Baltimore Ravens Grades Week Eight, Cincinnati Bengals Edition
By Brett Foote
Oct 26, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with NFL field judge Dave Meslow (118) during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Bengals defeated the Ravens 27-24. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Coaching: C-
My biggest problem with the coaching staff this week is the fact that they gave safety Will Hill only 12 defensive snaps against the Bengals. This is after he put in a solid performance last week, Jimmy Smith went down with an injury, and Matt Elam continued to struggle in coverage.
The defense started off shaky but Dean Pees managed to settle things down shortly after the Bengal’s first scoring drive. The Bengals were shut out for the remainder of the first half, with both second half touchdowns coming on a short field following Joe Flacco’s interceptions.
Gary Kubiak started out the game by using a nice mix of run and pass, but as the Ravens fell behind he predictably leaned more on Joe Flacco’s arm. Unfortunately, the wide receivers were having a tough time getting open amid a couple of bad decisions by Flacco.
The Ravens ended with only 24 carries on the ground against a Bengals team that came into the game ranked 30th against the run. The Ravens also never trailed by more than 11. This has been the case in all three Ravens losses to date. Let’s hope that Kubiak, Harbaugh, or somebody figures this out soon and realizes they need to stick to the run in these kinds of situations.