Redskins vs. Ravens: Report Card for the Baltimore Ravens Starters

The third preseason game is traditionally the game in which the starters play the longest as coaches and fans begin to see how their team is shaping up for the not-to-distant regular season.

The Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Redskins renewed their annual preseason beltway rivalry at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore tonight. As preseason affairs go, this was an entertaining game. The 'Skins jumped out to a 14-0 lead only to see it disappear as the Ravens pulled even before Washington took a 21-14 halftime lead into the locker room.

The Ravens first-team offense began the third quarter against the Redskins second-team defense and promptly drove 80 yards in 12 plays for the game-tying score.

The Ravens went into tonight’s contest with questions concerning their offensive line and overall offensive identity. On defense, the Ravens have question marks in the secondary and still many fans wonder what the pass rush will look like this season after a franchise-low 27 sacks last season.

The starting offense played one touchdown series into the third quarter, while the starting defense played the first half. 

While QB Tyrod Taylor and the rest of the Ravens backups provided a dramatic come-from-behind 34-31 win against the hated Redskins with just 27 seconds remaining in the game, here are the grades for the Ravens starters following their performance tonight.

Joe Flacco Recovers After Bad Start

After two preseason games, fourth-year-signal caller and franchise quarterback Joe Flacco has not looked impressive. Some of his play this preseason can be chalked up to a less-than-average performance by an ever-changing offensive line, but Flacco has looked unsettled and out of sync on many of his passes.

He began tonight's game much the same way he has played so far this preseason. With a lack of trust in his offensive line, Flacco hurried himself unnecessarily at times, and his passes looked badly out of sync with his receivers, as his release and footwork appeared slow and sloppy.

Flacco's lone interception of the contest resulted in a pick-six from the 'Skins' DeAngelo Hall and was the result of a bad read and throw by Flacco. However, never judge a QB for throwing a pick-six early in a game. It is always more important how he recovers from it, than the play itself. Tonight, Flacco recovered well from his early mistake.

After a first quarter that saw Flacco complete four of his eight passes for just 36 yards and the pick-six, he rebounded to complete his next 11-of-19 for 183 yards and two touchdowns. He seemed to adjust to the pressure and showed great touch on passes to Anquan Boldin while under pressure to move the Ravens offense deep into the red zone. He also showed nice touch on a fade pass to tight end Ed Dickson down the left seam and of course, the long touchdown pass to his new favorite target, Lee Evans, was a perfectly thrown ball.

Flacco executed the play action with precision, and while I would like him to learn how to slide left or right in the pocket a little more, he seemed to be a little more in control while scrambling out of trouble after the first quarter.

Good quarterbacks make teams pay for bad mistakes and on two consecutive drives, Flacco did just that to the Redskins defense. The 'Skins kept the Ravens' first touchdown drive alive by running into punter Sam Koch on 4th down and eight plays later, Ray Rice scored. Flacco made the 'Skins pay again, after an incomplete pass on 3rd-and-1, the 'Skins were called for holding, giving the Ravens another 1st down, eventually setting up the beauty to Evans down the right sideline.

Flacco then opened up the third quarter with a 12-play 80-yard drive to tie the game. Flacco played his best game of the preseason and was able to leave the contest much better than he started it.

Joe Flacco: B+

Ray Rice Proves He Is Goal-Line Back as Well

Ray Rice looks in midseason form as he rushed for 72 yards on 13 carries and scored one rushing touchdown. Rice had great vision as he read the zone blocking by the Ravens offensive line perfectly. His touchdown was a big statement to the Ravens brass.

Many have been watching to see if Rice can be the goal-line back that the Ravens need, and let go of in Willis McGahee. The departure of McGahee, who scored almost 90 percent of his 35 touchdowns in Baltimore from inside the 15-yard line, left many Ravens fans and probably coaches sweating a little bit. Rice eased a few concerns tonight and looked great doing it, as he muscled one in from three yards out.

He was also there to bail Flacco out of several sure sacks, as Rice hauled in three crucial passes for 12 yards. One of them he caught with one hand.

Ricky Williams will get the bulk of the carries in the last preseason game and he needs them. He must start cutting back inside and failed to slip inside several available holes, instead running straight to the outside. His longest rush of the night was three yards and had just 13 yards on six carries but the holes were there for more.

Let’s leave Williams out of this one; the night belonged to Rice as far as the running back position is concerned.

Ray Rice: A

Anquan Boldin and Lee Evans Set To Carry Receiving Corps

Anquan Boldin was once again Mr. Reliable. Boldin was available to bail Flacco out on many occasions tonight and caught five balls for 73 yards and one touchdown. Boldin does look slow downfield but that no longer matters with Lee Evans running past defensive backs like DeAngelo Hall.

Evans will be a major factor in the Ravens offense this year. His 35-yard TD catch was a straight-go pattern and he made it look easy beating a three-time Pro Bowl corner in Hall.

