Baltimore Ravens 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 14
Here are the biggest takeaways and highest-graded players from the Baltimore Ravens' 21-14 Week 9 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers:
Quarterback grade: Joe Flacco, 45.6
Flacco comes away with the win, but grades poorly overall
Joe Flacco did not have a stellar performance, as evidenced by his low game grade. Flacco’s lone touchdown pass came on a short slant that Mike Wallace stretched into a long scoring play. Flacco’s QB rating plummeted to 32.3 when he was pressured by the Steelers, and Flacco only completed 1-of -6 passes targeted further than nine yards downfield.
Top offensive grades:
G Alex Lewis, 87.2
T Ricky Wagner, 83.4
WR Mike Wallace, 77.1
WR Steve Smith, 76.9
FB Kyle Juszczyk, 74.4
Ravens' receivers help out Flacco
The majority of the Ravens' offensive line did a fine job of protecting Flacco. Alex Lewis and Ricky Wagner were both on the field for 41 pass-blocking snaps and neither one surrendered a pressure. The Ravens' receivers made some plays with their legs, as Flacco didn’t have success throwing downfield. Mike Wallace had 105 of his 124 receiving yards come after the catch, and Steve Smith had 29 of his 47 receiving yards come after the catch.
Top defensive grades:
LB C.J. Mosley, 87.0
CB Tavon Young, 84.2
LB Zachary Orr, 79.1
S Ladarius Webb, 79.0
S Eric Weddle, 77.8
Ravens’ defense stifles Steelers for most of the game
Linebacker C.J. Mosley was the standout for the Ravens’ defense. Mosley led the team in tackles (seven) and run stops (four). Mosley was very effective in coverage as well, as he was targeted five times but only allowed three catches for 23 yards, and he broke up one pass. Tavon Young was the Ravens’ best coverage defender against the Steelers, as he was thrown at 11 times but only gave up seven catches for 42 yards.
Quarterback grade: Ben Roethlisberger, 42.0
Roethlisberger doesn't play like his normal self
Roethlisberger did not look to be his normal self in his first game back from injury, and had a poor outing against the Ravens. Roethlisberger only completed 6-of-20 passes targeted further than nine yards downfield. He did handle pressure well, however, as he completed 4-of-7 passes under pressure for a 128.6 QB rating on such dropbacks.
Top offensive grades:
G David DeCastro, 79.4
WR Eli Rogers, 77.9
WR Antonio Brown, 70.0
G B.J. Finney, 69.7
T Alejandro Villanueva, 69.7
Steelers' offense doesn’t get moving until late
The Steelers' offense appeared out of synch for most of the day. Guard David DeCastro was the highest-graded player on offense largely due to his pass-blocking, as he didn’t allow a single pressure on 51 pass-blocking snaps. Rogers caught six of 10 targets for 103 yards, with 24 yards coming after the catch. Antonio Brown had one TD, one drop and 24 yards after the catch.
Top defensive grades:
LB James Harrison, 86.3
LB Ryan Shazier, 86.2
CB Ross Cockrell, 86.0
LB Lawrence Timmons, 86.0
ED Jarvis Jones, 82.1
Steelers defense plays well in loss
Ageless wonder James Harrison had the highest overall grade of any Steelers player against the Ravens. Harrison showed he can still get home as a pass-rusher and had two sacks and one hurry on 18 pass-rush snaps, including a forced fumble. Ryan Shazier flew all over the field making plays, and had five run stops and a QB hurry.
PFF Game-Ball Winner: C.J. Mosley
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