The Baltimore Ravens take on the New England Patriots in a rare home game in the national spotlight. With all eyes on Baltimore and plenty of folks hoping they can dethrone New England, the Ravens have quite a bit of pressure on their shoulders.
As we do every week, the writers here at Ravens Wire came up with some bold predictions for this game. They’re predictions that, while a little outlandish in some instances, are really possible. Take a look at what bold predictions we’ve come up with again this week.
Matthew Stevens:
Ravens double the most points scored on them this season
New England’s defense has been impressive this season, allowing just 7.6 points-per-game to be scored against them — ranking first in the NFL. The most they’ve allowed in a single game is 14 points but the Ravens are going to put them to the test in this one. The Patriots haven’t faced a single offense as capable and as able to punch them in the gut as often as Baltimore’s. Like so many opponents this season, New England will have to decide whether they want to take away the inside run game of running backs Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards and let quarterback Lamar Jackson sprint on them or limit Jackson and let the power-run game bully them. With a deep passing attack bolstering the rushing attack, it seems like just a matter of time before the Ravens hit on a big play to remind the Patriots they can’t load up the box to handle both.
Ultimately, Baltimore is able to put up at least 28 points on New England, making the Patriots defense look not quite as historic as they had against bad teams.
Neil Dutton:
Another 100 yards on the ground for Lamar Jackson
The Patriots defense has earned rave reviews for the way they’ve shut down absolutely everyone this season. But in their eight games so far they’ve not come across a quarterback quite like Lamar Jackson. Jackson needs a single yard to set a new record for quarterback rushing yards in the first eight games of a season. He’ll get this, and at least 99 more, as he becomes the first quarterback with four 100-yard rushing games in a single season . . . all within half of Baltimore’s 2019 season.
Kevin Oestreicher:
Marquise Brown gets 100 receiving yards in his return to action
The Ravens have missed Brown on the field as he’s been dealing with an ankle injury over the last two games. His presence alone gives Baltimore a whole new dimension to the offense, forcing defenses to respect his game-breaking speed by putting a safety over the top when he’s out there. While the Patriots have an elite pass defense, Lamar Jackson loves targeting Brown and has missed him immensely, so I believe Jackson will give his favorite receiver plenty of love on the way to the second 100-yard game of his career.
Chuck Mills:
The Ravens win by two scores
I could say that it would be a bold prediction to simply predict that the Ravens will win this game at all with the way the Patriots have looked this season, dominating en route to an 8-0 start. But I’m going to say that Baltimore not only beat a normally dominant New England, they do it in commanding fashion. They score on the vaunted Patriots defense and stop Tom Brady from making a comeback, showing that they’re a real presence in the AFC.
Alex Bente:
Both Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey intercept Tom Brady
The addition of Peters has allowed defensive coordinator Don Martindale to bring more pressure while leaving the elite corners to handle more one-on-one coverage. Making the case for the best cornerback tandem in the league, watch as the Ravens’ duo win their battles throughout the night and come up with the ball, much to Tom Brady’s chagrin.
Vasilios Nikolaou:
Ravens will amass 500 yards of offense vs. the Patriots’ second-ranked defense
While the Patriots have had an easy schedule thus far, they’ve been playing mistake-free, well-disciplined football on defense. They throw perfectly-placed punches to force fumbles, stay in their lanes and just do their jobs.
However, New England hasn’t faced an offense quite like what Baltimore has and certainly not a quarterback like Lamar Jackson. With a unique talent like Jackson and a hard-nosed rushing attack, the Ravens bully the Patriots.
The second-ranked offense will make the second-ranked defense look as unimpressive as they should, to the tune of 500 total offensive yards in this game.
