Ravens Week 2 Offensive Report Card: Derrick Henry finally gets going; pass protection remains inconsistent

Weekly grades for every position group on offense are in with some high, moderate and poor marks.

The Baltimore Ravens blew another double-digit fourth-quarter lead in a deflating 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon. Despite coming up short as a team during Week 2 in their regular season home opener, there were several impressive performances by players on both sides of the ball and many left much to be desired.

Here is how each individual position group on offense fared on the weekly grade sheet.

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Quarterback: A-

The Raiders came in with a good cage rush plan to prevent Lamar Jackson from repeatedly gashing them with his legs and executed it well. Prior to his 30-yard desperation rush on the final play of the game, the reigning league MVP was held to just 15 yards on four carries. As a passer, his numbers were solid and nothing spectacular with one touchdown and one interception after going 21-of-34 for 247 passing yards and a passer rating of 81.4. However, it was hard for him to read the defense and deliver consistently accurate passes while under constant duress or come up clutch from behind as pass protection continues to be an issue.

Running Backs: B+

After only being able to manage five rushing yards in the entire first half, four-time Pro Bowler Derrick Henry finally started to get going in the second half and finished with 18 carries for 84 yards and his second touchdown in as many weeks. He has a long rush of 29 yards and caught his lone target for 12 yards and first down.

The Ravens inexplicably went away from him with the game on the line and the Raiders fighting to make a furious comeback. Needing to maintain the lead and bleed the clock, Henry only touched the ball one more time after putting the Ravens up by 10 points early in the fourth quarter. That carry went for five yards on first down of their next drive and his next impactful play was a false start he was called for after twitching his foot on a quarterback sneak attempt in which third-string tight end Charlie Kolar was under center. Why the Ravens didn’t just line him up on that third-and-short in I-formation or as the wildcat quarterback out of shotgun, as he did on his three-yard scoring plunge, is truly beyond comprehension but hopefully they’ll learn from their folly.

The only other running back to see the field on offense in this game was fellow veteran Justice Hill who had a solid outing with four carries for 22 rushing yards including a long of 14 and caught both of his targets for 10 receiving yards. He remains the Ravens’ go-to obvious passing situation option at the position but continues to be a nice change of pace from Henry. When they substitute, it can kind of make Ravens’ offensive tendencies predictable, which doesn’t really matter on short-yardage down and distances but on early downs can aid the defense in making educated guesses about the upcoming play selection.

Fullback: B

Four-time Pro Bowler Patrick Ricard surprisingly saw the field for one fewer snap than he did in the season opener with just 18 despite the Ravens needing to run the ball to ice the game and assist the right side of their offensive line from letting Maxx Crosby wreck the game off the edge. Last season in the first year under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, he averaged just over 26 offensive snaps per game and should get close to or even surpass that mark until their offensive line woes on the right side and running game as a whole is figured out.

Wide Receiver: B

After being relatively quiet and held in check in Week 1, the position group was much more involved in this game, accounting for 13 of Jackson’s completions and 144 of his passing yards (58.2%). Second-year pro Zay Flowers was his most popular target, catching seven of the 11 balls that came his way including a long of 21 and finished with a team-leading 91 receiving yards and a touchdown, after which he honored the late Jacoby Jones by doing his iconic scoring celebration.

The only two other receivers to catch one or more passes were fourth-year pro Rashod Bateman who finished third on the team in targets (four), receptions (three) and receiving yards (40). Unfortunately, the lone target he didn’t reel in bounced off his hands and into the grasp of a Raiders defender which sparked Las Vegas’ first touchdown drive of the game in the third quarter. Veteran Nelson Agholor recorded just one of his three targets for 13 receiving yards.

Tight Ends: B

This position wasn’t nearly as heavily utilized in the passing attack this week as it was in the season opener, although they were reliable chain movers and underneath options for Jackson. Three-time Pro Bowler Mark Andrews was more involved this time around with the second-most targets (five), receptions (four) and receiving yards (51) on the team behind Flowers. Isaiah Likely didn’t follow up his monster Week 1 performance with just two receptions on three targets for 26 receiving yards and Charlie Kolar caught his lone target for four yards and his first reception of the season.

Offensive Line: C-

Once again, the performance of the left side of the Ravens’ starting blocking unit playing so well is the only reason that the entire group doesn’t receive a D or lower because of the second straight poor showing by the right side especially in critical situations. Maxx Crosby beat both right guard Daniel Faalele and right tackle Patrick Mekari for sacks on first downs at different parts of the game that kept the Ravens from scoring at all or at least maximizing scoring opportunities.

On the bright side, left tackle Ronnie Stanley continues to look like his pre-injury self in pass protection and seems to have even more of an edge as a run blocker. He was the Ravens’ highest-graded offensive player according to Pro Football Focus with an overall grade of 81.6.

While Mekari struggled mightily to keep Crosby at bay and out of Jackson’s lap regularly, second-round rookie Roger Rosengarten, who rotated in on a handful of series, fared much better. There was a particular one-on-one situation where he bought his quarterback enough time to deliver a throw across the field to wide-open Flowers for a 20-plus yard gain where he mirrored and cut off Crosby’s path to prevent the play.

It is clear that changes are needed on the right side of the line and it is equally evident that upgrades are readily available on the roster with Rosengarten being one. Fourth-year pro Ben Cleveland is the other who has only performed well at guard when called upon but has yet to get a chance to be a full-time starter when healthy since coming to the team as a third-round pick in 2021 out of Georgia. The longer the Ravens refuse to accept these shockingly obvious realities, the more their offense will suffer and the more Jackson could potentially be at risk.