ExtremeRavens Posted September 19 Posted September 19 Two of the three best scoring offenses in the NFL meet at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday evening, each hoping to avoid falling below .500. Ravens (1-1) versus Lions (1-1) is a matchup bubbling with offensive firepower. Neither roster closely resembles their lopsided meeting in 2023. Who will have the advantage this time around in a prime-time clash? Ravens passing game vs. Lions pass defense On Sunday, when Lamar Jackson threw four touchdown passes to three receivers, none of whom are considered his top-three pass-catching options, it underscored what it is that can be so effective about the Ravens’ passing attack. A play is never over, and if the top guys aren’t producing, there’s a deep bench behind them that the quarterback trusts. “That’s Lamar,” Harbaugh shrugged. “That’s the thing about Lamar that really just puts him on another level as a player.” Jackson owns the best passer rating in NFL history (102.648), inching past Aaron Rodgers this week. And through two games, he has yet to unleash Mark Andrews or Rashod Bateman. Not to mention Isaiah Likely, who could return from injury as soon as Monday night. Detroit’s secondary is a much improved group from the one that got dismantled by the Ravens in 2023. Safety Kerby Joseph blossomed into an All-Pro. At cornerback, there’s veteran D.J. Reed and his mentee whom he called an “All-Pro type of guy” in Terrion Arnold. As a whole, that group hasn’t been gangbuster against two offenses (Green Bay and Chicago) a tier or two below Baltimore’s. EDGE: Ravens Lions passing game vs. Ravens pass defense The Lions haven’t spent the past week flinging bulletin board material in hopes of riling someone up. While one Cleveland receiver insisted Baltimore’s secondary posed “no challenges,” Lions playmakers are keeping quiet. But they have more ground to stand on as a group capable of gashing a vulnerable secondary. Their Jared Goff-led offense has the second-highest touchdown efficiency rate (38.1%) this season, trailing only Baltimore (39.1%). Against an overmatched Bears team last week, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams combined for 223 receiving yards, flanked by three guys with at least 25. As Kyle Hamilton explained: “It is tough to defend when you have a guy like Amon-Ra who can do damage underneath, and then a guy like [Williams] who can do damage over the top.” Much of the calculus projecting how this matchup unfolds is dependent on who might be available. Pass rusher Kyle Van Noy suffered a hamstring injury against Cleveland and is expected to miss multiple weeks. That means more reps for rookie Mike Green. Marlon Humphrey exited early Sunday with a groin issue but practiced this week. Jaire Alexander was a healthy scratch and his status is still up in the air. Detroit will be a good test for this Ravens secondary, which frayed in Buffalo and bounced back versus Cleveland. EDGE: Lions Ravens running game vs. Lions run defense On Monday, Harbaugh conceded that the Browns silenced Derrick Henry to 23 yards on 11 carries because they were “blitzing the run.” The NFL’s best run defense packed the box and made someone else beat them. Detroit’s defensive front isn’t quite as formidable, but it boasts powerful rushers in defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport. Neither Davenport nor Lions tackles leader Jack Campbell practiced Thursday, putting their availability into question. Henry will be eager for a bounce-back game. Same goes for Justice Hill, who managed 18 yards on three catches out of the backfield. Monday might also be the season debut for Keaton Mitchell. Mitchell was a healthy scratch the first two weeks in favor of kick returner Rasheen Ali, but Ali’s concussion is likely to sideline him for at least one game. Whether that trio can help decide the game will largely hinge on the offensive line. Right tackle Roger Rosengarten acknowledged that there was a lot to clean up pre-snap from the Browns game, with lapses in communication and assignments. If the Lions can’t pack the box with all of their usual starters, it’ll be tough to contain Henry and company. EDGE: Ravens Ravens running back Derrick Henry, shown in Week 1, only had 23 rushing yards in Week 2. He looks to bounce back in Week 3 against the Lions. (Adrian Kraus/AP) Lions running game vs. Ravens run defense Sonic and Knuckles could be game wreckers in Baltimore. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery have combined for 195 rushing yards through two games. They have Detroit top six in 20- and 40-plus-yard runs (three total). While the Ravens have allowed only one long rush this season, they haven’t matched up with a duo like Detroit’s. The Ravens’ run defense, which led the league last year, hasn’t looked like world beaters thus far; allowing 4.2 yards per carry and 223 total yards through two games are both middle-of-the-road figures. Cleveland rookie Quinshon Judkins had the best individual performance (10 carries for 61 yards). As Hamilton said, more broadly about Baltimore’s defense, “people were talking crazy about us after Week 1, and now they want to sing our praises after Week 2.” Containing Gibbs and Montgomery would make a statement in Week 3. EDGE: Lions Ravens special teams vs. Lions special teams Tyler Loop has the slight edge here over Jake Bates in terms of production thus far. Loop is 4-for-4 with a 52-yard make. Bates is 3-for-4 with an errant 50-plus-yard try. Both bring powerful legs. Loop showed his with a 61-yarder in the preseason. But Bates, whom the Lions discovered in 2024 amidst his first year working as a brick salesman in Houston, once drilled a 64-yard game-winning field goal in the United Football League. Perhaps one of these guys will flirt with the NFL record Monday night. Loop said that it could happen within the first five weeks of the season. EDGE: Ravens Ravens intangibles vs. Lions intangibles Is history allowed to influence this game? Both these teams have potent offenses and respectable defenses. They both should be playing into late January. They’ve both put on at least one offensive masterclass this season. Still, it’s hard to pick against the Ravens, in part because of how good they are in prime-time games, at home, wearing their black jerseys, against NFC teams. Since 2008, Harbaugh-coached teams are 22-3 in prime-time at M&T Bank Stadium. Lamar Jackson is 10-1 in such contests, with 30 total touchdowns, and he holds the best record of any QB against teams from the opposing conference: 24-2. The list goes on. Baltimore’s five consecutive “Monday Night Football” wins is an NFL best. The same team that has bludgeoned itself into a reputation for unraveling in crunch time — a trait that doesn’t favor oppositional talent level — has had no issue when the sun goes down on Russell Street. This could be a high-scoring affair reminiscent of both Bengals games in 2024, the Buccaneers game in October, or the Bills game earlier this month. But Baltimore doesn’t let these slip often. EDGE: Ravens Prediction Maybe it’s the extra day of rest or the surplus of time to study film, Jackson hypothesized. Either way, he swatted away a question about how good he has been in his career on Monday nights. “I’m trying to keep it going if I am playing well,” he said. Whether Campbell and Davenport are active can certainly sway how this unfolds, but this is shaping up to be a shootout. The offenses will control the flow. After beating Cleveland thanks to some unlikely heroics, expect Jackson and Henry to steer this one. Ravens 31, Lions 28. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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