Ravens: 3 positive takeaways from Baltimore’s disappointing Week 7 loss
By Kristen Wong
3. Anthony Averett had a solid game
Anthony Averett is like that loyal best friend who helps you recover from a breakup easier.
A little too out there?
With Marcus Peters out with a torn ACL, Averett is the guy the Ravens’ secondary has to lean on this season. And Averett came through against the Bengals.
To be clear, the Ravens’ secondary as a whole disappointed this game.
A week after Baltimore stopped Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers in their tracks, Baltimore saw Joe Burrow and Co. and stepped right aside.
The Ravens allowed Burrow to throw for over 400 yards, making them the third team all-time to allow three 400-yard passers in the first seven games of a season.
But no cornerback this game (and perhaps the NFL) has been targeted more than Averett. And no one has risen more to the occasion.
Averett was targeted four times on the opening drive, and of those four times, he gave up one catch for 11 yards and then recorded three straight broken-up passes.
The Bengals tested Averett by matching him up with Tee Higgins, but the fourth-year corner held his own and absorbed every attack.
Averett has been one of PFF’s highest-graded defenders in the red zone this season and continues to prove his reliability even in a very talented defense where he plays alongside teammate Marlon Humphrey.
Averett did well on Sunday. He takes the least blame of all members of the Ravens’ secondary.