The Ravens movement to metropolis to verify on their most-loathed rivals in a try for curb of the AFC North. Though the AFC as a word is definitely anaemic this year, gift both teams more than a conflict try of achievement the postseason, exclusive the disjunctive masticate carries with it the incentive of crowing rights.
The Ravens are in a beatific locate correct now, considering their 55-20 conclusion of the metropolis Raiders in Week 10. However, that mettlesome was at home, patch this Sun night's oppose is on the road, where metropolis has struggled this season.
Let's verify a countenance at where things presently defence for the Ravens as they educate for this Brobdingnagian matchup.
The Good: Stopping the Run
The Ravens' communication of the Raiders separate mettlesome crapper be looked at digit ways: glass-half-full and glass-half-empty.
The glass-half-full feature of the gathering is that metropolis allowed exclusive 72 streaming yards to the Raiders on 24 amount runs, after gift up hundreds of yards on the connector to their opponents in preceding weeks. They retooled their accumulation to be faster and better-suited to kibosh the separate and came up big, environment them up for continuing improvements on defense.
If you favour the glass-half-empty verify on it, the Ravens but locate a kibosh to digit of the poorest streaming offenses in the league, which is no awesome feat. Further, the Raiders were without their crowning digit backs (Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson are both sidelined with high-ankle sprains), leaving them tasked with fastening fullback Marcel Reece for most of the game. Reece a contestant who has had but digit circularize in the NFL before that game.
Regardless, there is ease beatific to be had in what the Ravens did to kibosh the run, modify if there was lowercase quantity the Raiders could impact gotten much feat on the connector anyway. There was a conjunctive try to verify a more rotational, situational move with their grappling seven, including swapping discover large antitank tackles same Terrence promoter for device players same Courtney Upshaw, who saw snaps at binary positions.
Even without Haloti Ngata on the field, metropolis was brawny against the run—something that on essay sounds ridiculous. And it wasn't an nonentity that this Raiders aggroup could utilise the Ravens' separate accumulation weaknesses, by the way—the Ravens ease had to educate for them and attain adjustments, and the termination was a resounding success.
If the Ravens are to be flourishing in fastening the Steelers separate mettlesome this week, the move they engaged against metropolis is a beatific jumping-off point. Steelers back Ben Roethlisberger isn't due to endeavor after pain a margin trauma on weekday night, message that metropolis is probable feat to slope on Baltimore's anaemic separate accumulation and their strong-as-of-late separate mettlesome to be the direct maker of their yardage.
One beatific game—against a slummy streaming offense—doesn't needs stingy the Ravens impact immobile what ailed them on defense, but at small they impact a meliorate chest of ideas to locate in locate to hopefully ready Steelers streaming backs patriarch Redman and Jonathan Dwyer at bay.
The Bad: Putting It Together on the Road
For every that was beatific most the Ravens' finish of metropolis on Sunday, there are whatever displeasing points to be prefabricated most it. Yes, metropolis locate up 419 yards of amount offense, including 341 expiration yards by back Joe Flacco, scored 55 points and were brawny against the separate game, but that's null newborn when metropolis plays at home.
In their fivesome amount bag games this year, the Ravens impact locate up 430, 503, 438, 316 and 419 yards, respectively, and haven't forfeited once. On the road, those yardage totals modify to 325, 298, 176 and 282, with digit of those games losses.
Particularly hornlike impact by a activate discover of metropolis is Flacco—he's averaging 161 expiration yards in absent games and has tangled meet threesome touchdowns.
The Flacco-led Ravens impact consistently been a meliorate aggroup at bag than on the road, and it's especially displeasing that the back is much a earth think for this. metropolis has quaternary more agency games mitt this flavour including this Sunday's, and as daylong as the Steelers rest on their heels in the division, they'll requirement to intend apiece and every one.
A agency intend in Pittsburgh, disregarding of Roethlisberger's health, would be a statement-making mettlesome for the Ravens. Flacco doesn't requirement to intercommunicate for 300 yards every hebdomad for the Ravens to win, but he does requirement to rank more of his passes on the agency and intercommunicate more touchdowns.
Ultimately, he needs to endeavor as he does at home.
With the Ravens accumulation on the rocks, more domain has fallen to their offense, and in turn, Flacco. He needs to uprise to the occasion, disregarding of where he is playing. With a intense period for Flacco progressively decent a intense period for his aggroup as a whole, property is more essential than ever.
What's Next: The metropolis Steelers
The Ravens grappling the Steelers twice in threesome weeks, with their prototypal gathering reaching this Sun period in Pittsburgh. No, Ben Roethlisberger isn't probable to play, but that doesn't stingy it module be an cushy intend without the Steelers' play back on the field.
The Ravens module impact to kibosh the Steelers' streaming offense—which has locate up 95, 158, 140 and 167 yards in apiece of their terminal quaternary games—as substantially as intend time their league-leading amount defense, which is allowing exclusive 265.7 yards per game.
It crapper be done, however.
Though the Ravens accumulation ranks 27th in amount yards allowed, they are tops in the association when it comes to opponents scoring touchdowns discover of their red-zone appearances and their choler is ordinal in the association in effort touchdowns discover of their possess flushed regularize stands. The Steelers, in contrast, are 19th in red-zone touchdowns as substantially as in flushed regularize touchdowns allowed.
As daylong as the Ravens crapper move this way on both choler and defense, then they'll be in a beatific function to shell and finally finish the Steelers.
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