Game Preview, Week 6: Washington at Ravens
October 12, 2024
by Steve Thomas
Unbelievably, Washington marches into week 6 proudly sporting a 5 – 1 record. Certainly, that’s something that very few people, even Washington fans, expected given the team’s general history and some of the perceived roster deficiencies. Fans were understandably gun shy when it came to predicting and rooting for success. Washington took a big step to erase all of that last week with their blowout win over the Browns. The difficulty rachets up quite a bit this week, however, with a trip up the freeway to Baltimore for a faceoff with reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and Ravens. Feel free to downplay this game all you want – I know some fans will try to downplay this game, but the truth of the matter is that the NFL at large will want to see Washington do well, at a minimum, even if they don’t win, in order to take a step up in terms of league-wide respect. Let’s hope that happens. Our game preview starts below.
Game time & location: Sunday, October 13, 2024, 1:00 p.m. ET, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD; Gates open 11:00 a.m. ET; parking lots 8:00 a.m.
Television: CBS
Television announcers: Jim Nance, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson
TV broadcast map: Click here
DC-area radio: BIG-100 (WBIG FM)
Washington radio network: Click here
Ravens radio network: Click here
Satellite radio: SiriusXM: 225 (Ravens broad.) / 383 (Wash. broad.); internet: 831
Washington roster: Click here
Washington depth chart: Click here
Ravens roster: Click here
Ravens depth chart: Click here
All-time head-to-head record vs Ravens: 3 – 4 (last 5: 2 – 3)
Last meeting: L, October 10, 2020, 17 – 31
Ravens record: 3 – 2 (2nd in AFC North)
Early odds: Ravens, -6.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Keep Derrick Henry in check
The Ravens are the best running team in the league, courtesy of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. The Ravens are always an outstanding running team, particularly considering that they have Lamar Jackson under center. This season, Derrick Henry was fairly mediocre in the first two games of the year, averaging 3.5 yards per carry against the Chiefs in week 1 and 4.7 yards per carry against the Raiders in week 2. However, since then, he’s been out of this world, averaging 6.1, 8.3, and 6.0 yards per carry, respectively, in weeks 3, 4, and 5. Washington, of course, features one of the overall worst run defenses in the NFL; opponents have averaged 5.1 yards per carry, which is tied for 31st in the league. Keeping Henry at an average of at least in the low 4.0 yards per carry will be absolutely essential to Washington’s chances to win. This needs to be a major focus of the defensive pass.
Get Washington’s short passing offense going
Baltimore has the best run defense in the NFL, as measured by yards per carry, and below average passing defense. The obvious conclusion from these stats are that Washington probably won’t be able to run nearly as efficiently as they’ve been doing for the past few weeks. Simultaneously, they also need to run up their time of possession in order to keep the high-scoring Ravens off the field. All of this means that Washington needs to be hyper-focused on a short, controlled passing game this year. Fortunately, that’s been Washington’s strong point for much of the year. Look for lots of screens and short outs in the flats in order to keep up first downs in a way that’s going to both gain yardage and run up the clock.
Minimize Lamar Jackson’s impact
This one is obviously easier said than done, considering that Jackson is the reigning league MVP and probably the best running quarterback in NFL history. Keeping Jackson in the pocket is extraordinarily difficult. Washington should refrain from blitzing too much, and instead work to keep Jackson in the pocket as much as possible. He’s a good passer, but he’s not at the same level in that regard as he is on the ground. The gameplan needs to be to keep Jackson in the pocket as much as possible and make him beat Washington with his arm. It’s likely that Jackson is going to get his, regardless; the trick will be to minimize the impact.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Bobby Wagner vs Derrick Henry
Somebody needs to take the lead in keeping Henry somewhat in check, and the star, All-Pro middle linebacker, Wagner, is front and center for the task. Obviously, this isn’t a direct one on one battle, but Washington will need Wagner to hold down the middle and keep Henry from getting extra yardage off the line of scrimmage. Keep and eye out on how well Wagner does with this job. This could be the first real impact game for Wagner of his Washington career, if it goes well.
Mike Sainristil vs Zay Flowers
Flowers happens to be Lamar Jackson’s favorite target, and given his size and typical position in the slot, it seems likely that Sainristil will be on Flowers more than anyone else. Sainristil has shown talent and results at times this year, so this could be an opportunity for him to build his reputation. Or, it could also go horribly wrong. I don’t think Washington’s coaches will let Sainristil play Flowers in press-man too often, but this will be a big matchup throughout the game. Washington’s defensive chances could hinge on Sainristil’s success, or lack thereof.
Brandon Coleman vs Kyle Van Noy
Coleman and Cornelius Lucas have been roughly splitting snaps lately, which is up from the approximately two-thirds / one-third split in favor of Lucas at the beginning of the season. Van Noy is an elite pass rusher who already has 6 sacks this season, so Baltimore will expect him to take advantage of the rookie when he’s in the game. Despite the blowout win against the Browns last week, Washington’s offensive line actually wasn’t that good in pass protection. It gets harder this week, and Coleman, as the rookie, is going to be in the middle of it against Van Noy. Watch for how easily Van Noy is getting into the backfield.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only)
LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice
NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out
D – doubtful
| Washington | Ravens |
| S T. Owens, shin; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | LB M. Harrison, groin; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| LB J. Magee, knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; game: Q | CB A. Maulet, knee/hamstring; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| DL E. Obada, tibia/fibula; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; game: Q | DT B. Washington, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| QB B. Robinson Jr., knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: Q | RB R. Ali, neck; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; game: Q |
| G N. Allegretti, ankle; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP | G S. Aumavae-Laulu, back; Wed: NL; Thurs: DNP; Fri: LP; game: Q |
| WR N. Brown, groin; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP | WR D. Harty, knee; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; game: Q |
| DE C. Ferrell, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP | CB M. Humphrey, ankle; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q |
| S P. Butler, groin; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP | T R. Stanley, toe; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q |
| RB A. Ekeler, heel; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | WR R. Bateman, groin; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP |
| CB E. Forbes Jr., thumb; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | TE C. Kolar, toe; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP |
| OLB D. Fowler Jr., illness; Wed: DNP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | T R. Rosengarten, ankle/hand; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP |
| S Q. Martin, neck; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP | G A. Vorhees, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri; FP |
| DT P. Mathis, illness; Wed: NL; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP |
Steve’s Prediction
This is a pretty big game for Washington, whether fans want to admit it or not. They can’t win them all though, and Baltimore has scored 35 and 41 points over the last two weeks. I think Baltimore wins a high scoring affair, 38 – 31.