The Ravens fell to 3-3 on the season after Sunday's 19-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Here's a closer look at some of the grades from the statistical analysis website Pro Football Focus (PFF).
Note: PFF grades each individual player on every snap using a value between 2.0 and -2.0, with increments of 0.5. The average of most plays is 0. Those scores are then added together for an overall score for each player. Every overall score that is positive is considered a favorable game, and any game over 1.0 is particularly strong. In order to get the grades for each position group, the total scores for every player are added together to come up with a total grade for the group.
*In their assessment, Pro Football Focus grades the result of every play. The service says that "we firmly believe that we are more than 90 percent accurate in our grading of individual plays … We are grading what happened, and it is safe to assume that in the vast majority of cases the assignments carried out were the assignments called on that play." The Ravens coaching staff could have different grades based on the plays calls and assignments. For more detailed information about PFF's grading criteria, follow this link. *
Top Three Grades
OLB Elvis Dumervil (5.8)
DE Arthur Jones (2.6)
ILB Josh Bynes (1.9)
Bottom Three Grades
S James Ihedigbo (-3.6)
RB Ray Rice (-2.5)
RG Marshal Yanda (-2.3)
CB Lardarius Webb (-2.3)
Defensive Line (3.0)
The defensive front had a solid day in limiting the productivity of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and an explosive Packers offense. The top performers along the defensive front were Arthur Jones (2.6) and rookie Brandon Williams (1.6). Jones came up with one sack and four QB hurries, and he was also the team's best defender against the run. Haloti Ngata (-1.3) had a rough day overall after suffering an elbow strain in the fourth quarter and battling through the injury the rest of the game.
Outside linebackers (6.4)
Elvis Dumervil (5.8) was the star of the defense Sunday, accounting for two sacks, two additional quarterback hits and a quarterback hurry. He was a disruptive force in a game where he played his highest number of snaps (54) this season. Terrell Suggs (0.6) had a quieter game, as he was held without a sack for the first time this year.
Inside Linebackers (2.8)
Inside linebackers Josh Bynes (1.9) and Daryl Smith (0.9) had another solid day for the defense. They were especially strong against the run (combined score of 2.0). This is the second week in a row that Bynes has received one of the highest overall grades on the team.
Secondary (-7.3)
The secondary had a tough day against Rodgers, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The safeties specifically struggled against the pass, as safety James Ihedigbo (-3.6) finished with the lowest overall grade on the team. Rookie safety Matt Elam (-1.5) was also beat on a few occasions, including the Packers' final drive where Jermichael Finley had a 52-yard catch and run after Elam missed on a diving attempt to swat away the football. Cornerback Lardarius Webb (-2.3) received his lowest grade of the season, and Jimmy Smith (0.7) was the top performer in the secondary after recording an impressive interception in the Packers end zone.
Offensive Line (-6.2)
The Ravens made a big change along the offensive line by putting left tackle Eugene Monroe in the starting lineup, but the unit still had a rough game overall. Monroe (-0.4) received one of the better grades on the line, while Pro Bowl right guard Marshal Yanda (-2.3) received the lowest. Yanda's grade from PFF was the lowest grade he has received since the 2009 season. Center Gino Gradkowski (0.2) had the best grade of any player along the line, and scored particularly well as a run blocker (0.9). Despite the miscues along the line, Head Coach John Harbaugh is confident the group will make necessary improvement. "I really feel strongly about our offensive line," Harbaugh said. "I think we have the men for the job – coaches and players. We've got a great group. We've got some depth in there, too, and there are some things we need to clean up and some things we can do better."
Running Backs/Fullback (-2.9)
The running game produced little Sunday, averaging just 2.1 yards per carry on their 22 attempts. In addition to problems along the offensive line, PFF put some of the blame on the backs themselves. Ray Rice (-2.5) had the lowest grade of any player on the offense and fullback Vonta Leach (-0.9) also had a low score. Bernard Pierce (0.5) had a slightly better grade, although he was on the field for just 20 of the 70 offensive snaps.
Quarterback (0.3)
Quarterback Joe Flacco should not shoulder much of the blame for the offensive struggles, PFF says. The Ravens' signal caller had a decent day overall. Flacco was pressured on 15 of his 40 dropbacks, and still finished with a quarterback rating of 112.6.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends (-3.7)
Tight ends Ed Dickson (-2.1) and Dallas Clark (-1.7) scored particularly low among the wideouts and receivers. According to PFF, the problems for Dickson and Clark came in run blocking, as they combined for a -3.5 grade in that area. Jacoby Jones (1.3) and Tandon Doss (0.9) were the bright spots at receiver. Jones returned for his first game since Week 1 and caught a touchdown pass and Doss led the Ravens with 99 receiving yards. An interesting note was that Marlon Brown played the second most snaps (48) at receiver, followed by Doss (43) and Jones (20).
