ExtremeRavens Posted November 27 Posted November 27 The Ravens pounded out a 30-23 win over the Chargers. The Eagles extended their winning streak to seven, thrashing the Rams 37-20. Who will have the advantage when one of the AFC’s best teams hosts one of the NFC’s best Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium? Ravens passing game vs. Eagles pass defense Lamar Jackson leads the league in passing yards, touchdown passes, passer rating and ESPN’s QBR metric for all-around performance. He has thrown just three interceptions. He leads the No. 1 passing offense by DVOA and the No. 1 red zone offense. In other words, he has been the best passing quarterback in the league this season. Jackson threw just 22 times against the Chargers as the Ravens turned back to their ground game but did his usual efficient work, averaging eight yards per attempt with touchdown strikes to Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman. Andrews has regained his standing as Jackson’s favorite red-zone target with six touchdowns in his last seven games. Wide receiver Zay Flowers leads the team with 57 catches for 789 yards, while Bateman has solidified his role as a solid No. 2, averaging 16.4 yards per catch with five touchdowns. Jackson is so effective in part because he’ll go to anyone on third down or in the red zone. His offensive line limited the Chargers to 10 pressures and one sack. Jackson will try to stay hot against a surging Philadelphia defense that has held quarterbacks to five yards per attempt, best in the league. The Eagles blitz on just 16.9% of dropbacks under venerable coordinator Vic Fangio and are not an elite pressure team. They’ve lost productive edge rushers Bryce Huff and Brandon Graham to injuries. But their secondary is packed with quality players, led by rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean and safety Reed Blankenship. Zack Baun is one of the league’s top coverage linebackers. His partner in the middle, Nakobe Dean, is quietly one of the team’s best pass rushers. Veteran cornerback Darius Slay, second on the Eagles with eight passes defended, left the Rams game with a concussion. His status will be something to watch this week. Fangio likes to line up in two-high looks with a pair of safeties deep to prevent downfield strikes and disguise coverages until after the snap. Rather than attack Jackson, he’ll try to disorient him with confusing pictures. Jackson has never been better as a processor, so this could be a classic matchup. EDGE: Ravens Eagles passing game vs. Ravens pass defense Jalen Hurts’ superficial passing numbers — 69.1% completions, 8.3 yards per attempt, 102.3 passer rating, 13 touchdowns against five interceptions — look good, but he and the Philadelphia aerial attack have been merely decent, according to DVOA (the Eagles rank 16th, in part because they’ve faced poor defenses) and Pro Football Focus grades. Like Jackson, Hurts holds the ball more than three seconds per dropback, extending plays so he can look downfield for A.J. Brown, one of the league’s true No. 1 wide receivers. The 6-foot-1, 226-pound Brown (18.6 yards per catch) is a monster on contested balls, and it will be interesting to see if the Ravens try to keep him out of matchups with cornerback Brandon Stephens, who has struggled to win such battles all season. Stephens outplayed Tre’Davious White against Chargers, so it’s possible the Ravens will simply stick with their rotation and hope for the best. But they have to be concerned about Brown going off given their previous struggles against Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and other elite receivers. Zach Orr’s defense has done a better job preventing big plays with Ar’Darius Washington starting at safety and Kyle Hamilton lining up deep more than he did early in the season. Tight end Dallas Goedert (35 catches on 42 targets, 406 yards) could give the Ravens trouble in the middle of the field. They got by without middle linebacker Roquan Smith (hamstring) against the Chargers and will go with a rotation led by Malik Harrison if their All-Pro can’t make it back Sunday. The Eagles are also dealing with a significant hamstring injury to wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who did not play against the Rams. They’re more dangerous when defenses have to worry about both him and Brown. Hurts takes sacks (29 in 11 games) because he holds the ball, but he’s protected by two of the league’s best tackles in Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, so don’t expect the Ravens to get home regularly if they rush four. EDGE: Eagles Ravens running game vs. Eagles run defense After averaging a modest 119 yards per game over their previous four games, the Ravens got back to pounding against the Chargers with 212 yards on 37 carries. Derrick Henry led the way with 140 yards and was key to the Ravens converting on eight of 15 third downs and all three of their fourth downs. Henry already has 1,325 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns and is averaging a career-best six yards per attempt. Justice Hill also had a big game with 55 yards on four carries, including a 51-yard touchdown. Jackson scored on a clever 10-yard run against the Chargers but was curiously ineffective on the ground otherwise with just five yards on his other