Despite their combined eight catches, 133 yards and two touchdowns, the chemistry between Boldin and Evans is still a work in progress. On one play-action pass, in which Flacco had plenty of time to throw, both receivers were 10 yards apart on the left side of the field. Evans, the speedster of the two, should have broken off his pattern for a deep route to the right or ran deep down the middle of the field.

Torrey Smith dropped two critical passes as the rookie from Maryland continues to struggle this preseason. The Ravens are blessed with two young very good tight ends. Tonight, Ed Dickson got the start and delivered. He caught three balls for 57 crucial yards and David Pitta chipped in with two catches for 16 yards while Flacco was on the field. While these two are not Todd Heap and it will take time for Flacco to use them as he did Heap, it sure is nice to see your tight ends average a Heap-like 15 yards per catch.

Receivers and Tight Ends: A-

O-Line Makes Strides but Flacco Dropped Three More Times

This unit continues to be all or nothing. Either Flacco seems to have 10 seconds to throw or he is on his rump. They allowed three sacks to the Redskins and, at times, looked confused against a 3-4 defense that they should know as well as their own addresses.

Former Steelers defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, who now does the same thing in DC, brought a lot of similar-looking blitzes and schemes that the Ravens see two and sometimes three times a year recently.

Tonight, the Ravens started Michael Oher and rookie Jah Reid at the tackle spots, Ben Grubbs and the newly signed Mark Levoir at guard along with Bryan Mattison at center. While they did not do a great job of pass protection, their QB completed 63 percent of his passes for over 200 yards and two touchdowns.

Along with fullback Vonta Leach, they pushed the Redskins front seven around in the running game. Ray Rice ran all over them, as this patchwork unit does deserve some credit for a decent game against a good 'Skins front seven.

This will not be the unit that lines up against Pittsburgh in two weeks, but it is good to know the Ravens may finally be building depth up front. There is turning a negative into a positive, Ravens fans.

Tonight's play by this unit is encouraging when you consider Marshall Yanda and Matt Birk are still out. Hopefully, they will return soon from injury and if newly signed offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie can get into shape and be ready to move to left tackle, while Michael Oher moves back to the right side, the Ravens could actually be in a good place up front.

Offensive Line: C+

Pagano's Attacking Style Will Pay Off

The Ravens defense may go through points this season where they give up chunks of yards during the game but it won’t be because of the same reason they did so at times last year. Last year the defense sat back and allowed the play to come to them. That will not happen this year.

New defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano will make sure the Ravens improve on their sack total from last year. Pagano blitzed on six of the Ravens' first eight defensive plays against the 'Skins and, regardless of down and distance, will blitz the quarterback a lot this season.

Cornerback Lardarius Webb blitzed on three consecutive plays at one point tonight. While it will take some time to work out the kinks with Pagano's system, the Ravens are too experienced not too adjust, especially when they are attacking the offense—which Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and Company are accustomed to doing—Rex Ryan style.

Rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith made a great play to stop a 'Skins touchdown and then blew the coverage on the next play, allowing a late first-half TD and I'm not sure Ed Reed doesn't deserve some blame on that play as well.

Reed should have been looking to first help Smith deep as the coverage underneath was there. Especially when you consider it was 3rd-and-15 and late in the half.

Reed and Smith will figure each other out, and like most rookie corners, Smith will get his baptism by fire in the NFL.

Like the offense, the defense was pushed around to start the game. The Tim Hightower 37-yard touchdown run saw Ray Lewis, Terrence Cody and Corey Redding all end up on their backsides as they were each blocked to the ground. It wasn't pretty and D-line coach Clarence Brooks was seen on ESPN letting his guys know how ugly it looked.

This unit continues to struggle with short-middle pass coverage and they must stop allowing big plays late in half. Remember, many return from a unit that allowed a league-high eight blown fourth-quarter leads last season. However, I like the direction of Pagano’s system and believe the Ravens will be good enough to be a top-10 defense again in 2011.

Defense Grade: C+

Special Teams Continues To Be Most Relaible Unit

The most consistent unit on the team continues to produce. Billy Cundiff continues to boom the ball on kickoffs and seems to make every field goal he attempts. He was 2-for-2 tonight.

Sam Koch is killing the ball as usual and although the play did not count because of a 'Skins penalty, David Reed and Marcus Smith showed great hustle and athleticism when they combined to keep a Koch punt out of the end zone.

I also liked the aggressive attempt to return a Redskin kickoff that went six yards deep into the end zone. The Ravens were able to gain three yards of field position in doing so. Big deal you say—eventually, and if they continue to try the play, they will run one or two back for a touchdown, catching a team by surprise.

Special Teams: A (as usual)

Overall Team Performance: B+ 

Even though it is just the preseason, a win is a win and as any Baltimorean will tell you, a win over the Redskins is almost as satisfying as a win over the Steelers—almost.

The Ravens seem to be heading in the right direction and should be ready when the big bad Yellow and Black come to town on September 11.