This could be a decidedly ugly football game between the Ravens and Titans on Sunday.
Tennessee would have it no other way . Given Baltimore's issues winning at home (four straight losses) and putting lesser teams away, they may have no other choice. The perilous situation on the offensive line is begging Ravens rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle to attempt some workarounds and that should involve getting some more fringy contributors more involved.
This game could be closer and stickier than the line would suggest, and we expect Baltimore to be in survive and advance mode and for the staff to understand it's going to take more than Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers and Derrick Henry on offense to win, and that Kyle Hamilton is going to need other highly-paid veterans to step up on that defense even with All-Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike back from neck surgery.
We expect these three lesser-discussed Ravens to play a very key role in Week 4.
His snaps have decreased each week (the reserve back got a heavy load bleeding the clock in Week 1's blowout of the Colts), but that trend is over. With an already miserable offensive line now beset by injuries, volume in the run game is imperative . And, right now, shotgun runs are much more effective for Ravens RBs (6.0/carry) than under center runs (4.7/carry) and Hill shows up more in the spread stuff.
Oh and they need to attack the perimeter more and that pays to Hill and they better sell out to keep Lamar Jackson on his feet, and Hill is their best pass protecting back by a country mile and they might want to up the tempo at times and try to grind down this defensive line, and Hill is their two-minute back.
Hill has just three targets all season; we could see him surpassing that Sunday. He could run the ball upwards of 10 times on top of it. And, with a rethink of their short-yardage approach underway , he could even show up in the redzone in ways he normally might not. Would be silly not to lean into his skillset given the circumstances of this game.
Doesn't catch many balls and doesn't show up consistently, but he makes them count. Finished the season latching on to some deep balls and with Zay Flowers begging to be smothered in coverage at this point, we expect Jackson to target him on several deep shots. Maybe its not more than 50 yards gained on a defensive pass interference call on an underthrown ball - it all matters and this could be a slugfest.
We couldn't be shocked if he caught a long TD pass on an under-center play action look on an early down. We like his chances, though Titans coach Robert Saleh isn't one to blitz or take chances and he wants to keep a top on the offense.
Aug 17, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones (98) reacts during the first half against the Atlanta Falcons at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
He made some vital contributions against the Cowboys as fellow defensive tackle Nnamdi Madibuike played football for the first time in over a year. He read a shovel pass and blew up tight end Jake Ferguson and forced a critical turnover at a time Dallas was moving the ball up and down the field on this defense.
With Madubuike still working his way back, and Calais Campbell 40 years old and on a pitch count, and Minter not loving leaning into two-gap bodies to stop the run, a lot has been asked of Jones. Wouldn't be surprised to see him show up in the backfield Sunday. He's played 105 snaps, most of Ravens defensive linemen, and with $30M pass rusher Trey Hendrickson out for this game, getting more interior push up front would be huge.
He stands to benefit most from Madubuike coming back and already has four tackles for a loss and four pressures. Young Titans QB Cam Ward struggles against the blitz and can get rattled and we like Jones to do some damage in NASCAR packages .
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/ravens/onsi as Three Ravens Who Will Have Breakout Games Sunday .
