Ravens report card - Week 13: Offense

In one of the more frustrating games, the Ravens fell to the San Diego Chargers 33 to 34 to be 7-5. A much harder road to the playoffs now emerges for the Ravens, but let's see how each unit did.

Quarterbacks: B

Quarterback Joe Flacco looked good on the day. With some designed roll outs as well as a few scrambles, Flacco looked fluid in his footwork as well as his arm. Two touchdowns and no interceptions in addition to a 1-yard touchdown sneak gave him a 104.9 QB Rating, which is a pretty good day. Injuries to Torrey Smith and Marlon Brown definitely hurt Flacco down the stretch as he was unable to punch the ball in a total of four times, settling for four field goals.

Running backs: A

Justin Forsett again had another 100-yard game, giving him three in a row, the first Ravens rusher since Jamal Lewis to do that. Kyle Juszczyk did well as a lead blocker, blowing up holes that ultimately helped Forsett get the yards that he did. Bernard Pierce was a non factor with only 16-yards on 6 carries. With how poorly Pierce is doing, both Juszczyk and Taliaferro should be seeing more action than they are.

Offensive Line: B

The offensive line has clearly settled into themselves as the season has wore on. Marshall Yanda and Ricky Wagner on the right side are continuing to punish on rushing plays and the entire offensive line didn't allow a sack, only having given up 15 on the year, which is second fewest in the NFL to date. Eugene Monroe is having some issues on the left side at times, making me wonder if he is hurt this year since he was stout last year on a bad offensive line.

Tight Ends: C-

The same story as the game against the Saints. The Ravens barely used their tight ends against a team that could have been beaten regularly by them in the seam. Owen Daniels had two catches for 30-yards and Crockett Gillmore couldn't haul in his single target. Gillmore also had some issues in blocking again this week and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Ravens look to bring in Phillip Supernaw to maybe give him a shot as the second tight end at the end of the season and evaluate what to do with that position going forward.

Wide Receivers: B+

Torrey Smith is finally starting to emerge as teams continue to take away Steve Smith. Finishing with 65-yards on six receptions, Torrey Smith could have had even more if it weren't for his knee injury late in the game. Torrey Smith had some issues to start the day with bobbling the ball, but settled down as the game went on. Steve Smith had an awful game with a bunch of drops and only one reception for two yards. Marlon Brown was the surprising player of the game as he looked every bit of a possession receiver before his concussion. Brown left the game with three catches for 25-yards. After Brown went down, Jacoby Jones got some time to shine and was able to haul in two passes for 35-yards including a huge 31-yard catch. Kamar Aiken also had a great game, catching three passes for 51-yards. All around, this was one of the best games for this group that I have seen. Consistency seems to be their issue, but if even one guy can build off of this performance, the Ravens are in a good spot.

Coaching: C-

The Ravens defense had a two score lead for most of the game, only to give it up in the final minutes due to lack of aggression by the defense. With a secondary that is still playing awful football, getting to the quarterback continues to be the best chance the defense has towards getting off the field and in the fourth quarter, that was a major lack of that. Add to the defensive woes was an amazing 14 penalties by the Ravens that added to nearly 100 yards. In a game that came down to 3 points in the final minute, those penalties could have made all the difference.