The Baltimore Ravens are about to take on the Green Bay Packers. Here are three questions for the defense:
1. Can Baltimore get another good performance from Tim Williams and Tyus Bowser:
The Baltimore Ravens want Tyus Bowser and Tim Williams to work out badly. They invested a second and a third round pick in them respectively and they haven’t lived up to their draft position yet. Bowser and Williams both looked very sharp against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Both outside linebackers had a half a sack in the first preseason game. They won off the edge and their athleticism was easy to see.
The problem the Ravens have is finding new pass rushers for the 2019 season. They aren’t going to trade for Jadeveon Clowney. What they have is what they have. The two outside linebackers from the 2017 NFL Draft class are still unproven. They put together a nice quick burst of production at the position.
They were basically treated like starters last Thursday night. They got in, they did their job and they watched the backups perform. The Ravens need to see that Bowser and Williams can bring it two games in a row. Their showing against the Packers will go a long way in determining the level of confidence Don Martindale has in them.
There is a very tight competition on the edge positions but it would be kidding ourselves to think that Williams and Bowser weren’t the key to the whole thing. Defensively, they are the thing that you have to be looking for against the Packers. Aaron Rodgers is supposed to get his preseason debut tonight. Let’s see if number 54 and number 59 can give him some trouble as he kicks off the rust for the 2019 season.