Game Preview: Patriots vs. Ravens

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After a much-needed win in Pittsburgh, the Patriots will travel back to New England to host Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Baltimore is coming off a stunner lost to Miami in which they let up 27 points in the fourth quarter. So, who will earn the victory in week three? Let’s dive in.

Quick Hits

* The New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens have squared off 11 times in the regular season and four times in the postseason.

*The Patriots are 9-2 against Baltimore in the regular season and 2-2 against Baltimore in the playoffs.

* The last time the two teams squared off was during a Sunday Night Football game on Nov. 15, 2020, at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 23-17.

* Mac Jones needs 11 passing yards to replace Hugh Millen on New England’s all-time passing list. He would be in 7th place.

* Nick Folk looks to keep his streak going; he has not missed a field goal inside 50 yards since the season opener in 2020. Folk needs one more field goal inside 50 yards to establish an NFL record.

* There will be ten Alabama alums playing in this game.

* Damien Harris needs two rushing touchdowns to become the 14th Patriots player to reach 20 career rushing touchdowns.

* Ravens HC John Harborough is 4-8 against Bill Belichick in his career.

* The Ravens have given up the least penalty yards in the NFL for the past two weeks.

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Connections

Former Patriots

* George Godsey (Patriots: Tight Ends Coach 2012-13, Offensive Asst. Coach 2011; Ravens: Tight Ends Coach 2022-)

Former Ravens

* Carl Davis Jr. (Patriots: Player DL 2020-; Ravens: Player DL 2015-17)

* Lawrence Guy (Patriots: Player DL 2017-; Ravens: Player DL 2014-16)

* Matthew Judon (Patriots: Player LB 2021-; Ravens: Player LB 2016-20)

* Ty Montgomery II (Patriots: Player WR 2018; Ravens: Player WR 2022)

* Shaun Wade (Patriots: Player CB 2021-; Ravens: Player CB 2021)

Who has the advantage?

When the Patriots run: Winner: Ravens

It’s hard to think that the Patriots will win this matchup. New England ranks 19th in the league in yards per game with 101 and 20th in league with 3.8 yards per rush. Furthermore, the Ravens are giving up 84.5 yards per game which are eighth in the league. However, Baltimore is giving up 4.8 yards per rush, putting them at 22nd overall. The Ravens defensive line is strong with Calais Campell, Justin Madubuike, and Michael Pierce. Behind them are linebackers Patrick Queen and Josh Bynes. Damien Harris scored his first touchdown of the season last week and ran for 71 yards on 15 carries. Baltimore has the edge in this matchup, but if the Patriots want a chance at winning, they need to elevate their running game to the next level.

When the Ravens run: Winner: Patriots

The Patriots have been stellar at defending the run this season, which has been tough for them in years past. New England ranks fifth in both rushing yards per attempt (3.5) and rushing yards allowed (78) per game. Baltimore is looking to get back J.K. Dobbins, who suffered an injury in training camp. Behind Dobbins are veteran Kenyan Drake and Mike Davis. Lamar Jackson has been Lamar Jackson and is running the ball better than ever. He leads the team with 136 rushing yards, averaging 9.1 yards per attempt. Christian Barmore, Lawrence Guy, Deatrich Wise, and Davon Godchuax look to keep up the pace and slow down Lamar Jackson.

When the Patriots pass: Winner: Patriots

It’s hard to imagine the Patriots having the edge in the passing game as Mac Jones, and the offense started off slow, scoring only seven points in the season opener and 17 last week. However, Baltimore has the worst passing defense in the NFL, averaging 380 yards per game. The Patriots had a receiver reach 100 yards for the first time since the middle of the 2020 season. The Raven’s secondary includes Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Chuck Clark, Marcus Williams, and Kyle Hamilton.

When the Ravens pass: Winner: Ravens

Lamar Jackson is playing on an MVP level once again. His pass catchers have combined for four touchdowns, averaging 265 yards per game and 16 yards per reception. Jackson has thrown for 531 yards and six touchdowns with a passer rating of 120.1 through two games. Lamar Jackson is averaging nine yards per pass, which is second in the league, and Belichick has emphasized the importance of making Baltimore earn every yard they get. However, there were questions coming in the season with New England’s secondary. It has held up well thus far.

Special teams: Winner: Ravens

Bill Belichick prides himself in special team play, but the Ravens have arguably the best kicker in the game in Justin Tucker. Tucker has made all ten of his field goals this season. Last week in Pittsburgh, the Patriots were not sharp in the kicking game. Nick Folk missed a 52-yard field goal, and Myles Bryant muffed a punt which resulted in a touchback. Furthermore, Bailey had two punts that landed in the endzone. resulting in touchbacks. Ravens receiver Devin Duvernay returned a kickoff for 103 yards to open the game in Miami. New England will look to clean up their mistakes on special teams and rebound against a talented Ravens team.

Senior Coaching Staff

New England:

Head Coach – Bill Belichick

Senior football advisior/offesenive line – Matt Patrica

Offensive assistant/quarterbacks – Joe Judge

Running backs – Vinne Sunseri

Wide receivers – Troy Brown

Offensive line – Billy Yates

Linebackers – Steve Belichick

Linebackers – Jerod Mayo

Cornerbacks – Mike Pellegrino

Special teams coordinator – Cam Achord

Baltimore:

Head Coach – John Harbough

Offensive coordinator – Greg Roman

Offensive line coach – Joe D’alessandris

Quarterbacks coach – James Urban

Defensive coordinator – Mike McDonald

Pass game coordinator/secondary – Chris Hewitt

Assistant head coach /defensive line – Anthony Weaver

Injury Report

Key:

DNP: Did not participate in practice

LP: Limited participation in practice

FP: Full participation in practice

NL: Not listed.

