After handling the Tampa Bay Bucs in Tampa last week, the Ravens turn their attention to the Bucs’ rival, the Saints. The Ravens will have their first Monday Night Football game of the season when they travel to New Orleans. It will be their second straight prime time road game of the season and their third overall prime time game of the season. The Ravens have had a busy week in terms of roster moving. They traded for All-Pro linebacker, Roquan Smith and have activated both Tyus Bowser and rookie, David Ojabo. The Ravens defense has been playing much better over the last few weeks and will hopefully elevate to another level with the three aforementioned players. The Saints are sitting at 3-5 but they are coming off of a 24-0 shutout of the Raiders in which they held Derek Carr to only 101 yards passing without top cornerback, Marshon Lattimore. Below I will highlight 3 keys to the game which I believe will help the Ravens come out victorious. All grades and stats are provided by Pro Football Focus.
Key #1: The Ravens Pass Blocking
The Ravens are currently ranked second by PFF in overall pass blocking. They currently hold a cumulative team grade of 76.5 which is second to only the Philadelphia Eagles. The reason this is imperative is because the Saints hold a bottom 12 pass rushing grade on the season. Ronnie Stanley, Ben Powers and Kevin Zeitler all hold PFF pass blocking grades of 81 or better. Conversely, the Saints only have one pass rusher that holds a PFF pass rushing grade of above 70, (Marcus Davenport). The rest are all below 66. The Ravens should be able to give Lamar plenty of time to find Mark Andrews and hopefully DeSean Jackson for a possible deep shot. If the Ravens can run the ball like usual and protect Lamar Jackson against a below average pass blocking unit, they should easily be able to win the game. But it is never easy with the Ravens when it comes to closing a game. But expect the pass blocking unit to dominate once again.
Key #2: Limiting Andy Dalton
Andy Dalton has a long history of playing the Ravens. He is 8-8 all time vs the Ravens and has had some memorable games and some games The Ravens Flock never want to discuss. Dalton is currently PFF’s number 6 graded QB on the season. He is proving he is a much better option than Jameis Winston so far. Dalton will face the Ravens #16 ranked coverage unit, which is an improvement because they were near the bottom of league through the first few games. If the Ravens can limit Chris Olave and force other players to beat them then I think the Ravens can have a distinct advantage in this contest. The X-factor might be Alvin Kamara who can take over a game with his elite receiving ability. The addition of Smith might have been very timely for the Ravens as he has been a top ten graded off-ball linebacker in coverage since entering the league. The Ravens Front 7 will need to attack Dalton and force him into some mistakes to create some extra possessions for the offense who should have their way with the Saints defense as mentioned earlier.
Key #3: Justin Tucker
Normally I would never include a kicker as being a key to a game but Justin Tucker isn’t an average kicker. The Ravens get to play in a dome in this contest which is worth talking about because the last time Justin Tucker kicked in a dome, he set the all-time record by making a 66 yarder to win the game against Detroit last season. It is strange to think that a team can receive a kick after a touchback, start at the 25-yard line and only need 25 yards to be in scoring range. But with tucker, that’s a real possibility. Not that I expect the Ravens to not score touchdowns, but if they get inside the 50, they can maybe experiment different plays because they know if they do not convert those plays, they have a kicker who can easily make kicks over 55 yards. Tucker is currently 5-7 on kicks over 50+ yards and one was a block. It gives Ravens fans piece of mind knowing they have the greatest kickers of all time on their roster.
Mirzet was born in Bosnia and raised in upstate NY. Mirzet became a huge fan of the ravens when he first moved to the country and has never looked back. Mirzet is also a former base data analyst at Pro Football Focus. Using advanced metrics and stats has always been a passion of his when discussing anything football-related. Salihovic also lived in Baltimore shortly after he went to college at SUNY Cortland, he currently resides in Utica, NY.