Nearly two months ago, the Ravens began a stretch of six of seven games against teams with winning records that would set the course for their 2019 season.
A win in Buffalo would make them 7-0 over that daunting period and would clinch back-to-back trips to the postseason for the first time since Baltimore went to the playoffs in each of John Harbaugh’s first five seasons as head coach from 2008-12. That impressive prosperity has transformed the Ravens from mere playoff contenders to the Super Bowl favorites entering the final quarter of the regular season.
Of course, the Bills will have something to say about the conclusion of that challenging stretch as Buffalo seeks its fourth straight victory to further cement its hold on a playoff spot.
As expected, wide receivers Marquise Brown (ankle) and Seth Roberts (knee), cornerback Marlon Humphrey (thigh), and inside linebacker Patrick Onwuasor (ankle) are all active after being officially listed as questionable to play. All were full participants for Friday’s practice in Owings Mills, leaving no real doubt about their availability against the Bills.
For the second straight week, reserve cornerbacks Anthony Averett and Iman Marshall were both deactivated, but the return of reserve safety Brynden Trawick from injured reserve gives defensive coordinator Wink Martindale more flexibility to move dime safety Brandon Carr back to cornerback should something happen to the starting trio of Humphrey, Marcus Peters, and Jimmy Smith during Sunday’s game.
Defensive tackle Justin Ellis was a healthy scratch, which suggests a greater level of confidence in the health of starting nose tackle Michael Pierce after he returned to action last week. Pierce wasn’t listed on this week’s injury report after missing nearly three full games with an ankle injury last month.
There were no surprises among the Buffalo inactives after reserve offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe (ankle) was officially ruled out Friday and was the only Bills player on the final game status injury report.
Sunday’s referee is Shawn Smith.
According to Weather.com, the Sunday forecast in Buffalo calls for mostly cloudy skies and temperatures reaching the mid-40s with no chance of precipitation, a forgiving set of conditions for western New York in December. However, winds will be 15 to 25 miles per hour with higher gusts possible, which could create an interesting dynamic for the passing and kicking games.
The Ravens are wearing their white jerseys with black pants while Buffalo dons red tops with red pants for Week 14.
Sunday marks the ninth all-time meeting between these teams with the Ravens aiming for their first ever win in Buffalo despite holding a 5-3 overall advantage in the series. Baltimore is trying to clinch its first 11-win season since 2011 and extend its winning streak to nine, a franchise record for the regular season.
Below are Sunday’s inactives:
BALTIMORE
QB Trace McSorley
WR Jaleel Scott
CB Anthony Averett
CB Iman Marshall
C Hroniss Grasu
DT Justin Ellis
G Ben Powers
BUFFALO
OT Ty Nsekhe
WR Duke Williams
RB T.J. Yeldon
TE Tommy Sweeney
DT Vincent Taylor
S Dean Marlowe
OL Ike Boettger
