Team Grades: Ravens Upset Browns On Wild Finish To Monday Night Football
By Samuel Njoku
The Ravens have a new tradition in the NFL. One that they take very seriously. Regardless of the outcome, the differential in score must be 8 points or less. Other than that, anything goes. Such was the case on Monday night when the Ravens stole a victory from Cleveland with a potential game winning field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown. It's been that type of season for the Baltimore Ravens.
Offense: B-
Considering it was his first start this season, Matt Schaub didn't play as bad as many expected him to. Of course, he did throw his patented pick six early in the third quarter. But there was also times in the game where he looked very comfortable in the pocket. Kamar Aiken continues to make the most of an awful situation for Baltimore. He's reeling in a large portion of targets and capitalizing. He finished with 80 yards on 6 catches and a score.
Buck Allen and Terrance West split carries as was expected given the injury to Justin Forsett. They didn't have a huge amount of success, but the Ravens kept the Browns honest by rushing a total of 23 times.
Defense: C+
The defense has been relatively stout since their bye week. On Monday night, you could see some of that improvement against the Browns. But the defense was not without it's lapses. Josh McCown had success throwing the football as he completed 21 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game with an injury. Austin Davis would replace him and completed 7 passes of his own including a touchdown.Their success can be attributed to broken plays in the secondary and the inability to get pressure on the quarterback.
The run defense held up it's end of the bargain as none of their running backs gained more than 30 yards on the day. It's clear the Ravens will need to find another pass rusher either via the draft or free agency following this season.
Special Teams: A+++++
Baltimore's special teams unit clearly wanted to show off on Monday Night Football. Things got underway when Kaelin Clay returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Whatever problems have plagued Justin Tucker this season seem that have dissipated, at least for this game. He connected on both field goals from 49 and 35. Sam Koch performed brilliantly as he has all season. And of course the game winning blocked field goal returned for a touchdown makes for the sweet icing on the cake. Doesn't get any better than that for special teams.
Coaching: B+
Whether you convert or not, going for it on 4th and 1 is always a plus in my book. But doing it from well within your territory takes guts. And when you're in the cellar of your own conference, guts is exactly what the doctor ordered. Trestman and Harbaugh did a wonderful job orchestrating that play and the gameplan for the entire contest was well put together.
Ravens will now travel on a short week to Miami to battle the Dolphins. The Dolphins are dealing with turmoil internally as they recently fired their offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.
Samuel Njoku was born and raised in Baltimore, MD and is a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Samuel has covered the Ravens for Examiner.com since 2010. Prior to 2010, Samuel was an avid blogger and radio personality in Salisbury, MD. Samuel Njoku is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Ravens_Examiner.
