After a big win on the road against the Oakland Raiders last week, the Baltimore Ravens travel back home to face the Chicago Bears
The Ravens are undefeated against rookie quarterbacks under head coach John Harbaugh. Will that change with Mitchell Trubisky? Here are three players who need to have a good game to have a chance of keeping that streak alive with a win Sunday.
Michael Pierce
It seems that the Ravens will be without star defensive lineman Brandon Williams once again this week. Williams has been sidelined since week 2 against the Cleveland Browns and the Ravens defense has suffered without him. With Brandon Williams, the Ravens defense forced 10 turnovers and only allowed 10 points through the first two games. They haven’t even come close to that production without him. The pass rush has fallen off without Williams disrupting the middle of the pocket, and the run defense has been gashed left and right.
Second-year player Michael Pierce has been a stud for the Ravens after making the team as an undrafted rookie last year. The once seemingly impenetrable defensive line of the Ravens, manned by Michael Pierce, Brandon Williams, and Brent Urban has been decimated by injury. Brent Urban suffered a season-ending Lisfranc foot injury, and Brandon Williams has been absent since week 2 with a foot injury of his own. This leaves Michael Pierce as the sole starter left at the moment. He has played well for the most part, but he can’t do it all on his own. The Ravens miss Brandon Williams greatly.
The Chicago Bears have two deadly running backs in second-year star Jordan Howard and rookie, Tarik Cohen. The Ravens absolutely must contain these two if they want to win this game. Jordan Howard ran wild in an upset over the Steelers earlier this year. The Bears do not have any serious threats left at the wide receiver position so they will try to run the ball down the Ravens throats. Michael Pierce must step his game up another level to help alleviate the impact of Brandon Williams’ absence. If Michael Pierce can generate more push in the pocket then the Ravens pass rushers will be able to get to Trubisky, and C.J. Mosley will be allowed to make and clean up tackles at the line of scrimmage much easier.