Ravens grades vs. Raiders, week 2

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Sep 20, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith (89) reacts after the Oakland Raiders were called for pass interference near the end zone in the second quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Offense: B

A much, much better effort than week 1’s debacle, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. Joe Flacco turned things around and posted a pretty nice line of 32/45 for 385 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a 102.5 rating.

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Unfortunately, that one interception sealed the Ravens’ slim comeback hopes in the waning seconds of the game.

The ground game was also much improved over last week as the Ravens gained 109 yards as a team on 25 attempts (4.4 avg). Justin Forsett led the way with 15 carries for 68 yards (4.5 avg), but the return of Lorenzo Taliaferro (7 carries, 34 yards, 1 touchdown) was a spark.

The wide receivers showed up in this one, but Steve Smith continued to turn back the clock. Smitty saw a ridiculous 16 targets, securing 10 of them for 150 yards. Kamar Aiken had a nice game, grabbing 5 of 7 targets for 89 yards.

Crockett Gillmore was an ultra reliable target underneath, securing 5 of 6 targets for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns.

It was an overall nice effort, and we certainly can’t blame the offense for the loss this week. But in all fairness, it came against a terrible Raiders’ back end. Anything less would have been a major concern.

Next: Defense

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