Week 8 Preview: Baltimore Ravens at Arizona Cardinals
Photo Credit: Jeff Lewis/Associated Press
This matchup is a tale of teams going in two different directions. The Cardinals had a respectable start to the year as they began 1-2 after picking up a big upset against the Dallas Cowboys. Unfortunately, since that big Week 3 win the Cardinals have struggled, losing four games in a row to the 49ers, Bengals, Rams, and Seahawks. On the other side, the Ravens started the season 2-0 but were upset by the Colts at home in Week 3. Since that Week 3 loss, the Ravens have won three out of their last four games. Those three opponents are the Browns, Titans, and Lions. The win against the Lions in Week 7 was the Ravens’ best game of the year as they blew out the 5-1 Lions 38-6. As mentioned earlier the Ravens did suffer a loss and that was to division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Lamar Jackson continued to struggle against the Steelers as he lost 17-10 moving his career record against Pittsburgh to 2-4.
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports
Now onto this Week’s matchup in particular, the Ravens have a significant edge as they are by far and away the better team. Starting first on offense as the Ravens are averaging the 10th most points per game at 24.4 points. In addition, the Ravens are averaging 362.6 yards per game, 217.6 through the air, and 145 yards on the ground. Part of the reason for their offensive success is the addition of new offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Monken came in intending to create a more pass-oriented offense for Lamar, and so far it’s worked. Through seven games this season Lamar has thrown for 1,610 yards with eight passing touchdowns and three interceptions with a QBR of 63.3 which is seventh best in the NFL.
Photo Credit: Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore Ravens Photos
Switching to Arizona, whose offense has struggled this season. They currently hold the 24th ranked offense in terms of points per game with 18.1 points per game. Arizona is averaging 319.9 yards per game, with those yards being split into 180.9 yards per game passing and 139 yards per game rushing. The main reason for their offensive issues has been their quarterback Joshua Dobbs. Dobbs a career-long backup was given the starting job once Kyler Murray suffered a knee injury. In his seven starts this season Dobbs has 1,361 yards passing with six touchdowns and three interceptions with a QBR of 48.4 which is 18th best in all of football. With this lack of passing production, it has caused the Cardinals’ Offense to become more one-dimensional, favoring running the ball. When it comes to rushing the ball, the Cardinals were off to a good start this year but have struggled since running back James Connor was placed on injured reserve. Nevertheless, the Cardinals have their work cut out for them as they go against the number two-ranked total defense.
Rob Carr/Getty Images
The Ravens have one of their best defenses in recent memory as they are holding offenses to 271.7 yards per game and have a league-best of seven touchdowns allowed. Their pass defense has been stellar allowing 176 passing yards per game while only giving up four passing touchdowns this season. This puts the Ravens’ pass defense second in all of football only behind the Cleveland Browns. Now when it comes to rush defense the Ravens have been ninth-best in the league as they’re allowing 95.7 rush yards per game while allowing only two rushing touchdowns all year. The main reason for the Ravens’ defensive success has been their redzone defense as they have allowed a league-low of six touchdowns in the redzone all year, that’s less than a touchdown per game.
On the other side, the Cardinals’ defense has not been nearly as successful. The Cardinals currently have the 28th ranked defense in terms of yards as opposing teams are averaging 368.3 yards per game. Not to mention the Cardinals have given up twenty touchdowns this season making them one of seven defenses to do so. Starting first with their pass defense which is ranked 23rd allowing 237.6 passing yards per game while also allowing 11 passing touchdowns. It's not a surprise their defense has struggled as the Cardinals don’t have the personnel to have a quality defense as their lone secondary star is safety Budda Baker. Then when it comes rush defense the Cardinals are allowing 130.7 yards per game which is 25th in the NFL, while giving up nine touchdowns. This Cardinals defense doesn’t have an easy matchup this week as the Ravens have one of the best offensive attacks in the NFL.
Photo Credit: Christian Peterson/Getty Images
It's expected that the Ravens win this game comfortably as they are 9.5-point favorites and the overall much better team. If the Ravens can be effective offensively, the Cardinals don’t have the answer to keep pace as their offense is lackluster and face a major mismatch going against the Ravens’ defense. The Ravens look to move to 6-2 as the Cardinals will try to pull off the improbable to improve to 2-6.
