ExtremeRavens Posted 23 hours ago Posted 23 hours ago Here’s how the Ravens graded out at every position after a 41-17 win over the Cleveland Browns in their home opener Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium: Quarterback Lamar Jackson threw touchdown passes of 15, 2, 24 and 23 yards. He showed some nice touch on all four, but he overthrew several receivers and should have had two passes intercepted, including two inside the red zone. Jackson completed 19 of 29 passes for 225 yards and had a passer rating of 128.6, but he had a lot of opportunities to run when he got outside the pocket and declined to do so. Some of those out patterns he threw in the first half were horrendous. Grade: C+ Running backs The Ravens never got 252-pound running back Derrick Henry free, but he did ice the game with several tosses in the second half. Henry finished with 23 yards on 11 carries and he had to be scratching his head at the Ravens attempting to pass after going with the jumbo package early in the third quarter. With Baltimore at the 1-yard line and then the 5-yard line after a penalty, Henry didn’t touch the ball on three straight plays and the Ravens settled for a 32-yard Tyler Loop field goal. Backup Justice Hill wasn’t much of a factor either, but at least the Ravens won with so little production from this group. Grade: D Offensive line Left tackle Ronnie Stanley had problems with defensive end Myles Garrett, but who doesn’t? The Browns star finished with five tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and two quarterback hits. At times, he made Stanley look slow. Overall, it was a solid performance by this group. As mentioned before, if the Ravens can’t run, they struggle in pass protection. Jackson was hit several times but did a great job of play-faking and avoiding the pressure. The Browns do a nice job of penetrating and that stifled Baltimore’s running game. Grade: C Receivers It will be interesting to see whether an opposing defense slows down slot receiver Zay Flowers from running all those crossing patterns. Flowers had seven catches for 75 yards on Sunday, and most of those were on shallow-to-midrange routes over the middle. He did a good job of working back to the ball when Jackson got in trouble. Veteran DeAndre Hopkins, for the second straight week, beat cornerbacks one-on-one in the end zone and had two exceptional catches, including one for a touchdown in the fourth quarter with a cornerback draped all over him. The Ravens got a good blend from this unit, but Flowers seems to be Jackson’s go-to receiver. He was helped when Cleveland cornerback Denzel Ward left the game with an injury in the second quarter. Grade: A Defensive line Cleveland had no running game coming into Baltimore, and the Ravens shut a lot of it off early. The Browns finished with 115 yards on 22 carries, but they weren’t a serious threat. Without any running game, quarterback Joe Flacco was quick to throw passes over the middle. The Ravens also took advantage of right tackle Cornelius Lucas, who started for the injured Jack Conklin. The Ravens harassed Flacco most of the time while he was in the pocket and he couldn’t outrun the Ravens around the corner. End/tackle Nnamdi Madubuike had one sack, seven hurries and one tackle for a loss. End/outside linebacker Tavius Robinson finished with six tackles and forced a fumble by Flacco that resulted in a 63-yard return for a touchdown by middle linebacker Roquan Smith. Grade: B Ravens vs. Browns, September 14, 2025 | PHOTOS Linebackers You knew the Browns were in trouble when Smith and the other Ravens linebackers were sitting in zones and smacking Cleveland receivers coming across the middle. Smith led all tacklers with 15, including three for losses. Weakside linebacker Trenton Simpson had four tackles and fellow weakside linebacker Teddye Buchanan had five tackles and earned the start. Starting outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy left near halftime with a hamstring injury, and it will be interesting to see how the Ravens handle that situation. Grade: A Secondary The Ravens weren’t challenged a lot on deep balls, only on short-to-intermediate passes. Cornerback Nate Wiggins picked off one pass from Flacco and returned it 61 yards to set up a touchdown. The Ravens were close to intercepting several other throws. They read the eyes of Flacco, who stared down his receivers. Rookie safety Malaki Starks led the group in tackles with seven while cornerback Chidobe Awuzie had five. Fellow safety Kyle Hamilton had five tackles while cornerback Marlon Humphrey had three. Grade: A Special teams Rookie kicker Tyler Loop converted field goal attempts of 43 and 32 yards, but he had two errant kickoffs (one out of bounds and one short of the landing zone) that allowed Cleveland to take possession at the 40-yard line. That’s a no-no against quality offensive teams. Rookie LaJohntay Wester returned one punt for 23 yards and was a shoe-string tackle away from scoring a touchdown. Tylan Wallace had three kickoff returns for an average of 26.3 yards, including a long of 33. Linebacker Jake Hummel also blocked a punt in the second quarter, which set up a touchdown pass from Jackson to Wallace. This group was much more sound than a week ago against the Bills. Grade: A- Coaching The Ravens did a good job of mixing and matching defenses, and coordinator Zach Orr did a good job of attacking instead of being attacked. He had an assortment of blitzes and called several pressures against Flacco. Offensively, the Ravens had 242 total yards but some of that resulted from Cleveland’s inept offense giving Baltimore short fields. Special teams contributed, including a blocked punt that led to a touchdown. Overall, it was a strong effort, but there is room for improvement. It was a good day to be playing Cleveland. Grade: B Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. Ravens wide receiver Tylan Wallace scores on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson in the second quarter Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) View the full article Quote
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