Ravens LB Roquan Smith turned it up a notch against his former team in Week 8

• Roquan Smith was back to an All-Pro level against the Bears: Following two straight sub-45.0 PFF overall game grades, Smith garnered an elite 90.0-plus mark in his first matchup with his former team.

• The Ravens secured an important win: The team's reeling defense seemed to get back on track in the win over Chicago, with Smith leading the charge. Baltimore now sits just two games back of the division-leading Steelers.

• The Baltimore Ravens halted their losing skid with a 30-16 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 8: Dive into the PFF game recap for advanced stats, snap counts, early player grades and more!

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The 2022 trade deadline deal that sent linebacker Roquan Smith from the Chicago Bears to the Baltimore Ravens served a clear purpose for both franchises: The Bears got draft capital for a disgruntled former first-round pick who, at the time, was perhaps underperforming despite his two second-team All-Pro nods, and the Ravens gained a presence in the middle of their defense not seen since C.J. Mosley.

It took three years for Smith to reunite on the field with his former squad, in a Ravens-Bears Week 8 duel. There was no longer the fire that drives these so-called “revenge games” — Smith said himself after the contest that it could've been a factor “if it was a couple of months after I got traded or maybe even a year,” but that now it was about taking his same approach to each week.

You wouldn't have been able to tell from watching.

Smith looked like a man on a mission in the Ravens' 30-16 win, earning his second 90.0-plus PFF overall grade of the season after logging none last year. He racked up seven stops (tackles that result in an offensive failure), putting him one shy of tying his career high. Whether or not it was a revenge game, Smith exacted revenge.

Highest-Graded Linebackers in Week 8

He allowed three catches for a mere 14 yards in coverage, staying close to his receiver on all three plays before wrapping them up for minimal gains. And then, with the game all but over, Smith contributed to a goal-line stand of quarterback Caleb Williams, who frantically tried to force his way into the endzone on a sneak with less than a minute remaining.

Before Week 8, Smith was in the middle of a defense desperate for answers. He had earned sub-45.0 PFF game grades for the first time since 2022 with the Bears. Baltimore was 1-5 and giving up points in bunches. His 90.7 mark this week ended any concerns, and pushed him from 37th place in PFF overall grade among linebackers to 18th place.

All of a sudden, the Ravens are in position to make a run for the AFC North crown. Smith's seemingly non-revenge game will be a jumping-off point one way or another, with Baltimore sitting just two games back of the Pittsburgh Steelers and having a relatively easy stretch of upcoming games.