BALTIMORE — With a national television audience digesting its turkey dinner, the Ravens welcome Jim Harbaugh and the red-hot San Francisco 49ers to town in a game full of subplots.
Not only will tonight mark the first game in NFL history played with two brothers as opposing head coaches, but it is an important game for both teams as they jockey for position in their respective conferences. The 7-3 Ravens are tied for the best record in the AFC while 9-1 San Francisco is right behind undefeated Green Bay for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
As first reported by WNST.net, linebacker Ray Lewis will miss his second straight game as he continues to deal with a toe injury. His streak of 57 consecutive starts was snapped last week when he sat out against the Cincinnati Bengals. Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe is also out with a hamstring/groin injury, so veteran Brendon Ayanbadejo will start in Lewis’ place at inside linebacker. That also means rookie Josh Bynes and second-year special teams standout Albert McClellan will be the backup inside linebackers tonight.
The Ravens will wear their black jerseys and white pants tonight while the 49ers will don their white jerseys with gold pants.
Baltimore is 19-22 all time in prime-time games and is 0-3 in Thursday night showdowns. Tonight is the first time the Ravens have ever played on Thanksgiving.
Here are tonight’s inactives:
Baltimore
LB Ray Lewis
LB Dannell Ellerbe
CB Chris Carr
WR Tandon Doss
RB Anthony Allen
LB Sergio Kindle
DT Arthur Jones
San Francisco
QB Scott Tolzien
WR Brett Swain
CB Shawntae Spencer
FB Bruce Miller
G Daniel Kilgore
G Mike Person
NT Ian Williams
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
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