seven attempts. The Ravens seem content keeping their franchise quarterback out of designed runs until they truly need his legs, and that might not be until the playoffs. This will be strength vs. strength as the Ravens try to bash out yards against a defense that hasn’t allowed 100 in a game since mid-October. The Packers and Falcons gashed the Eagles in the first two games of the season, but Fangio’s crew has hit a different level over the last six weeks, led by Baun and Dean in the middle and gifted 2023 first-round pick Jalen Carter upfront. That said, Philadelphia hasn’t done it against a ground attack like this one. The Ravens average 180 yards per game and 5.8 per carry, so if the Eagles hold them below 100, they will really have accomplished something. EDGE: Ravens Eagles running game vs. Ravens run defense Again, strength vs. strength. The Eagles lead the league in rushing and average 5.2 yards per carry, second only to Baltimore. The Ravens rank second in run defense and have allowed 3.5 yards per carry, best in the league. The story starts with Saquon Barkley, who like Henry joined a new team in the offseason and is somehow producing even more eye-popping numbers (126.5 yards per game, 6.2 per carry, 10 touchdowns in 11 games). Barkley went off for 255 yards, including touchdown gallops of 70 and 72, against the Rams’ not-terrible run defense. He’s complemented by Hurts, who isn’t a breakaway threat on par with Jackson but provides devastating efficiency in short-yardage situations. It’s surprising that the Eagles rank just 16th in red-zone touchdown percentage given Hurts’ work near the goal line. This is where the Ravens would presumably miss Roquan Smith the most, though Harrison ranged for 12 tackles against the Chargers, many of them violent. Orr will have to decide whether Hamilton is more important protecting the back end or serving as a Barkley deterrent closer to the line of scrimmage. Regardless, the Ravens will need sturdy work on the edges from Odafe Oweh, Kyle Van Noy and Tavius Robinson. Defensive tackle Travis Jones has played well while dealing with a recurring ankle injury, and the Ravens will need more of the same from him against Philadelphia’s excellent interior blockers. EDGE: Eagles Ravens special teams vs. Eagles special teams Justin Tucker split the uprights on a 45-yard field goal against the Chargers and did the same on his previous attempt, from 54 yards, against the Steelers. So the Ravens have to hope their all-time-great kicker is past the spate of wide-left misses that have haunted his season. Tucker’s inaccuracy is the main reason the Ravens rank 22nd in special teams DVOA, but they’ve also committed too many penalties in kickoff and punt coverage. Punter Jordan Stout’s improvement is a bright spot. The Eagles rank 16th in special teams DVOA, and kicking has also been a problem for them. Jake Elliott has made just 17 of 22 field-goal attempts overall and is 0-for-4 from 50 yards or beyond. DeJean is a dangerous punt returner, and Philadelphia has done a solid job limiting damage in coverage. EDGE: Even Ravens intangibles vs. Eagles intangibles The Ravens face a tough six-day turnaround after playing in Los Angeles Monday night. But at least they’ll be home, and the Eagles had to make the same cross-country trip one day earlier. John Harbaugh’s team removed considerable pressure from this week by beating his brother Jim’s Chargers. Harbaugh’s gutsy call to go for a fourth-and-1 from his team’s 16-yard line was a turning point in the victory. At the same time, he’s taking deserved heat for the Ravens’ league-high penalty total. Jackson has lost just one career start against an NFC team, but this will be one of the sternest tests he has faced. The Eagles have won seven straight and buried questions about their direction under coach Nick Sirianni, who seemed to lose his grip on the team as it collapsed down the stretch last season. Philadelphia has adopted a bullying identity on both sides of the ball and done it without rolling up big turnover or penalty totals. Sirianni’s balanced powerhouse takes a backseat only to the Detroit Lions among NFC contenders. That said, the Eagles haven’t faced an opponent as formidable as the Ravens during their winning streak. They’ve played the league’s third-easiest schedule by DVOA (the Ravens have played the 13th-hardest). This will be a status check for both teams. EDGE: Even Prediction Talk about brutal fun on the first day of December. This matchup will pit the league’s two best ground games against two of its best run defenses. Will Henry or Barkley go off? These superstar running backs might command the narrative focus, but that doesn’t mean they’ll decide the game. Jackson’s quest to solve Fangio’s balanced, deceptive defense will determine the flow, and the Ravens’ beleaguered but improving secondary will have to keep Hurts and Brown from connecting on explosive plays. Jackson has outplayed Hurts this season, and the Ravens have beaten better opponents than the Eagles. They’ll pull out another quality win going into their bye week. Ravens 27, Eagles 21 Have a news tip? Contact Childs Walker at daviwalker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6893 and x.com/ChildsWalker. View the full article Quote
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