Ravens vs. Cardinals: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Baltimore
It's been a stressful season for the Baltimore Ravens thus far, and it wasn't about to get any easier going against the Arizona Cardinals.
Sitting at 1-5 and on the brink of a losing season before Thanksgiving is even here, Baltimore went into Arizona looking to get back on track against an explosive 4-2 Cardinals team.
As has been the case in every game this year, the Ravens played a hard-fought game and did just enough to put themselves in a position where they could have won this game. Unfortunately, like they've done all year, bad plays, untimely penalties and costly turnovers prevented them from winning. They lost 26-18.
The first half saw Baltimore as the aggressor and appearing to have taken control as the half winded down. Justin Forsett scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to help give the Ravens a 10-7 lead with 3:54 left in the second quarter.
After the defense forced the Cardinals to punt, Ravens returner Jeremy Ross was stripped of the ball, and Arizona recovered it. That led to Carson Palmer hitting Michael Floyd for a three-yard touchdown with 1:01 left in the half.
That was the turning point in this game, and it allowed Arizona to go into halftime with all the momentum. The Ravens would fight back in the second half, even when it appeared there was no hope left. After getting two field goals in the third quarter, the Cardinals scored a late touchdown after Palmer hit John Brown for a four-yard score, but Baltimore blocked the ensuing extra point.
That kept the deficit at just 26-10, which is a two-score game if the Ravens could score two touchdowns and convert both two-point conversions. They would get one touchdown thanks to a blocked punt, with five minutes left, that gave the Ravens the ball at the Cardinals' 1-yard line.
From there, Joe Flacco would hit Kyle Juszczyk for the TD before hitting Nick Boyle for the two-point conversion to make it a one-score game with 4:40 left in the game.
The defense would then force a Cardinals punt to give the Ravens the ball with just under two minutes left and the chance to tie the game.
Flacco guided the offense right down the field as he surgically picked apart the Cardinals. He hit Crockett Gillmore for a big gain down to the 5-yard line with 30 seconds left.
After an illegal-formation penalty pushed them back five, Flacco threw a terrible pass, with seconds remaining, to end the comeback bid and send Baltimore away with a 1-6 record.
Postgame Grades for Ravens
1 of 6
| Position | Grade |
| QB | B- |
| RB | C- |
| WR | B- |
| TE | B- |
| OL | B- |
| DL | C |
| LB | B+ |
| DB | C+ |
| Special Teams | A |
| Coaching | B- |
The Ravens played a good game offensively, but mistakes and penalties prevented them from scoring more points.
Flacco was having a solid performance after last week's dreadful game against the San Francisco 49ers. He threw for 252 yards and a touchdown and appeared to be leading the Ravens to an improbable comeback.
However, Flacco threw a bad interception with seconds remaining down in the red zone to end Baltimore's comeback bid. He was doing a good job of spreading the ball around and avoiding mistakes up to that point.
While no one player had more than 80 yards receiving, this was still a decent game by Baltimore's pass-catchers. Steve Smith finished with five grabs for 78 yards with All-Pro corner Patrick Peterson covering him much of the night.
Crockett Gillmore chipped in five grabs for 58 yards, including a big grab that put Baltimore in the red zone with a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds.
The ground game was underwhelming in this one, though the running backs didn't get many touches to do much damage with. Justin Forsett rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries against a solid Arizona defense.
Rookie Javorius "Buck" Allen continued to show promise and to make a case for more touches. He ran for 25 yards on just three carries and caught a pass for 10 yards. Thirty-five yards on four touches is impressive for any player, and it's another sign Allen needs to play more.
The offensive line as a whole did well in this game, but it had several breakdowns in pass protection. That can be fatal against a Cardinals defense that loves rushing the passer, and it led to Flacco being sacked three times and hit another four times.
It didn't help that starters Eugene Monroe and Kelechi Osemele missed most of the second half with injuries. Even in spite of that, the line performed decently against a tough Cardinals defense.
The defensive line had one of its worst games of the season against a rather pedestrian Cardinals offensive line. It was getting pushed around far too often and allowed Arizona to have a big game on the ground.
That made life hard on the linebackers, who did alright, but they were not playing up to their usual standards. All of this led to the Cardinals rushing for 151 yards.
The secondary amazingly wasn't a complete disaster in this game. It has struggled mightily against the pass this year, but it did a good job of holding Arizona's explosive pass-catchers in check.
Baltimore held Arizona to just 264 passing yards, which was one of its lowest marks of the season. This was once again a game the Ravens could have won; however, the secondary wasn't why they lost like it's been in most losing matchups.
Important Note No. 1: Shuffling at FS
2 of 6
The Ravens' much-maligned secondary had a new first-time start for this game.
That's because free safety Kendrick Lewis was declared inactive for this one while dealing with a bruised knee. Also inactive for this game was backup Terrence Brooks who was also declared inactive for this game while dealing with a thumb injury.
