Ravens should feel ecstatic with Raiders first injury report ahead of matchup

While you never root for injuries, they are unfortunately part of the game. As we look ahead at the Week 2 matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Las Vegas Raiders, we see that there are some interesting players who may or may not be suitable for the contest.

The Ravens are coming off a gut-wrenching 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs while the Raiders are coming off a bad 22-10 loss of their own to the Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams come into the Week 2 game hoping to escape with a win.

Both teams know the difficulty of making the playoffs starting 0-2. While not impossible, it is improbable. With the release of the injury reports earlier on Wednesday, the Raiders look like they will have even more of an uphill battle than originally expected.

Ravens should feel ecstatic with Raiders first injury report

The Ravens, on paper, are the better team. Obviously, games are not won on paper, they are won on the football field, but if there was any indication of how the Ravens could win on the football field, it was exposed by the Chargers last week.

The Chargers showed the league if you take away the run game and pressure the Raiders on passing downs, their offense struggles mightily. Unless the Ravens' coaching staff has been hiding under a rock, expect the team to do exactly what the Chargers did last week. The Raiders' initial injury report can be found below.

The Raiders' full first injury report can be found here.

The Ravens should be excited after the Raiders' first injury report was released. Two starting offensive linemen spell doom for a Raiders line that was already suspect. After losing former running back Joe Mixon, the Raiders have become a fairly one-dimensional team due to their unreliable ground game. With no reliable running game and a mediocre quarterback with an unstable line, the Ravens have all the tools to feast defensively.

Even if the linemen get the green light, even being slightly hobbled coming into the game gives the Ravens a massive advantage. Now, it's up to the Ravens to take advantage of the hand that's been dealt and take care of business.

On the other side of the sideline, the Baltimore Ravens released their injury report earlier this evening and the linebacking corp is getting very thin. Rookie linebacker Adisa Isaac has been battling a hamstring injury that has persisted through the offseason. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy is ruled Out with an eye injury suffered against the Kansas City Chiefs. While both of those players were expected to appear on the report, one name stood out.

All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith was limited at practice today with a shoulder injury. While it's seemingly nothing major yet, the Ravens need to treat this carefully and allow him to return when he's ready. He is the heartbeat of the defense and they will need him if they want to make a Super Bowl run.

The Ravens will look to abuse the deficiencies in the Raiders lineup this upcoming Sunday. The road to 1-1 just became a lot easier.

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