Not many people picked the Seahawks to win this game, including Pro Football Focus. Not one of our analysts picked the upset. An upset that looked like a hangover game for the Ravens who were coming off a big win over division rival Pittsburgh. Nonetheless, coach Harbaugh preached to his team early in the week that they can’t overlook a 2-6 Seattle team, but it seems as if no one was listening.
The Seahawks did something they haven’t been able to do for much of the season and that’s run the football. There have been games like last week in Dallas where Lynch went off for 135 yards, but little consistency in the run game has only netted them one 100-yard rushing performance before Sunday. On 32 carries, he only managed 109 yards, but those 109 were enough to control the line of scrimmage and set the tone throughout the game. Add in a couple of costly mistakes by the Ravens' special teams unit that Seattle turned into points and you have your recipe for success.
Seattle Seahawks – Three Performances of Note
A personal best
Since stepping into the starting role, cornerback Richard Sherman (+2.3) has turned in a couple of really strong performances with this week being his best. Early on, he got beat a couple of times only for Flacco to overthrow, but once he gathered himself and regrouped, things started to turn around. In total, Sherman was targeted 11 times, but only four were completed for a miniscule 53 yards and 52.5 QB rating. Easily his most impressive play of the day came in the fourth quarter with 12:35 left to play. Flacco was trying to hit a streaking Torrey Smith deep down the right sideline, just as he had tried earlier, but Sherman was right there running step-for-step down the right sideline with him. Sherman was in perfect position to knock the ball away, just as he did. It’s too bad the play was nullified due to Raheem Brock jumping offside.
The odd man out
Coming into this game many didn’t give the Seahawks a very fair chance at beating a Ravens team fresh off an emotional victory from the week before. But looking at the game earlier in the week, I said if Tavaris Jackson can hold up (torn pec and all) and eliminate a few of the bonehead throws he made the week before in the Dallas game, they have a pretty decent shot at knocking Baltimore off. Jackson (+2.7) did just that. He wasn’t spectacular, but he was efficient by eliminating turnovers. A couple of his better throws came in the fourth quarter, one was early on and the other one was on the final drive of the game. Some of you probably know the throw I’m referring to, the one on 3rd–and-5 with 4:44 left to play where he put it right in-between the Ravens' defensive backs. Its throws like that could turn some of the Seattle unfaithful into believers.
Attention please
Simply put, James Carpenter (-6.4) just doesn’t look NFL ready. The guy has only turned in one positive performance the whole season and things just seem to keep getting worse week after week. His run blocking was okay to start the season, but as of late it has really dropped off. And his pass blocking is about the same has it has been all season long, putrid. Of the plays Carpenter was in on, he only graded out positively on two … yes two out of 75 offensive snaps. Paul Kruger was limited to only 18 snaps, but thanks to Mr. Carpenter it was probably the most productive 18 snaps of his career. Kruger graded out at a +2.5 when going head-to-head with Carpenter while also compiling a sack and two quarterback pressures. The Seahawks don’t seem to have a better option at right tackle on their roster, so it’s safe to say Carpenter’s job is safe even if he isn’t worthy of it.
Baltimore – Three Performances of Note
Things can’t get much worse
This game really boils downs to the Ravens' mistakes, especially David Reed (-3.4) who coughed up two balls on special teams. As a returner when you have three opportunities to field a kickoff and you fumble on two of the three returns, there should be hell to pay. Reed’s two fumbles were big time momentum-killers that turned into points on the board for Seattle. On his first return, Reed’s fumble was caused by him running into his own man and, on the second fumble he was simply upended and dropped the ball. Throw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on top of the two fumbles and you have had yourself one terrible game.
Headed in the right direction
Even though Baltimore didn’t walk away with the win, credit their offensive line for keeping Flacco clean and giving him time to throw. As a unit they didn’t allow a single sack and Flacco was only pressured seven times total on 61 drop backs. Not one offensive lineman finished the day with a negative grade and as a unit they finished at an outstanding +11.6 – Ben Grubbs and Marshal Yanda both enjoyed their best games of the season at +3.6. Grubbs was coming off an awful performance from the week before in Pittsburgh, but his work this week helped him notch a perfect grade in pass protection. As far as Yanda goes, his +3.6 grade moves him to +21.1 on the year, which easily tops our charts as the highest-rated offensive guard.
Consistency is key
With very few poor performances to talk about on the defensive side of the ball, there was no one better than Cory Redding (+4.8). Redding didn’t notch a sack on Jackson, but he proved to be a terror registering three hits and pressures on two other occasions. Redding spent most of the day picking on Carpenter, someone I spotlighted earlier for his poor play against fellow defensive end Kruger. When going against Carpenter, Redding wasn’t over zealous, but he was certainly more powerful. In the first quarter with 9:35 left to play he showed his strength and quickness with an inside pass rush move. Redding starts the rush off with a bull rush and then disengages into a swim move that makes Carpenter look absolutely helpless. It seems as if he’s having a bounce back season with a +5.9 rating compared to the -4.0 he earned in 2010.
Game Notes
– Ed Dickson lead the Ravens in receiving with 79 yards on 10 catches. He was targeted 13 times total.
– The Seahawks were most efficient when they ran the ball between Robert Gallery and Max Unger.
– Lynch closed out the game for Seattle with a +2.5 grade in the fourth quarter.
PFF Game Ball
Marshawn Lynch didn’t come alive until the crunch. Bit of dancing in the backfield lost his team yards but he gets the game ball because he picked up three big third down conversions, juking Jarret Johnson out of his shoes along the way.
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