“Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing”
Is this Ravens head coach John Harbaugh’s thoughts about possibly going 1-6 after many thought the Ravens would be a Super Bowl contender? No…it’s a line from “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe. Who doesn’t like a nice correlation between football and an amazing author! The Bears don’t play the Ravens often, so if I have the chance to quote one of my favorite pieces of literature…I am going to take it! Getting back to football, John Harbaugh needs to turn his team around, he and the rest of the team are sick of the losses piling up… “Quoth the Ravens. Nevermore”. Of course the Bears just want more…more wins. This game though is going to be tough.
Our Offense vs Their Defense
The passing game needs to get going like our running game has. I want a more efficient attack and we need it against the Ravens. That balanced attack also needs to end drives with TDs…we cannot lead long drives or get turnovers in great field position and have it end in fields goals. This is a game we will need to score TDs and score often. The Bears will be without Cole Kmet due to an injury, so let’s get our rookie TE Colston Loveland involved earlier and often. This defense can be exposed in the passing game. Granted, the Ravens have some players on the defense coming back from injury…but this Ravens defense is not playing well.
The Ravens defense is also very aggressive and it’s led by former Bears linebacker Roquan Smith. I feel this is a game we will lean on runs and screens early in an effort to bring the Ravens up close…then hit a big play deep. The Ravens can get to the QB, they are typically great tacklers and their secondary in past years has been excellent. Let’s hope the Ravens don’t figure out what’s wrong with their defense and shut us down. The bad thing is John Harbaugh is 14-3 after a bye, the defense has something to prove and the Ravens are in desperation mode to save their season. I would expect the Ravens to play a little dirty too…let’s hope the refs stay on top of it.
Our Defense vs Their Offense
Please, please, please do not let QB Lamar Jackson play. The Ravens QB has not had a great year, but that’s mostly because of injuries. Lamar scares the holy hell out of me. He is a better than Jayden Daniels…more accurate, faster and doesn’t turn the ball over often. If he does play, we cannot allow him out of the pocket…constrict it and throw those hands up to bat the passes down. DE Montez Sweat and DT Gervon Dexter need to have breakout games on Sunday. Lamar’s favorite targets to watch are often his tight ends and WR Zay Flowers. This is also a game that the skill position players for the Ravens are prone to fumbling the ball. The bad thing about the Bears secondary though…we have all 3 of our top corners out with injuries. Uh oh.
Another player that scares the absolute hell out of me is RB Derrick Henry. There is a way to prevent his effectiveness though. The Bears need to get into the backfield quickly and tackle him by the legs…do NOT let him get momentum and let him go untouched for 5 yards as he is very hard to tackle further down the field due to his size (biggest running back in the NFL) and his speed. If he does get into the open field, the Bears should have multiple people trying to tackle…and take shots at ripping/punching the ball out of his hands. While Derrick Henry is a monster at times…this year he has had trouble hanging on to the football.
Conclusion
I’m not going to lie, at the beginning of the season I had this game as a loss. Ravens are loaded with talent. This year though, the Ravens have had some really bad luck, injuries and just poor play. Considering how desperate they are for a win, injured players coming back and it’s in Baltimore…the Bears may be in a bad spot here. If anything this will be a good test for the team!