Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots: Week 10 Q&A

Ravens fans had questions, I had their Week 10 answers:

The Baltimore Ravens are about to take on the New England Patriots. I have gotten a Q&A going on Twitter with Ravens fans. Here are their questions and my answers.

@TravisMeckley asks: Will the Calais Campbell injury be beneficial to the Ravens in the long run? The man is a beast so his absence will be missed in the short term, but will the extra few weeks of rest for Campbell and extra reps for the young defensive lineman be beneficial in the long term?

Answer: It’s not a good thing that the far and away best defensive lineman on the team is dealing with an injury that could make him miss multiple games. It is however something that silver lining positives could come out of, so this is a valid question. The first thing we’ll see is how good the defensive line really is. Can Brandon Williams step it up a bit? Can Derek Wolfe or maybe or Jihad Ward?

The young defensive linemen you speak of are of course really just boils down to Justin Madubuike. Broderick Washington hasn’t really gotten all that involved this season and the rest of the group is at least moderately experienced.

Madubuike started the year hurt but he’s starting to make an impact. In four games, Madubuike hasn’t made the hugest impact in the box score yet he has been looking strong upfront. More reps for Madubuike can’t hurt him on the job training. He was probably going to get some more playing time anyway the way he’s been jumping off the ball and he’s not the same kind of player as Campbell.

Campbell being out is a bad thing. The Ravens don’t have the same kind of length and reach upfront. Not having the player that leads the team in sacks is frustrating. The silver lining is that the Ravens get to see how good the defensive line is. If the defensive front exceeds our expectations in Campbell’s absence it will be a very good sign heading towards his return.