Nickolas Loza | November 29th, 2019
Who knew at the beginning of the season, that the San Francisco 49ers, a team who went 4-12 last year and looked doomed, would be in the division lead in the NFC West and at 10-1 nonetheless. Meanwhile in Baltimore, the Ravens have put together a super bowl caliber team led by the leading MVP candidate quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has led them to a 9-2 record and the first place spot in the AFC North. In today’s article, i will cover who I think will win the all-important game and give my reasoning.
The two quarterbacks and their offenses
On the side of the San Francisco 49ers, they have quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has come off of his ACL tear to lead the 49ers by passing for 2731 yards, 20 TD’s and he has a completion percentage of 68.8%. At the beginning of the year, he was criticized for not having a “clean game” so to speak, which is a game where a quarterback throws for no interceptions. Recently however, he has had two games where has thrown zero interceptions, both of which the 49ers won. He has played better as of late, but he will face a defense that has recorded at least two turnovers in its last four games. The 49ers offense will need to preach ball security, which is something they aren’t really good at. If the 49ers want to win they will have to run the football, which is something that they do extremely well, having recorded 100 or more rushing yards in a game seven different times. That’s what they need to do win. Keep the ball in their hands and be efficient.
On the other hand, the Ravens offense is by far the most explosive offense in the NFL, led by QB Lamar Jackson. Jackson has 24 touchdowns, only five interceptions, and has a completion percentage of 66.9%. His best attribute however, is his legs. He has 876 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns and is gaining 7.1 yards per attempt. This has led him to be the leading MVP candidate, and if the Ravens win this game it would be hard to make a case against him. There aren’t any other outstanding pieces on offense for them, so let’s move onto defense.
The two teams’ defenses and how they’re so similar
For defense, all the points I’m about to make apply to both teams. Both teams defenses thrive on opportunity, they both thrive on applying pressure and having good coverage, and they both have exceptional run defenses. Somethings gotta give here, and it’s on the edge where the 49ers have rookie sensation DE Nick Bosa. He has recorded 8.0 sacks, and he has 16 QB hits, meaning he’s constantly applying pressure. Both of these teams share similarities everywhere, making it hard to predict who will actually win.
My prediction on who will win
I believe the Ravens will win the game 32-27. Lamar Jackson will be impressive, as will Jimmy Garoppolo but I believe the Ravens would have to shoot themselves in the foot in order to lose. The Ravens after this game go to Buffalo to face the Bills, and the 49ers go to New Orleans to face the Saints. This ought to be a good game, and it’s one of the best late-season matchup records ever. The 49ers are the first team this late into the season to face three consecutive teams who have an .800 record or better (8-2 or better). The next few weeks will be a test for both teams, and we should all enjoy watching.
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