By: Wes Roop
The 4-2 Panthers will take on the 4-3 Ravens this afternoon. Our cardiac cats come into this week on a high, after a historic 17 point, 4th quarter comeback. The Ravens come into this week reeling from a 1 point loss to the Saints. The Panthers lead the series 3-2. Losing the previous two meetings in blowout fashion. The most recent being in 2014, when former Panther Steve Smith torched us for 139 yards and 2 scores. This nonetheless will be an interesting matchup. What I expect to be a hard hitting, physical game. Below, I'm going to list, what I believe will be the 3 keys to success versus the Ravens.
HOLD OFF THE RAVENS PASS RUSH
On paper this looks like a nightmare matchup for our offense. Not only are the Ravens very good defending the short and intermediate pass, they also lead the league in many defensive categories. Sacks being the one that worries me the most. They've successfully gotten to the quarterback 27 times this season; Za'Darius Smith and Terrell Suggs lead the charge with 5.5 sacks a piece. It will be interesting to see how the offense does against the best pass rush in the league, hopefully some shots deep will present themselves.
CONVERTING ON 3RD DOWN
The Ravens rank 2nd in the league in defensive 3rd down percentage; only allowing opponents to convert 28.9% of the time. This stat has helped them rank 1st in yards and points per drive as well. The Panthers do have some solid 3rd down contributors on offense, Cam, CMC, Funch and Olsen come to mind. We also have mister 3rd down himself, Jarius Wright. Trust me, we are going to need them tomorrow. Winning the 3rd down battle will be huge, it will put their defense in a territory they're not used to seeing.
STOPPING JOHN BROWN
The Ravens have some pretty good intermediate-style receivers in Willie Snead and Michael Crabtree through the deep pass, and John Brown, this triad concerns me the most. Brown doesn't lead his team in catches or target, however, he does lead the Ravens in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and yards per catch. Brown has caught 28 passes, for 558 yards and has racked up 4 TDs this season. Brown's most alarming stat is his 19.9 yards per catch rate. Quarterback Joe Flacco, has one of the biggest arms in the NFL and I'm sure he'll be looking John Brown's way today. If the Panthers defense can shut down this pairing, their offense shouldn't be overly impressive.
In closing, as I mentioned above, this is a tough matchup on paper. I'm really looking forward to see what ol' Norv pulls out of the playbook today. This should be a very close and contested game throughout. In Cardiac Cat fashion, I think we will get the win at home.
Wes' Final Prediction:
Panthers: 17
Ravens: 16
As always Panther fans, KEEP POUNDING!
Comments