Baltimore Beatdown
The Ravens lost arguably the most devastating game of the season on Sunday, which is saying something. After a disastrous 28-24 fourth-quarter collapse loss to the New England Patriots, let’s check on the rookies, whose seasons will likely be over in two weeks.
Starks had a solid game on Sunday, only allowing one reception on one target for a four-yard catch according to Pro Football Focus. With Ar’Darius Washington’s return to play, Starks only played 77% of the snaps – his first game below a 90% snap share – but it didn’t seem to hurt his play. This is probably closer to the original plan the Ravens had in place before Washington tore his Achilles in May. Now the Ravens are juggling four safeties who deserve snaps and play well. Overall, it’s been a steady but quiet rookie year for Malaki Starks outside of the two interceptions in back-to-back games.
It continues to be an up-and-down season for the first-round talent who fell to the second. The encouraging part is that Green continues to show flashes of the high ceiling every game. It’s easy to get excited thinking about what the young 22-year-old could grow into as he gets more comfortable facing higher levels of competition. On Sunday, Green got four pressures on 17 pass rushes with a win rate of 17.6%, earning himself a 70.7 PFF grade. On the flip side, he only earned a 30.3 PFF run grade, with zero stats of any kind in run play tackling according to PFF.
With two games remaining in the season, it’ll be fun to watch Green and see what the Ravens have him focus on before he settles into the important first offseason of his NFL career, where some of the biggest growth and changes happen.
Jones played 13 snaps on Sunday, subbing in for Andrew Vorhees in the fourth quarter, who left with a foot injury. It wasn’t a great showing according to PFF. A 51.7 overall grade with a lowly 39.7 pass blocking grade, allowing a quarterback hit in his six pass blocking snaps. Jones has seen limited action in his rookie year, missing most of the year with his shoulder injury. He could be in line to start on Saturday against Green Bay, though, with Vorhees practicing in a limited capacity the first two days because of the foot.
Tyler Loop’s biggest issues this season were at the forefront of the Ravens’ loss on Sunday. Loop is now only 1/4 from 50+, hitting only from 52 and missing from 55-plus distance multiple times this season. It mattered on Sunday when he missed from 56 yards, erasing three points off the board, forcing the Ravens to go for a touchdown at the end of the game instead of being able to win it with a field goal. I don’t foresee this being a long-term issue, as Loop hit from 60-plus in the preseason and...
