Just 24 hours before aiming to snap a two-game losing streak in a meeting with NFC-leading Green Bay, the Ravens lost another notable member of their decimated secondary on Saturday.
Starting cornerback Chris Westry was placed on the reserve-COVID-19 list two days after starting safety Chuck Clark tested positive for the virus, a frustrating development for a defense already facing the tall order of slowing down a red-hot Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ passing attack. Clark didn’t clear the return-to-play protocol by Saturday’s deadline, meaning the Ravens will officially be without their entire starting base secondary from early September.
With Westry, Clark, and reserve center Trystan Colon testing positive for the virus this week, the Ravens called up cornerback Robert Jackson, safety Tony Jefferson, and offensive tackle David Sharpe from the practice squad as COVID-19 replacements. Offensive tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith and center Adam Redmond were standard elevations from the practice squad. The Ravens elevating two offensive tackles for Sunday’s game doesn’t bode well for the availability of right tackle Patrick Mekari (hand), who was listed as questionable on the final injury report released Friday.
Baltimore also announced special teams coach T.J. Weist tested positive for COVID-19 and wouldn’t coach in Sunday’s game.
Other than all of that and the expected absence of star quarterback and former league MVP Lamar Jackson, everything for John Harbaugh’s team is just peachy entering Sunday’s tilt.
It’s time to go on the record as the Ravens and Packers meet for the seventh time in the regular season with Green Bay holding a 4-2 advantage. Baltimore prevailed in the last meeting between these teams in 2017 and has won 13 straight games against NFC opponents dating back to 2018.
Below are five predictions for Sunday:
1. Tyler Huntley will rush for 60 yards and throw a touchdown to Rashod Bateman. I’m as curious as anyone to see Huntley play after a full week of starter preparation, but facing the 10-3 Packers is a different story from lowly Chicago or a Browns team lacking any killer instinct. Huntley has fumbled three times and thrown an interception in two games of meaningful action, something he’ll need to clean up if the Ravens want to have a real chance to pull off an upset. Green Bay is vulnerable against the run and won’t have nose tackle Kenny Clark, which is even more reason to use Huntley’s legs as well as Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray to run the ball and try to limit the Packers’ possessions. As for Bateman, he’ll officially find the end zone after being the victim of a bad spot last week.
2. Rodgers will throw touchdowns to three different pass catchers. The 38-year-old leads the league with a 108.8 passer rating and has thrown 10 touchdowns and no interceptions over his last three games, giving a ravaged secondary a challenge at the quarterback position it hasn’t seen since early in the season. Thoughts of Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters trying to lock down all-world receiver Davante Adams once made this look like a tremendous matchup when the schedule was released, but there’s only so much you can expect from Anthony Averett, Tavon Young, and an aging Jimmy Smith, especially with Clark not directing traffic on the back end. Even if Humphrey were available to travel with Adams, Rodgers’ ability to diagnose coverages makes life easier for Green Bay’s other targets in the passing game.
3. A season-long return from Devin Duvernay will help set up a touchdown. Special teams obviously don’t carry the same weight as offense or defense, but this phase is capable of being a great equalizer as the Ravens lead the NFL in efficiency while the Packers are dead last. Most of the latter’s difficulties stem from the struggles of veteran kicker Mason Crosby — who’s missed more field goals in 2021 than Justin Tucker has over the last three seasons combined — and the return game, but Green Bay surrendered a whopping 259 return yards against the Bears last Sunday. An offense that was already struggling with Jackson over the last several weeks will need all the help it can get, and the speedy Duvernay is more than capable of providing a spark.
4. The Baltimore defense will register only two sacks and force no turnovers despite forcing some stops here and there. According to Inside Edge, Rodgers has posted a 120.0 passer rating against the blitz this season, leaving Wink Martindale in a similar position to what the Ravens encounter with Patrick Mahomes. Baltimore dramatically cut back on its blitzing in that Week 2 win, but the expected absence of Calais Campbell won’t make it any easier to win by rushing only four or using stunts and defensive line games against a depleted Green Bay offensive line. Martindale will dial up enough creativity to slow down Rodgers for some drives here and there, but the future Hall of Fame quarterback has thrown only two interceptions since Week 1 and the Ravens have picked off just one pass over the last six games.
5. Green Bay will start fast and remain a step or two ahead in the second half as the Ravens fall 27-17. Despite entering Week 15 as the top seed in the NFC, the Packers do have some flaws on both sides of the ball and hardly carry an aura of invincibility, but Baltimore is now 3-4 since its last championship-caliber kind of performance in Week 6 and has suffered only more attrition since then. These kinds of late-season matchups with legitimate contenders often come down to quarterback play, and Green Bay’s three-time league MVP is playing at an extremely high level while the Ravens will be starting a 23-year-old who was still on the practice squad at this time a year ago. It really is a testament to the entire organization that I still expect Baltimore to fight and do enough to keep the Packers uncomfortable, but these are teams seemingly going in opposite directions down the final stretch.
