Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun graded the Baltimore Ravens performance in a 38-24 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs. The result? A 3.0 GPA.
The Chiefs performance has been graded. For a look at the improvements that are needed, click here. For a look at an overall letter grade on position groups, click here.
Here's how Preston's grades pan out:
QB | RB | OL | WR | DL | LB | DB | ST |
B | A | A | A | A- | B | C+ | D |
Preston justifies his B grade for quarterback Joe Flacco by pointing towards his statistical dropoff in the second half. That's true, to an extent, but it also seemed that the Ravens were getting their running game going in the second half as well.
My ratings would give Flacco an A and Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and the rest of the running backs a B. The Chiefs run defense fared pretty well in four of the first five drives. It was a combination of an opportunistic Chiefs defense (including a Glenn Dorsey sighting in the backfield) and a successful Ravens passing game.
As I said yesterday, the Chiefs allowed five Ravens receivers to catch at least 30 yards and three of those five caught a touchdown pass.
The defensive line controlled the Chiefs offense throughout the game. Save a slip up here and there that allowed Brodie Croyle some time, there was little time to pass, especially in the first half, and the Chiefs running game was non-existent.
Anytime you give up a touchdown because of a special teams snafu, like the Ravens did with a Jon McGraw blocked punt, you can expect them to receive a failing grade, which they deserved (after a missed field goal as well).