Tonight’s Monday Night Football game consists of two teams desperately trying to stay alive in the playoff hunt: the defending champion Baltimore Ravens, and the Detroit Lions. Both teams have their strengths and weaknesses, so let’s take a look statistically at how both teams have been doing.
Offense: Baltimore has one of the league’s worst offenses. Ranked 20th in Passing Yards Per Game (227.9), 30th in Rush Yards Per Game (82.3) and 25th in Points Per Game (21.4), this is a team who has struggled to score, which is surprising for a defending Super Bowl champion. On the other side, Detroit, ranked 3rd in PYPG (297.2), 18th in RYPG (112.5), and 6th in PPG (26.6) don’t have the same offensive issues as Joe Flacco and the Ravens do this season.
Defense: The tides turn for both teams, as the Ravens have one of the league’s premiere defenses. Though a bit underwhelming on the pass attack (231.7 PYPG, 13th), the rush attack is stellar, allowing 101.2 RYPG (7th), in addition to being 7th in PPG allowed. And while the Lions have an excellent rush attack (5th in the league with 99.3 RYPG), the same cannot be said about the pass attack, which is 26th in the NFL (255.8 PYPG). Detroit has also given up 24.7 PPG so far (16th in the league).
Total Team Yards: On offense, Baltimore is 31st in total team yards this season (4033), while Detroit is 9th with 5325 total yards. Defensively, both teams excel in total yards allowed (BAL is 5th with 4327 YPG, while DET is 10th with 4627 YPG).
Keys To The Game: Since this is a crucial must win game for Baltimore, the offense has to step it up a notch tonight. Joe Flacco needs to be on his a game, especially when he’s had a QBR of 63.0 or under in 4 of his last 5 games. Defense has to stay consistent and stop Calvin Johnson on the pass attack while making sure Detroit gets no moves on the rush.
For Detroit, it all boils down to defense, and the pass attack has to step up tonight. One of the league’s worst passing defense, Flacco could have an easy night if the pass attack doesn’t hold. Detroit has to win the turnover battle and/or force Baltimore to run the ball more (the team’s weak point). The duo of Stafford and Johnson needs to stay strong tonight in addition.
Who Wins Tonight: I have the Ravens winning tonight’s game. Combine a terrific defense with Detroit’s ugly pass attack, and there could be big numbers for Flacco and his boys. Detroit has a terrific offense in Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, but Baltimore’s defense has been good most of the season, so Detroit will have to prove me wrong on this one and improve their weak points, as well as expose the Ravens poor road record.
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