The Baltimore Ravens are riding higher than ever right now. The San Francisco 49ers are up next, and Marlon Humphrey will be a huge piece for this matchup.
The 49ers have one of the leagues most dangerous weapons on offense in tight end George Kittle and I believe the Ravens should use cornerback Marlon Humphrey to cover him. Humphrey is one of the only players on the Ravens defense who can keep up with Kittle in terms of speed and size. Kittle is the 49ers greatest offensive weapon and Humphrey is arguable the Ravens most well-rounded defender so it has the makings of a fiery matchup.
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With players like Chuck Clark, Earl Thomas III, and Jimmy Smith in the secondary, I still believe Humphrey is the man for the job. If Wink Martindale has Humphrey travel with Kittle then I assume they’d have Marcus Peters on Emmanuel Sanders and Jimmy Smith on Deebo Samuel.
Marcus Peters is more of a finesse cornerback and Emmanuel Sanders is a finesse wide receiver so I think that would be a really good matchup for both sides. As for Jimmy Smith, his best fit is covering Deebo Samuel because they’re both really physical players and Samuel plays with an Anquan Boldin-like style.
If Marlon Humphrey is able to limit George Kittle then I think the Ravens win this game by a large margin. The 49ers offense really struggled when Kittle was out for two games in weeks 10 & 11 so I think that’s the key here. Martindale needs to force Jimmy Garoppolo to rely on his other targets because their entire offensive game plan revolves around George Kittle.
Marlon Humphrey is having an amazing season, one of the best among cornerbacks in the league, but has been a little overshadowed by Marcus Peters since Peters’ arrival in Baltimore. If Humphrey is able to silence Kittle then that will go a long way in sending him to his first Pro Bowl and bringing back that national attention he deserves. This is a huge matchup and might even be a Super Bowl preview, so the spotlight is on the Ravens defense and more importantly, Marlon Humphrey.