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Bengals vs. Ravens: Pro Football Focus Grades

We take a look at the Pro Football Focus scores following Cincinnati's 23-16 win. However, keep in mind that PFF scores shouldn't be viewed as the end-all authority on player grades. Your observations matter too.

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

GOOD

  • Andrew Whitworth scored a +2.2, which was the highest score on offense. A.J. Green (+1.8) and Andre Smith, (+1.7) round out the top three.
  • Andy Dalton was an +0.8 but most of that was a result of his rushing attempts. He scored a +1.4 when passing the football.
  • The Baltimore Ravens blitzed during nine of Dalton's drop backs... and he was amazing. Dalton completed six of nine passes, when Baltimore blitzed, for 118 yards passing, a touchdown, and a passer rating of 146.8. However, that success should be translated to the offensive line.
  • Clint Boling (+1.2) and Kevin Zeitler (+0.2) also scored positive grades.
  • Linebacker Emmanuel Lamur played all but one snap on defense, didn't miss a single tackle and posted four stops, all plays that constitute a failure for the opposing offense.
  • Linebacker Vontaze Burfict played 23 snaps, posted four tackles and of those, three were categorized as "stops" (plays that constitute a failure for the opposing offense).
  • Sanu had a team-leading 25 routes out of the slot. He was targeted three times and caught all three for 14 yards receiving. Green had 10 routes of the slot; Tate had four.
  • Geno Atkins finished with the best grade on the defensive line (+1.4). He had two quarterback hits and a quarterback hurry.

BAD

  • Center Russell Bodine had the worst performance on offense. The rookie scored an overall -1.7 and a -1.3 as a run blocker.
  • Running back Giovani Bernard posted 48 yards rushing on 14 carries for a pedestrian 3.4 yards/rush (BJGE snickers). The distribution was fairly even but the production wasn't. When Bernard ran behind Boling, he averaged 7.7 yard/rush. On the other hand, he averaged 1.7 and 0.5 yards behind Kevin Zeitler and Andre Smith respectively. It should be noted that naming the offensive linemen doesn't constitute that player's success or failure -- we're only using them to describe the running lane that Giovani used. For all we know, Whitworth missed a backside block and that player went down the line of scrimmage to track down Bernard who ran behind Smith.
  • Marshall Newhouse only played a handful of snaps, but scored the second-worst grade on offense (-1.4).
  • Cornerback Terence Newman had a defense-worst -3.6, Vincent Rey (-2.8) and Wallace Gilberry (-2.5) round out the top-three worst performances on defense.
  • Lamur was the primary defender in coverage against Dennis Pitta, who recorded 10 receptions for 23 yards receiving. Lamur covered six of those attempts and allowed five receptions for 53 yards receiving.