BALTIMORE — If Sunday’s meeting does turn out to be a Super Bowl LIV preview, the Ravens and San Francisco will hope for better weather in Miami two months from now.
John Harbaugh’s team seeks its eighth straight victory and the first 10-2 start in franchise history, but the elements will certainly be an additional challenge to playing the 10-1 49ers.
According to Weather.com, the forecast in Baltimore calls for substantial rain and temperatures in the mid-40s with winds 10 to 15 miles per hour. The field was covered until a little over two hours prior to kickoff as the morning rain intensified. The heaviest precipitation is expected to fall during the first half.
The Ravens will welcome back a key piece of their run defense as nose tackle Michael Pierce is active and will make his return from a two-game absence with a right ankle injury. Pierce practiced all week and was a full participant in Friday’s workout, a strong indication that he would play against the 49ers’ second-ranked rush offense.
Despite missing Friday’s practice and being listed as questionable with an ankle injury, rookie wide receiver Miles Boykin is active after going through a brief on-field morning workout.
It’s interesting to note the Ravens deactivated both Anthony Averett and Iman Marshall, leaving them with only four active cornerbacks. That’s a product of both the weather and San Francisco’s propensity for using at least two running backs or two tight ends on roughly 60 percent of its plays, according to SharpFootballStats.com. Counting two-way player Patrick Ricard, the Ravens have seven defensive lineman available for Sunday’s game.
Undrafted rookie Patrick Mekari will make his first NFL start at center after Matt Skura suffered a season-ending knee injury last week, but the bigger surprise was how the Ravens elected to manage their game-day offensive line reserves. Baltimore promoted offensive lineman Parker Ehinger from the practice squad to the 53-man roster Saturday, and he will serve in a backup capacity over rookie fourth-round pick Ben Powers, who is inactive for the 12th straight game.
San Francisco is in much worse shape than the Ravens from a health standpoint as starting running back Matt Breida (ankle), starting left tackle Joe Staley (finger), and starting defensive end Dee Ford (hamstring, quad) are all inactive. Ford was declared out on Friday, but there had been some optimism that the 49ers would have Breida and Staley available to play on Sunday.
Sunday’s referee is Brad Allen.
The Ravens are wearing their alternate black jerseys with black pants while San Francisco dons white tops and gold pants.
Sunday marks the sixth all-time meeting between these teams in the regular season with the Ravens enjoying a 3-2 advantage. Of course, that doesn’t include Baltimore’s 34-31 win over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. San Francisco has never beaten the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
Below are Sunday’s inactives:
BALTIMORE
QB Trace McSorley
WR Jaleel Scott
S Bennett Jackson
CB Anthony Averett
CB Iman Marshall
G Ben Powers
DL Zach Sieler
SAN FRANCISCO
DE Dee Ford
LT Joe Staley
RB Matt Breida
WR Dante Pettis
QB C.J. Beathard
K Chase McLaughlin
TE Levin Toilolo
