The 8-2 Ravens travel across the country to face the 6-4 Rams on Monday Night Football.
All-time, the Ravens are 4-2 against the Rams with a 1-2 record on the road. This will be Baltimore’s first trip to play the Los Angeles Rams, as the previous tilts took place against the St. Louis club. The Ravens have won the last three encounters including a 2015 contest which saw Joe Flacco tear his ACL and Justin Tucker connect on a game-clinching field goal.
Quarterback Battle:
Jared Goff is fighting an uphill battle as his opponent is newly-minted MVP frontrunner, Lamar Jackson. While Goff is currently sixth in the NFL in passing yards, his other metrics have slipped away. He is in the top five in interceptions thrown, and he only has one more touchdown than his tally of interceptions. On the contrary, Jackson has been asked to throw fewer times per game (37.3 attempts per game for Goff, 27.9 attempts per game for Jackson), but Jackson has been hyper-efficient in racking up yards and points as he ranks in the top 10 in yards per attempt, adjusted yards per attempt, yards per completion, net yards per attempt, and adjusted net yards per attempt. Jackson has the second-highest touchdown percentage of 6.8 percent and is currently connecting on 66.3 percent of his passes, good enough for 11th in the league. Without factoring their abilities on the ground, Jackson has the edge, but Goff will likely play better than usual due to being at home
Running the Ball:
Mark Ingram and Todd Gurley will be the featured backs for their respective teams. Both rank inside the top 20 in terms of total carries and carries per game. Ingram has been vastly more efficient with his carries, producing 4.9 yards per carry compared to Gurley’s 4.1 yards per carry. Neither back has had a large workload as a receiver as they have combined for just 35 catches thus far. Ingram’s 10 total touchdowns land him tied for fourth in the league while Gurley’s eight total touchdowns slot him tied for seventh.
Of course, the best runner in this matchup is not a running back: it is Lamar Jackson. Jackson has been sensational on the ground. He is the 11th leading rusher in the NFL, and he averages a league-high 6.7 yards per carry. Jackson mixes immense volume (11.6 rushes per game) with the NFL’s best efficiency, and it is nightmare fuel for the Rams.
Pass catchers:
The Rams have one of the NFL’s best receivers in the form of Cooper Kupp. While Kupp had a goose egg of a performance two weeks ago against the Steelers, he is still top 10 in targets, receptions, and receiving yards, and he is on pace for a colossal 96-catch, 1,352-yard season. Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks, while incredibly talented, have underperformed on the season. Both have missed time due to injury, and neither is operating as effectively as Kupp. Both are game-changers in their own right, but the Ravens will be laser-focused on Cooper Kupp.
The Ravens have tried to burn teams with a series of tight ends. Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle, and Hayden Hurst have combined for 125 targets so far, or 12.5 per game. Andrews has been one of the best tight ends in football, racking up nearly 600 yards and six touchdowns despite inconsistencies since a hot start. In terms of receivers, the Ravens employ Marquise Brown, who has been a home run-hitting deep threat. Brown has been quiet with regards to big plays since Week 1, but the speedster is always capable of exploiting a secondary down the field. Similar to Brandin Cooks, Brown missed a stretch of games which limits his season-ending statistical totals, but Brown is surely a weapon that Lamar Jackson will look to utilize.
In the Trenches:
The Ravens have one of the best offensive line units in the NFL with stalwarts such as Ronnie Stanley and Marshal Yanda playing at All-Pro levels. The Ravens are excellent in both pass protection and run-blocking, strengthening the gaps for Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram to gallop through. Opposing the elite offensive line is one of the greatest talents that the NFL has ever seen in Aaron Donald. While Donald has not reached his absurd sack rate of 2018, he still has eight sacks in 10 games, and he leads the NFL in tackles for loss for the second consecutive season. Donald is a game-wrecker, and he will likely be a mainstay in the Ravens’ backfield on Monday night.
The Rams’ offensive line has been less productive than the Ravens’, but they seemed to turn a corner against a high-quality Chicago defensive front. Rookies David Edwards and Bobby Evans had the night of their lives, helping the Rams to allow a total of two pressures, one hurry, and one quarterback knockdown. The Ravens do not have the individual talent of the Bears, but they work well as a collective. The Ravens tallied seven sacks in Week 11 as a hapless Texans offensive line allowed five different Ravens to drill Deshaun Watson. Matt Judon and Tyus Bowser had great days, recording a pair of sacks each.
Secondary:
While there are plenty of different avenues I could approach, the Marcus Peters-Eric Weddle angle is appealing. In 2018, Weddle was on the Ravens while Peters suited up for the Rams. Now, the players have switched sides with Weddle signing in L.A. during free agency and Peters being traded to Baltimore in October. Both players are instinctual presences and the play of both with likely factor into the result through turnovers and pass deflections.
Jalen Ramsey and Marlon Humphrey are simply two of the best in the game right now. Humphrey has played better in the 2019 season, but Ramsey has a well-deserved reputation of being an elite cornerback. Both should play at an exceptional level on Monday.
Verdict:
Reverting to Madden, both teams have “superstar X-factor”-caliber players in Lamar Jackson, Marlon Humphrey, Aaron Donald, and Jalen Ramsey. In terms of pure talent, few games pose more high-end players. Beyond the superstars, the story of the game will be told by the likes of Mark Ingram, Mark Andrews, Cooper Kupp, and Todd Gurley. Ravens versus Rams is fit for the biggest stage of the week: Monday Night Football.
Prediction:
Winner: Ravens
Spread: Ravens (-3)
Score: Ravens 31, Rams 20
Over/Under: OVER 46.5
