Ravens Insider: The Baltimore Sun’s Ravens report card: Position-by-position grades for 27-25 playoff loss to Bills

[ExtremeRavens]

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here’s how the Ravens graded out at every position after a 27-25 AFC divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night at Highmark Stadium:

Quarterback

Lamar Jackson is now 3-5 in the postseason, and his turnovers were costly in the first half of the game. One resulted in a Buffalo touchdown. Jackson played well in the second half and had the Ravens in position to tie the game, but tight end Mark Andrews’ fumble at midfield led to a Buffalo field goal and his dropped pass on a 2-point conversion attempt inside the final two minutes was their last offensive play in a two-point loss. Jackson was 18 of 25 passing for 254 yards and two touchdowns and finished with a passer rating of 114.4. But he can’t play so poorly in the first half of a game, especially on the road where the crowd is a factor.  Grade: C

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Running backs

Buffalo stifled the Ravens in the first half as running back Derrick Henry had only eight carries for 21 yards. But the Ravens made some adjustments to Buffalo stacking the line of scrimmage and Henry finished with 84 yards on 16 carries and had a 5-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Backup Justice Hill also had six carries for 50 yards, including some tough runs in the second half when the Ravens loaded up with fullback Patrick Ricard. Overall, though, it wasn’t as dominant as the Week 4 matchup when Henry rushed 24 times for 199 yards against the Bills in Baltimore. Grade: C

Offensive line

The Ravens had 416 yards of total offense and changed up the blocking scheme in the second half. But overall the Bills successfully got after Jackson. He was sacked twice and pressured five other times. He had to improvise and move in the pocket for most of the night. The Ravens have a habit of rolling up a lot of offensive yards, but this unit struggles when there isn’t much of a running game. That happened in the first half as the Ravens had only 182 yards of total offense, including 73 on the ground. Grade: C

Receivers

Like the rest of the offense, this group became better blockers in the second half. The receivers do a great job of roaming when Jackson is under duress. Rashod Bateman had four catches for 66 yards for a touchdown and tight end Isaiah Likely had four receptions for 73 yards, but fellow tight end Andrews had a turnover and a costly drop that sealed the victory for Buffalo. There is sympathy for Andrews because, since Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis retired, there hasn’t been a Raven who has worked harder in practices or games. Unfortunately, the Ravens couldn’t overcome those mistakes. Baltimore missed slot receiver Zay Flowers, who was out for a second straight game with a knee injury. Grade: D+

Defensive line

This group got whupped. The Ravens came into the game with the No. 1 rushing defense in the NFL, allowing 80.1 yards per game, but Buffalo pounded Baltimore for 147 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries. Bills running back James Cook had 67 yards on 17 carries, backup Ty Johnson rushed five times for 31 yards and rookie Ray Davis had 29 yards and a touchdown on four attempts. Like the offense, the Ravens had some success in the second half, but Buffalo pounded them up front again late in the fourth quarter. It was embarrassing when quarterback Josh Allen dragged defensive tackle Travis Jones 4 yards into the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter. Grade: D

Ravens at Bills in AFC divisional playoff game | PHOTOS

Linebackers

The Bills had success running against the Ravens and staying on top of inside linebackers Roquan Smith and Malik Harrison, who looked lost at times and he couldn’t shed or get off blocks. Smith finished with eight tackles and Harrison had seven, but Buffalo caught the Ravens off balance with a lot of quick screens and slants that they couldn’t cover. Outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh had little presence in the game and finished with a combined four tackles. Van Noy had two pressures; Oweh had none. Grade: C-

Secondary

The Bills weren’t afraid of any cornerback on the roster and challenged Brandon Stephens, Tre’Davious White and rookie Nate Wiggins consistently. All three got better in the third quarter when the Bills went to a short passing game, but Buffalo had several big plays down the field. Even cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who finished with four tackles, got off to a slow start. Safety Kyle Hamilton led the Ravens in tackles with nine and fellow safety Ar’Darius Washington had four, but the Ravens didn’t make a statement early in the game. This team needed a wake-up call early and never got one. Grade: C-

Bills cornerback Taron Johnson sacks Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in the third quarter. (Adrian Kraus/AP)

Special teams

It turned out that Justin Tucker had his disappointing moments in the regular season but he wasn’t a problem when it counted. He converted on field goal attempts of 26 and 47 yards against Buffalo. It was surprising that the Bills kicked to Keaton Mitchell, who had five returns for an average of 26.8 yards, including a 33-yarder near the end of the game that was called back because of holding. Excluding turnovers, the Ravens kept Buffalo under wraps in the field position battle. Grade: B

Coaching

The Ravens made good adjustments both offensively and defensively at the half, but they needed more firepower earlier in the game. Baltimore opened the game with an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive, but they still seemed off-kilter. A lot of fingers will be pointed at coach John Harbaugh after this loss, but it wasn’t Harbaugh who committed the costly turnovers or dropped passes. The only problem was that the Ravens didn’t seem ready to play until the second half. Grade: B

Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.

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