Two losers from Week 1 will square off at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD Sunday afternoon looking to come away with a win. The Baltimore Ravens take on the Las Vegas Raiders in a matchup that feels like a must-win for the Ravens.
Understandably, the Ravens lost to the Kansas City Chiefs on the road Week 1, but losing to a winless Raiders team coming off an uninspiring loss to the Los Angeles Chargers would be brutal and concerning.
Luckily for the Ravens, the Chargers have given them a lot of film to watch and emulate. The Chargers eviscerated the Raiders at home and the Ravens look to do the same for their home opener. The Ravens, by all accounts, are still an elite team, the Raiders on the other hand are in free-fall and lacking an identity.
The Ravens could look to fleece this suspect team in their Week 2 matchup. We drew up three easy ways they can do exactly that.
3 ways the Ravens can easily expose a mediocre Raiders team in Week 2
3. Get after the quarterback as quickly and often as possible
Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew is not an elite quarterback by any measure. He's a serviceable starter who plays gunslinger a little too much when he really should be playing more game manager. It's fun to see the mustachioed quarterback throw it around the field, but truth be told, he's not all that great at it.
The Chargers found success pinning their ears back and getting after Minshew. The result was four sacks and six QB hits on the day for the Chargers. Well, thank you Chargers for laying out the gameplan for the rest of us. The Ravens, with no shortage of their own intimidating defensive front, should go right after Minshew and apply pressure on him. Make him have to react too quickly or make him hold onto the ball longer.
Getting after Minshew will be an easy way to put the Raiders in an uncomfortable position.
2. Make the Raiders offense one-dimensional
Speaking of making the Raiders uncomfortable, the Chargers proved the Raiders cannot rely on their run game. They abandoned the run and proceeded to struggle moving the ball downfield solely through the air. The Chargers took away the run game from them and the Raiders essentially became Ricky Bobby and didn't know what to do with their hands.
The Raiders ran the ball 22 times for a paltry 71 rushing yards and no touchdowns. If the Ravens want to annihilate this hapless Raiders team, stopping the run and making them throw the ball will benefit them greatly. Unlike last week against the Chiefs, the Raiders don't have a Patrick Mahomes to beat them through the air once the ground game is wrecked.
Expect the Ravens to take away the run game early to have the Raiders rely on Minshew and the offensive line to beat them through the air.
1. Run the ball down their throats
The Ravens like to run the ball. The Raiders are bad at stopping it. The Ravens have two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson and future Hall-of-Famer Derrick Henry. The Raiders do not. Last week, the Chargers ran for 176 yards and a touchdown. The Raiders just couldn't stop it. Former Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins had a field day against the Raiders' defense.
Unfortunately for Raiders fans, the Ravens are arguably the best rushing team in the NFL. The tandem of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry will be far too much for this lackluster Raiders team to handle. They should be exposed throughout the game.