Baltimore Ravens

Stats Say The Raiders Will Test The Ravens

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

When the Oakland Raiders Come to Baltimore, It Will Be A Big Test For the Ravens.

Dereck Carr and the Oakland Raiders are playing some of the most exciting football in the National Football League. The Baltimore Ravens will have their hands full when the silver and black come to town. Make no mistake about it, the Raiders are the first real test for the Ravens.

The Ravens were supposed to start out 3-0. The combined record of their opponents this season has been 1-8. While the Ravens defense has been dominant this team still needs to prove that they can beat a good football team. If the Ravens make the kinds of mistakes they made in Cleveland and Jacksonville, Oakland will make them pay.

The Raiders offense has shown that they are really good. They rank 8th in points scored per game. They rank 2nd in total yards per game. Oakland has the second best rushing attack in football and the eighth ranked passing attack. The Raiders are 2-1. Their only loss came in a 35-34 shoot out with Drew Brees and the Saints.

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We can sit here and say that the defense will shut the Raiders down completely or we can be realistic. This is going to be a tough game. The defense will keep the Ravens in the battle but the offense has to get going. The good news is that the Ravens will be facing a defense that has allowed an average of 476 yards per game. From a stats standpoint, Baltimore has a chance to get the offense going against a bad defense.

The Raiders do have some good defensive players though. Khalil Mack is quite possibly the best outside linebacker in the NFL. Bruce Irvin is a studly player that will test the Baltimore offensive line. When you look at the Raiders, you see big play potential on both sides of the ball.

Dereck Carr is one good game away from 1,000 yards on the season. Michael Crabtree and Clive Walford have made a great trio of targets for the QB from Fresno State. Latavias Murray has become a big play waiting to happen at the running back position.

When the offense shows flashes of brilliance it’s hard not to get excited. It just seems like there is so much big play potential with this team. Before the season it looked like the Ravens would have a dominant rushing attack. In regular season play that dominant ground game has not been there. The Raiders defense has given up 5.1 yards per carry. If the Ravens can’t fix the running game on Sunday, John Harbaugh and Marc Trestman will have a puzzling problem to solve.

When the purple and black play the Raiders, they need to continue their defensive dominance. However beating the Raiders is going to take a total team effort. The Ravens defense can win the battle, but if they completely stifle this opponent, Dean Pees has an even better defense than we imagined. The offense has to come out to play, or the Ravens will likely see their first loss of the season.