalties for 108 yards. That's unacceptable, and it's on the coaches to fix it.
If the Ravens' game versus Tennessee is any indicator, they did a good job of that. The Ravens committed just five penalties for 40 yards against the Titans.
Baltimore also cleaned up the giveaways. After committing two in Week 9, the Ravens didn't commit any in Week 10.
Overall, offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak called a good game that involved a lot of runs against Tennessee's poor rushing defense.
The Titans ranked 29th in run defense coming into this game, and Kubiak did a good job of exposing that weakness.
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees called a masterful game while limiting the Titans to just 210 yards. What made it more impressive was that the Titans had 137 yards after their first two drives, but Pees adjusted enough to limit Tennessee to just 73 yards the rest of the game.
Grade: B+
Cumulative Grade
10 of 10
Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
QB | B- |
RB | B+ |
WR/TE | C+ |
OL | B |
DL | A |
LB | A+ |
Secondary | B |
ST | A- |
Coaching | B+ |
Cumulative Grade | B+ |
The Ravens needed to bounce back this week after two straight losses, and they did just that with a 21-7 win over the Titans.
However, Baltimore didn't exactly win going away like they should have. Tennessee entered this game having lost seven of their previous eight games while looking like one of the NFL's worst teams.
Despite this, Baltimore held only a 14-7 lead in the fourth quarter before Joe Flacco hit Torrey Smith for the score with 13:09 left.
The Ravens, particularly the offense, have to play better going forward if they are to win enough games to make it to the playoffs.
As it stands, Baltimore is 6-4 heading into their bye week and right in the thick of the playoff picture.
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