The 3-2 Baltimore Ravens head home to face the 2-2 Green Bay Packers on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how the Ravens fare against one of the top quarterbacks in the National Football League, Aaron Rodgers.
The key to winning the game is to win the turnover battle. The Ravens can’t turn the ball over and give Rodgers a short field because he is likely to cash in and score points.
This week the Ravens welcome newly acquired offensive tackle Eugene Monroe to the field. Monroe, acquired via a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, will make his first start as a Raven, replacing Bryant McKinnie.
This is good news for the struggling offensive line. The Ravens hope Monroe can step in and assist with run and pass blocking.
The Ravens are likely to be stacked at the wide receiver position unlike last week when they only had three on the roster due to injuries.
Marlon Brown and Brandon Stokley were limited at practice this week; both are questionable, but likely to play.
Jacoby Jones is also questionable. He’s been out since week one with a knee sprain.
On the flip side, five Packers have been ruled out including star linebacker Clay Matthews who suffered a broken thumb in week five.
The Ravens pass rush was stellar last week against the Miami Dolphins. Can they apply the same pressure to the Packers? This season the Ravens have 19 sacks, the most they’ve ever had at this point in the season.
Rodgers has only been sacked 11 times. Can the Ravens increase that number and slow him? Head coach John Harbaugh believes they can:
“Pass rush is going to be a big part of [containing Rodgers],” Harbaugh said. “We need to just get the pressure on him and keep him in there. We’ll have a plan for that.”
CSN.com’s Clifton Brown believes the Ravens can win by pressuring Rodgers and make him throw early. They also need to make tackles to prevent the Packers from getting yards after the catch.
The Ravens offensive line needs to protect quarterback Joe Flacco so that he has time to throw the ball.
The Ravens need to continue the proven game plan of using running back Ray Rice. The game plan worked beautifully last week in Miami, now they need to keep it up at home.
The matchup will be a good test for the Ravens. Many people think it will be a close, high scoring game. I’m not so sure about high scoring, but I think it will be a close one.
The Ravens are a work in progress this season, but they are slowly coming together. The defense is getting its act together and I hope the offense can do the same. Flacco will have his receivers back this week; hopefully the offensive line will protect him so that he can spread the ball around.
Zennie Abraham