Vin+ 3,121 Posted October 1, 2016 STATS LLC Associated Press Sep 28, 2016 BALTIMORE -- The undefeated Baltimore Ravens face their biggest test so far in Week 4 against the Oakland Raiders and their high-powered offense. Baltimore, however, already got a significant boost to its lineup heading into the game. Linebacker Elvis Dumervil returned to practice and is expected to make his season debut Sunday. The Ravens will need the extra help to contain Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who torched their secondary for a career-high 351 yards and three touchdowns in their matchup last season. Oakland (2-1) has already won twice on the road. "He had a breakout game against us, probably in some ways, last year," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said about Carr. "They still have built the offense for him in the same way they built it last year. They're going to get the ball off quick. They're going to protect him. They're going to keep him clean. He hasn't been sacked very much and hasn't had a lot of turnovers -- very few fumbles that he's caused. That's a formula for success on offense. They've done a good job of that, and we're going to have to figure out how to counter that." The Ravens are 3-0 for the third time in franchise history (2006 and 2009). Those wins have come by a combined 13 points and against teams that are now a cumulative 1-8. Baltimore has managed just four touchdowns over that stretch. "I'm not really too worried about it," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said. "I feel like we know what is going on. We feel good about a lot of the things we are doing. We feel like we are ready to burst onto the scene. We have a lot of moving parts, a lot of guys catching passes. I think if we get our run game going a little bit and clean up the little things like penalties, some drops and a couple missed throws -- stuff like that -- I think we will be going." While the offense has struggled, the Ravens' defense has come up big each game. Baltimore is allowing just 254.3 yards per game, second only to Seattle (250.3). The is a big improvement from last season when the Ravens failed to make key stops in the fourth quarter. "It's a good group, well coached (with) a lot of talent on the defense," Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said in a conference call with reporters. "They mix their coverages. They're physical up front. It's a very good football team." Oakland, meanwhile, has the second-best offense in the NFL, averaging 436 yards and 26.7 points per game. Carr has thrown for 867 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. In last season's matchup, Carr threw the game-winning score to Seth Roberts with 26 second left. The game also marks a homecoming for former Ravens' offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele, who signed with Oakland in the offseason for a five-year, $58.5 million deal. Osemele is looking forward to matching up with his former teammates. "It's going to be great," Osemele said. "I got to practice against these guys for so long and played against these guys for so long that it's going to be exciting playing them on Sunday. There's a few guys, obviously, that it's going to be fun to finish through and play against them in a game. You couldn't really finish through and pancake your own teammates (in practice). Just to go out there and talk a little trash and get to compete against those guys is going to be fun." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RazorStar 4,025 Posted October 1, 2016 The Raiders aren't gonna be used to being held under 20 points. 24 19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cherry 1,302 Posted October 1, 2016 35 21 John Harbaugh, do you bleed? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ATL_Predator+ 1,196 Posted October 1, 2016 24 18 I'm excited about this game for us...I truly am, but the Ravens are the real deal and have all the things to break us. Defensively, they are an elite unit. They are going to take away the run and attempt to make us one dimensional if they are smart..which they are. With Vadal Alexander starting at RT and Dumervil coming back...regardless whoever lines up oppposite of Vadal there's going to be havoc on that side of the ball. Raiders most likely obviously know this and will attempt to attack that open space...but here lies the problem...long lost friend Eric Weddle is going to change that. I think this is a great test for our offense..we will really see what we're worth. The emergence of Mike Wallace concerns me, and I expect the Ravens to pound the rock into oblivion. Back to back east coast trips will most likely not end well for us. Hope for the best, but realistically I don't see us winning this game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ATL_Predator+ 1,196 Posted October 2, 2016 First. What an absolutely incredible game. I would like to tip my hat off to the Ravens and their defense, they are truly an elite unit. They held us to under 200 total yards until the 4th Q which I believe is incredible. Their front seven is nasty and they did a great job disguising coverages and blitzes all day long. Offensively: We had some individual struggles. Early on you could tell Carr was nervous and rushing throws. Vadal Alexander had 5 penalties on him.. really killed some of our drives but it was his first ever NFL start going up against Doom in a hostile environment. Deandre Washington played very well until that fumble...that for sure I thought was the killer for us. I literally can't say enough about our offensive line, Derek Carr and Michael Crabtree. All fought all day long and really came through and took the next step to finishing games for us. The first TD drive and the last TD drive were both things of beauty that were truly special. Defensively Man. I've been waiting for our defense to come through and the first half they played lights out. Mack and Irvin both were making plays all day long and getting to Flacco and you could see Flacco as the game went on grimacing more and more and rushing throws. Def. got into his head and you could see some off throws on the last drive...maybe not due to that but you know in the back of his head that he knows the pressure is there. Our secondary played incredible outside that odd Steve Smith TD. Steve Smith made his one a game ridic play and stiff armed Amerson and caught Reggie Nelson flat footed and made a nice cut for that TD. Both Cory James and Karl Joseph stepped up and both made some BIG plays. James had a nice FF and Joseph at the end was getting into the action on blitzes and was very effective. I'd just like to say all of our rookies have played and played well (minus Connor Cook who has not played yet) what our front office has done is special. Joseph, James, Washington, Alexander, Calhoun... all played today and didn't look completely lost. But I'd like to give the game ball to our punter... Marquette King won the battle of field position by pinning the Ravens inside their 20 NUMEROUS times. Alleviating some pressure on our defense and he was just booming kicks. An incredible game and overall team performance. Effort was there all across the board. I did not believe we would go into Baltimore and beat an undefeated team with the players that they have. Amazing. We are here. We might not win the division but we are going to fight until the very end and that showed today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
