Week 13 Report Card: Penalties Down Ravens
- Wednesday, December 9, 2009 1:49 AM
- Written By: NFL Blog Blitz
Grading the Ravens' performance on Monday night against the Packers:
Offense. The offense was putrid. The run game was weak, the receivers couldn’t create any separation and the offensive line — especially Ben Grubbs — provided lackluster protection, having fits against Green Bay’s outside linebackers. And if that weren’t enough, Joe Flacco played terrible. His first-half interception on a flea flicker showed bad decision-making in choosing to throw downfield into a crowd of defenders. Plus, the pass was badly thrown. While Flacco made a strong throw on Kelley Washington’s third-quarter TD reception, his interception in the end zone was inexcusable. And then he threw an interception on his very next throw. Going against Charles Woodson is tough, but even still, Derrick Mason had a rough game. He dropped a pass, committed offensive pass interference and then got an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. Even Ray Rice had an uncharacteristically bad game. Grade: D-
Defense. The defense, missing Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs, was not as bad as the offense. But poor pass coverage and a lack of pressure on Aaron Rodgers made it impossible to overcome the offense’s shortcomings. The secondary was called for four pass-interference penalties, although two of them were debatable. Nevertheless, they were killers. On the bright side, the Ravens forced three turnovers, and Antwan Barnes finally got some playing time and beat the Packers’ Chad Clifton like a rented mule all game. If it weren’t for all the holding Clifton got away with, Barnes would have had several sacks and quarterback hits. Grade: C+
Special Teams. Sam Koch finally had a bad punt. But he also had four beauties. The Ravens were pretty solid on kick and punt coverage. And Lardarius Webb returned a kick 68 yards. Grade: B
--- RONALD T. ZIZMOR.