Patriots:

Questionable

S Joshuah Bledsoe – Groin (LP)

DB Cody Davis – Calf (LP)

S Kyle Dugger- Knee (LP)

DL Davon Godchaux – Back (LP)

LB Raekwon McMillan – Thumb (DNP)

WR Jakobi Meyers – Knee (LP)

CB Jalen Mills – Hamstring (LP)

S Adrian Phillips – Ribs (LP)

Ravens:

Out:

T Ronnie Stanley – Ankle (DNP)

Questionable

RB J.K. Dobbins – Knee (FP)

CB Marlon Humphrey – Groin (FP)

TE Isaiah Likely – Groin (LP)

CB Marcus Peters – NIR rest/knee (FP)

WR James Proche II – Groin (FP)

DB Brandon Stephens – Quad (FP)

CB Damarion Williams – Ankle (FP)

Game Officials

Head Referee – Bill Vinovich (16th season in the NFL and 13th as head official)

Weather Forcast

Partly cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 71F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Noteworthy Quotes

Baltimore Ravens

“We have a lot of respect for them; we have a lot of respect for [head] Coach [Bill] Belichick, obviously, admiration. I’ve said many times that you try to study the best in the business, in your profession. So, I study Coach Belichick as much as I can. You’re not in their meeting rooms, but you watch their tape all the time and you see what he says and what you think they’re trying to do. So, nothing but the utmost admiration and respect, and that’s what makes it so meaningful to go up there and compete against those guys and against his team.”

– Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh

“Any time you look at New England, you’re looking at almost perfectly coached technique, unbelievable intensity and strength. There’s a reason they’ve had so much success over the last 22 years. And we’re going to have to give it our all this week, because you know they’re not going to give us anything.”

– Ravens Guard Kevin Zeitler

“He’s (Mac Jones) a guy who can play. He’s a winner; you track him all the way back [to] high school and college, but he operates the offense very well. He’s very accurate, gets the ball out on time, he can move around in the pocket, he can scramble if he has to – I don’t think he wants to, but he’s willing to do it – and he makes some yards doing it when he does. A lot of respect, and he’s running that offense and doing a heck of a job.”

-Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh

New England Patriots:

On finding easier throws

“I think every offense is different and we have really good skill players. They’ve done a good job and like you said, the players are really good in the NFL, so it’s not going to be a wide open play every time, but when it is, I need to hit them. There’s a few of those I wish I could have hit last week and that’s gone now, so all you can do is try and hit the ones this week. They’ve done a good job getting open. I like the hard throws, I like the easy throws, just whatever moves the ball down the field is good for me, and good for the offense. Obviously, we’ve actually moved it pretty well in terms of yardage and all that. Just knocking it in when we get down there and coming up with ways to get the ball in the endzone.”

– Patriots Quarterback Mac Jones

On the liking of RPO’s

”I think it puts stress on the defense. I definitely learned in college just watching Coach [Nick] Saban sometimes explode at practice. Just knowing he’s trying to tell somebody to do something but his guy’s running a route but then it’s also a run. Is it a pass? So there’s a lot of cool grey area there from an offensive perspective. I’ve always, obviously we didn’t run them in high school, I ran the wing T. They were new to me at Alabama. I’ve seen teams run them on film. Some teams do it right. Some teams do it in interesting ways. You can’t really ever tell if it’s a RPO, or a play-action sometimes. It’s kind of an interesting play.”

– Patriots Quarterback Mac Jones

On Mac Jones progressing

“He’s gotten better at a lot of things. But it’s similar to what he dealt with in college. Good receivers at Alabama. There’s some matchups that he took that were good decisions. But again, I think you have to kind of separate out what’s — it’s not all equal. There’s a lot of factors that come into play. I think you have guidelines and then within those guidelines you — the quarterback has to make the decision with the ball in his hands in a short amount of time. I’d say Mac [Jones] does a good job at that.”

– Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick

On the importance of game one

“Yeah, I think it’s important. I think sometimes in Game One, there’s a lot of emotional stuff. You want to focus more on the details of the plays and everything like that and let the emotions come and go. That’s how emotions are, and they come and go. Energy and all that will be there. At the end of the day, it’s just the start of something. You have to learn from it and grow regardless of the results. So we’re going to go out there and compete and see how it goes. That’s all that you can ask for.”

– Patriots Quarterback Mac Jones

Broadcast Information

From Patriots.com

TELEVISION: This week’s game will be broadcast by FOX and can be seen locally on WFXT-TV Channel 25. Joe Davis will handle play-by-play duties with Daryl Johnston as the color analyst. Pam Oliver will provide analysis from the sidelines. The game will be produced by Pete Macheska and directed by Artie Kempner.

NATIONAL RADIO: This week’s game will be broadcast to a national audience by ESPN Radio. Chris Carlin and Chris Canty will call the game. Sal Paolantonio will report from the sidelines.

LOCAL RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network’s 33 stations. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis. The games are produced by Marc Cappello.q2vg34q3