That left Baltimore with only three safeties going against a high-flying Cardinals offense. It also left career backup Brynden Trawick to make his first NFL start.
Coming into this game, Trawick has appeared in 28 games with 21 tackles over three seasons with the Ravens in mostly a special teams role. Trawick actually got in on a tackle on the game's first play, but he then missed a tackle on the very next play that allowed Chris Johnson to run for 10 yards.
It got worse on the next drive after Trawick once again missed a tackle on Johnson as he broke off a 26-yard touchdown run to give Arizona their first lead. Had Trawick made the tackle, it would have been just an eight-yard gain, but it was a poor attempt that Johnson shoved off as he ran for the end zone for six.
Trawick also committed a key pass-interference penalty in the end zone toward the end of the first half that gave Arizona a 1st-and-goal situation at the 1-yard line. The Cardinals then got a touchdown that helped them take a 14-10 lead into halftime.
It's safe to say Trawick is not someone the Ravens ever want to have starting for them again.
Important Note No. 2: Calls on Eligible Receivers Plague Ravens Again
3 of 6
The Ravens are still having trouble figuring out what makes a receiver eligible in the NFL.
The first case of this happening came in the playoffs last year against the New England Patriots. The Pats offense utilized several odd formations that confused Baltimore’s defense about which players were eligible receivers.
It led to several big plays that helped New England rally to end Baltimore's season. A similar incident happened in Arizona, though it was the Ravens who tried using an unconventional formation.
Baltimore tried to run a trick play by lining up guard John Urschel as an eligible receiver before Joe Flacco completed a six-yard pass to him. That play would have set up a 2nd-and-6 situation at the Arizona 7-yard line and placed Baltimore in prime position to score.
Unfortunately, the Ravens were flagged because the referee said Urschel failed to report as an eligible receiver. A video of the play shows Urschel clearly signaling to the officials that he was eligible, so the play should have counted and put Baltimore in prime position to score a touchdown.
Instead, the Ravens were pushed back and ended up settling for a field goal three plays later to take an early 3-0 lead. Baltimore is probably done seeing anyone be able to use these kinds of plays since they always seem to work against it.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Important Note No. 3: Run Defense
4 of 6
As bad as Baltimore's pass defense has been this year, its run defense has remained one of the NFL's best.
The Ravens actually came into this game with the fifth-best run defense while allowing just 94.5 yards per game on the ground. It helped that they were going against a Cardinals offense that's geared more toward the pass.
Arizona ranked just 15th in rushing offense coming into this game, but you wouldn't have guessed that with how well the Cardinals ran the ball early on. Arizona gashed the Ravens for 46 rushing yards on its first two possessions alone, including Chris Johnson's 26-yard touchdown run.
While that play was in large part safety Brynden Trawick's fault, the defensive line wasn't getting any push while the linebackers weren't getting off their blocks either.
All of this led to the Cardinals rushing for 150 yards and being able to control the ground game. This was the second-biggest rushing performance a team has had against the Ravens this season.
This was supposed to be something the Ravens could rely on to help get this win. Instead, it ended up being a big reason why they lost.
Important Note No. 4: Tray Walker, Eugene Monroe, Kelechi Osemele Injured
5 of 6
As if the Ravens could use any more bad news on the injury front, they may be without two starting offensive linemen and young defensive backs in the coming weeks.
Starting guard Kelechi Osemele left during the game's second half with what was called a knee injury. The team later announced Osemele was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Starting left tackle Eugene Monroe also suffered a shoulder injury in the second half before the team ruled him out as well. When a team announces that quickly that a player is out and doesn't even call him questionable or doubtful, that's a bad sign it may be serious, and the team already knows it.
Osemele is a stud at guard, and Monroe is a decent left tackle. Losing one of both of them would be a big loss to the offensive line.
Also, rookie cornerback Tray Walker suffered an injury in the second half while trying to make a tackle on special teams that forced him to leave the game. The team later revealed Walker was going through the concussion protocol.
Since Walker never returned, he likely did suffer a concussion, which would be another blow to the secondary.
Joe Flacco Admits Ravens Didn't Play Good Enough to Win
6 of 6
The Ravens have now lost six games this season in which they had the chance to tie or take the lead on their final offensive possession.
However, this was a game they probably had no business being in. The Cardinals had complete control of this matchup as they built a 26-10 lead in the fourth quarter. The Ravens would fight back valiantly, but their comeback would come up just short.
After the game, Flacco admitted the Ravens fought hard, but didn't play good enough to win, as he told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.
"This is just where we are. We probably didn't play well enough to win a football game," Flacco said.
These losses are all hard to stomach, and not seeing the Ravens be able to finish games is frustrating for everyone involved. In the NFL, though, it's on to the next week, and for Baltimore, it'll host the San Diego Chargers Sunday.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
