The night fully belonged to the Baltimore Ravens as they defeated Miami Dolphins 40-0 in M&T Bank Stadium.
QB Joe Flacco left the game early when he took a massive hit from LB Kiko Alonso while sliding, but the Ravens rushing attack, good for 173 yards on the night, more than helped displace his loss. RB Alex Collins had his most productive game of the season.
On the opposite side, QB Matt Moore was harried all night by the Ravens pass-rushers and Jay Ajayi struggled to find room to run.
CB Jimmy Smith capped the night with an interception return for a touchdown. With that, we give you our PFF exclusive takeaways from the contest for each team.
Top 5 Grades:
CB Jimmy Smith, 90.7 overall grade
RB Alex Collins, 86.1 overall grade
S Tony Jefferson, 84.6 overall grade
DI Brandon Williams, 83.5 overall grade
S Eric Weddle, 82.6 overall grade
Performances of Note:
RB Alex Collins, 86.1 overall grade
Collins had his most productive game of the year, gaining 113 yards on the ground on 18 carries. Nearly half of his yards game after first contact, and he forced four missed tackles. His real only downfall on the night was getting beaten in pass protection a couple times.
C Ryan Jensen, 80.4 overall grade
Depsite Collins' production on the ground, not many Ravens' blockers graded well since a good portion of the success came by winning through scheme or Collins making his own yardage. Jensen was the exception to that though, and his most impressive blocks came when he quickly got to the second level and controlled LB Rey Maualuga, as he did on a few occasions.
CB Jimmy Smith, 90.7 overall grade
Jimmy Smith was the definition of a shut-down corner against the Dolphins. Smith allowed two catches on seven targets for 12 yards, knocked down two passes, and had another which he picked off and took for a touchdown. When Moore targeted Smith, he had a passer rating of 0.0.
DI Brandon Williams, 83.5 overall grade
The Ravens interior defensive line is led by the play of Brandon Williams. When Williams was out the defense took a downward turn. But against the Dolphins, Williams helped the Ravens defense shut down the running game. Williams had four tackles, all of which where run stops.
Top 5 Grades:
S Michael Thomas, 90.6 overall grade
DI Ndamukong Suh, 90.5 overall grade
T Ja'Wuan James, 86.6 overall grade
G Jesse Davis, 80.2 overall grade
Edge William Hayes, 78.4 overall grade
Performances of Note:
QB Matt Moore, 53.5 overall grade
In a game where many people where expecting the Dolphins to come out of the game with a quarterback controversy, now many must be wondering how quickly can Jay Cutler can get back. Moore struggled when he wasn't pressured, as he was kept clean on 76.1 percent of his dropbacks and he only completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 107 yards when kept clean. Tonight's effort cannot be put totally on the offensive line.
G Jesse Davis, 80.2 overall grade
While this is a game that nearly every Dolphins offensive player will want to forget, there were some positives. One of those was the performance of Jesse Davis. While Davis has had his struggles this season, against the Ravens he was able to keep his head held high. Davis allowed just one pressure on pass plays and even produced some nice blocks in the handful of run attempts the Dolphins had.
DI Ndamukong Suh, 90.5 overall grade
Penalties aside, Suh was very disruptive in the trenches. He tied for the team lead with three total pressures, all hurries. He had three stops in run defense and forced the ball carrier away from the intended point of attack on other occasions, but his teammates weren't always able to make the stops to result in successful defensive plays. The three starting linebackers missed a combined seven tackles on the night.
S Michael Thomas, 90.6 overall grade
Thomas saw the most action of his season by playing 49 of 65 defensive snaps. He entered the game having played just 26 defensive snaps on the entire season. He was targeted just twice all game, with one coming on the Ravens' two-point conversion attempt. Thomas broke up both passes, and also made a stop in run defense.
PFF Game Ball: Jimmy Smith, CB
*Grades are subject to change upon review