M&T BANK GAME PREVIEW

GAME PREVIEW PACKERS VS.

RAVENS

RB Devonta Freeman

QUOTH THE RAVEN

“I just know we’re battle-tested. I think this team is incredibly battletested. All of our games this year have been close, besides one of them. So, that’s how we play teams, and we know that. We have a chance in every game we play. It doesn’t matter who they are, and I think that’s a positive thing.”

– TE MARK ANDREWS

on the Ravens being battle-tested

The Baltimore Ravens (8-5) host the Green Bay Packers (10-3) for a 4:25 p.m. interconference battle at M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore currently sits atop the AFC North standings (with a one-game lead over Cincinnati & Cleveland), while the Packers lead the NFC North by four games over Minnesota. Green Bay is the fourth and final team Baltimore will face from the NFC North this season, with the Ravens having already beaten Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago. With a win over Green Bay, Baltimore will sweep the opposing NFC division for the third-straight season (NFC West in 2019 & NFC East in 2020). Dating back to 2018, Baltimore has won 13 straight games against the NFC. Since 2016, the Ravens are 12-1 at home in the month of December. Dating back to 2018, they are 8-0 in such games. Green Bay leads the series, 4-2. Under head coach John Harbaugh, Baltimore is 1-2 vs. the Packers, with the win coming the last time these teams met (2017), in a 23-0 tilt at Lambeau Field.

The Ravens dropped a 24-22 decision at Cleveland last Sunday, falling short after QB Tyler Huntley led a furious comeback in place of QB Lamar Jackson, who suffered a sprained ankle on the first play of the second quarter. Huntley completed 27-of38 passes for 270 yards and 1 TD (TE Mark Andrews), also rushing for 48 yards. Down 24-6 at the half, the Ravens battled back and recovered a K Justin Tucker onside kick, giving Baltimore the ball at its own 41-yard line with 1:15 remaining in the contest. Facing a fourth-and-6 to extend the potential game-winning drive, WR Rashod Bateman, who produced 7 catches for 103 yards, caught a quick pass from Huntley, but was dropped short of the first down marker.

NUMBERS TO RAVE ABOUT

1– Ranking of the Ravens’ run defense (85.5 ypg allowed), entering Week 15. Baltimore’s 3.94 yards permitted per carry is No. 4, while the Ravens have also allowed the fewest rushing first downs (62).

8– Career games, including two this year, with multiple 50-plus-yard FGM by K Justin Tucker, marking the most in NFL history. Last Sunday at Cleveland, Tucker (1,331 points) set the NFL record for most points scored by a player in the first 10 seasons of a career. 8-5 – The Ravens’ record for the sixth time in team history (also 2020, 2014, 2004, 2003 & 2001) and the third time under John Harbaugh (since 2008). The Ravens have clinched a playoff berth in all but one (2004) of those 8-5 starts. 9O3 – Offensive snaps played by G Kevin Zeitler in 2021, marking the NFL’s most by any player. Similarly, T Alejandro Villanueva has played the NFL’s secondmost offensive snaps (888).