The Baltimore Ravens are set to take the field against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in their season debut. Excitement is high with the team coming off of a perfect preseason and an offseason where the offense was completely re-designed to help Lamar Jackson develop. The Ravens are favored to win this game by a touchdown and it’s easy to see why when you look at the two teams.
Here are five reasons for why the Ravens will beat the Dolphins on Sunday.
1. The Ravens have dominated the Dolphins during the John Harbaugh era
The Ravens are 7-1 against the Dolphins since John Harbaugh was hired in 2008, with the only loss coming in 2015 when Matt Schaub was starting in place of an injured Joe Flacco. Furthermore, six of those seven wins have either been blowouts or shutouts in favor of Baltimore. While past performance is not a good indicator of present behavior, the Ravens have consistently been the bully to the Dolphins whenever they play them.
2. The Dolphins are openly tanking
In the past week, the Dolphins have traded away some of their last remaining noteworthy players in Kiko Alonso, Kenny Stills, and Laremy Tunsil in exchange for draft picks and back-up level players. Those are the moves of a team that has given up on the 2019 season and is looking forward to the offseason. The Ravens are fighting to repeat as division champions, so they should have no trouble taking on a team that’s competing for the first overall pick in the draft.
3. The Ravens still have one of the best secondaries in the league
While the Dolphins have parted ways with what little talent they had on offense, the Ravens have almost completely kept their starting secondary together. Eric Weddle is the only starter from 2018 that didn’t return and he was replaced by Earl Thomas in the offseason. While the Ravens did lose Tavon Young to a neck injury during the preseason, they still have Jimmy Smith, Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Carr at cornerback and they have enough depth to make up for the loss of Young. They should have no problem keeping the Dolphins’ receivers under control.
4. The Dolphins’ offensive line is in disrepair
The Dolphins had one of the worst offensive lines in the league in 2018 and that was with Laremy Tunsil. Now the Dolphins have traded away Tunsil and have a line made up of journeymen and rookies. While the Ravens don’t have a pass rusher like Terrell Suggs that can take over a game by himself, they have some players that they feel good about and Don Martindale will definitely be able to create a scheme that can take advantage of the weaknesses on the Dolphins’ line.
5. The Dolphins aren’t prepared for the Ravens’ new offense
The Ravens are going to be running an offense that coach Harbaugh claims will revolutionize the game of football. While only time will tell if that quote is an exaggeration or not, it is certainly true that the new offense is largely a mystery and that it will take time for other teams to learn how to defend against it. And the Dolphins aren’t going to be ready for it right out of the gate, especially after they spent the last week trading players away in order to get ready for 2020.
