407 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

The Bears are 3-6, 2-2 at home. 

ESPN's Matchup Predictor gives the Ravens a 62.3% chance of winning.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Who knows

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Ravens favored by 6. Absolutely no reason not to keep betting against them when they are getting 6 points on the road. To anyone.

[Slidemaster]

This game feels like a get right game for Fields and Allen Robinson. I'm not necessarily expecting a loss but I'm for sure not expecting a big win.

[Mike B]

No idea about this game.  My gut tells me the Ravens bounce back, after the extended break, but all the mental breakdowns are hard to take.

I do think the offense answers the bell this week.

[jamesdean]

One thing is for sure- with nothing to lose like the Dolphins, the Bears will duplicate pretty much everything Miami did defensively.  Until the Ravens prove they can overcome the Cover 0 and make a team pay for it, it's going to be a blitz frenzy every week.  I fully expect them to come out with a much greater sense of urgency, Lamar will get the ball out of his hands a lot quicker and they will attack the middle of the field.  The questions are, will he be accurate, will the receivers hold on to the ball, will they establish an effective running game and will they turn the ball over?  I'd like to think they got the Dolphin game out of their system but at some point, if the same bad things continue to happen, then it's fair to question if this team is even that good to begin with after the barrage of injuries. 

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Chi also coming off their bye. If you think that means anything.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Chi also coming off their bye. If you think that means anything.

Extra prep, but negligible advantage since the Ravens had the extra time after the Thursday game.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Bears showed some interesting looks with Montgomery back against the Steelers last Monday. Wouldn’t surprise me if they present some challenges for the defense. Decent TE in Kmet, quality backfield with a mobile QB and some solid WR’s, including a VERY good one in Robinson.

[Mackus]

Agree Robinson is a very talented guy but Fields has no idea what to do with him.  Maybe they figure it out against this Ravens defense, but I'd probably take the under on whatever the over/under is for Robinson's yards, catches and touchdowns.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Agreed on him in particular. Thought their offense flashed a bit finally in the 2nd half of the Pittsburgh game. But that was run centric. But Pittsburgh has the 24th ranked run defense, the Ravens are 4th against the run.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Fields seems overmatched but then again Brissett and Tua were mostly overmatched Thur. If you can hit on a few big plays it can be a difference maker. Especially against an all or nothing relatively inefficient offense like ours

[jamesdean]

Fields seems overmatched but then again Brissett and Tua were mostly overmatched Thur. If you can hit on a few big plays it can be a difference maker. Especially against an all or nothing relatively inefficient offense like ours

I don't know Fields stats on passes over 20 yards but you best believe he'll be going downfield at least a few times.  By this point, I'm sure the Ravens are well known throughout the league for their "at least once a game" meltdown on such plays. 

[hallas]

One thing is for sure- with nothing to lose like the Dolphins, the Bears will duplicate pretty much everything Miami did defensively.  Until the Ravens prove they can overcome the Cover 0 and make a team pay for it, it's going to be a blitz frenzy every week.  I fully expect them to come out with a much greater sense of urgency, Lamar will get the ball out of his hands a lot quicker and they will attack the middle of the field.  The questions are, will he be accurate, will the receivers hold on to the ball, will they establish an effective running game and will they turn the ball over?  I'd like to think they got the Dolphin game out of their system but at some point, if the same bad things continue to happen, then it's fair to question if this team is even that good to begin with after the barrage of injuries. 

 

This is a new problem for the Ravens, and I believe it's because we have a completely new RB room with less talent and less practice with our run option.  The 2019 and 2020 Ravens made overload blitzes a lose-lose because both Lamar and the RBs were so good at selling it and Lamar was nearly perfect in his decision making regarding whether to keep or give. This year every time we've tried a run option it feels like the RBs screw it up and it ends up being a fumble.  I don't know how much more we can practice it this late in the season, but it'd really be good to see it a few more times to keep the defense honest.  The screens just weren't working because it didn't feel like the WRs knew how to block for them.

[Biggsy]

Bears showed some interesting looks with Montgomery back against the Steelers last Monday. Wouldn’t surprise me if they present some challenges for the defense. Decent TE in Kmet, quality backfield with a mobile QB and some solid WR’s, including a VERY good one in Robinson.

Montgomery should scare any Ravens fan right now. He has been top 3 in elusive rating and forced missed tackles since he came into the league.

Against this Ravens defense that can't tackle, that is a huge problem.

[jamesdean]

Montgomery should scare any Ravens fan right now. He has been top 3 in elusive rating and forced missed tackles since he came into the league.

Against this Ravens defense that can't tackle, that is a huge problem.

Depends on which team shows up.  If it's the one that played the Chargers, we'll be fine.  I'm not overly worried about the Ravens run defense.  It's been the one constant all season that remains solid.  

[Biggsy]

Depends on which team shows up. If it's the one that played the Chargers, we'll be fine. I'm not overly worried about the Ravens run defense. It's been the one constant all season that remains solid.

Montgomery doesn't only get the ball in the run game. If Chicago gets him out on swing passes or screens on the outside, in space, that could end very badly for the Ravens.

[Bmore Irish]

I felt they really needed to go 3-0 in the Min, Mia, Chi stretch before this brutal seven game run to end the season. I won't quite call this must-win, but man if they don't bounce back against the Bears, some of these tough match-ups late in the season are gonna turn into much more daunting looking must-win games. Going 5-3 to end the season is a tall order at this point.

 

It'd be nice to see the offense get out to a faster start. If the defense is going to give up a few big plays every week, at least give yourself a little more cushion for when it happens. They've been having the same problems all year, so I guess let's hope this is the week they fix some of them?

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I felt they really needed to go 3-0 in the Min, Mia, Chi stretch before this brutal seven game run to end the season. I won't quite call this must-win, but man if they don't bounce back against the Bears, some of these tough match-ups late in the season are gonna turn into much more daunting looking must-win games. Going 5-3 to end the season is a tall order at this point.

It'd be nice to see the offense get out to a faster start. If the defense is going to give up a few big plays every week, at least give yourself a little more cushion for when it happens. They've been having the same problems all year, so I guess let's hope this is the week they fix some of them?

10 wins looking like it could win the division. The schedule isnt easy by any means but honestly none of the divisional teams seem better than us and the Rams arent that scary either. I have no idea what to expect from us going forward. I just know that most of the teams we play going forward are fairly solid but not scary by any means.

[Bmore Irish]

10 wins looking like it could win the division. The schedule isnt easy by any means but honestly none of the divisional teams seem better than us and the Rams arent that scary either. I have no idea what to expect from us going forward. I just know that most of the teams we play going forward are fairly solid but not scary by any means.

I could definitely see 10 being good enough, but it's gonna be tight with all these AFCN games coming up amongst the entire division. My concern is less with any one team left on the schedule being so great, and more so that we are seeing the same problems and mistakes repeatedly drive after drive and game after game. And I believe the margin for error will be thinner in this second half of the season.

 

They'll hopefully get a few more guys healthy and back in the line-up, but I don't think that's meaningfully changing what we've already seen. The problems that go beyond talent are disturbing when they continue consistently happening well into the midpoint of the season.

 

Lotta ball left to be played, but I think we know who the Ravens are this season. A mistake-prone team who starts way too slow, and relies on one guy to turn it around. Not able to effectively run the ball and falling behind the chains. Regularly playing from behind. Busted coverages and communication breakdowns on defense, to go with poor tackling and limited pass rush.