'A Prove-It Game For Ravens Defense,' Says Larry Hartstein On Matchup With Bengals
Baltimore, MD (WJZ)- The Baltimore Ravens defense suffered another huge injury earlier this week. Safety Tony Jefferson was lost for the season due to a knee injury suffered in last Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The injury further depletes an already-suffering secondary that has been missing Tavon Young and Jimmy Smith. In addition to the Ravens' struggles on defense, their offense hasn't looked quite the same since the opening victories over the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals. The good news is, the team has a potential "get right" game on the schedule this week, with the 0-5 Cincinnati Bengals coming to town.
The Bengals, like the Ravens, have had their fair share of injuries. But most of theirs have come on the offensive side of the ball. Star receiver A.J. Green has yet to play a game this season. Tackles Cordy Glenn and Andre Smith are both dealing with injuries, and wide receiver John Ross suffered an injury to his collarbone that has put him on IR.
Those injuries help push the NFL odds more in favor of the Ravens in this matchup. They're favored by 11 points, which means, in theory, that Ravens fans should be able to kick their feet up and enjoy this Sunday, right? Well, the trends say... not exactly.
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"Baltimore is just 3-12 against the number when laying double-digits. It happened earlier this season against Arizona, they didn't come close to covering 13 in that game," said SportsLine senior NFL analyst Larry Hartstein. "When you look at this series, the Bengals have covered three straight, won two of those outright. Last year, in late November, Lamar Jackson was already playing for Joe Flacco, and Cincy only lost by three at Baltimore."
That will do nothing to boost the confidence of Ravens fans hoping to see a dominant performance in the vein of what the team did to the Dolphins earlier in the year. However, the historical trends aren't accounting for just how bad this year's version of the Bengals are. Zac Taylor's team ranks 29th in the league in scoring, averaging just 16 points per game. The defense hasn't been much better, ranking 27th, and allowing 27.2 points per outing. Add to that the fact that the Bengals have allowed opponents to average five yards per carry and 167.5 rushing yards per game, and this contest looks to play to the Ravens strengths on offense.
What about the offense, you ask? Well, aside from the woeful scoring output, the Bengals are averaging just 319 yards per game. Andy Dalton has been decent, averaging 258 yards per game through the air. But his sole fully healthy wide receiver is Tyler Boyd. And throwing the football depends on staying upright. Based on those injuries to tackles Smith and Glenn mentioned earlier, things are really shaky up front.
"Alex Redmond, who has never played tackle in the NFL, looks like he is going to get the start at left tackle. They are just so banged up," said Hartstein. "Baltimore's defense has really been poor... 6.7 yards per play allowed, which is almost the worst in football, just better than Miami. This is a 'prove-it' game for John Harbaugh and that Ravens defense. I expect a big outcome on Sunday."
The Ravens play the Bengals on Sunday @ 1 ET on CBS.
