MNF: Ravens v. Saints Preview

Week 9 of Monday Night Football continues as the Baltimore Ravens travel to face the New Orleans Saints at 8:15 p.m.

Ravens

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The Ravens will look to continue their winning streak Monday after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. The No. 1 seed in the AFC North holds a 5-3 record through the first eight weeks. They have only been defeated by the Dolphins, the Bills, and the Giants.

Saints

As for the Saints, they will look to defend their home field following their win against the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday. The Saints hold a 3-5 record and stand in third place in the NFC South.

The Ravens and Saints have only faced each other seven times in the last 30 years. The last time was in 2018 when the Saints beat the Ravens by one point. Overall, the Ravens lead the series 5-2.

Head to Head

With both teams excelling in their defensive ends and run games, it will be a toss up for which team can pull out the win.

The Run Game

Even though the Ravens and the Saints focus their offense on the ground, they will face a challenge as both teams have an elite rush defense to make stops.

In Week 8, the Ravens’ rush defense allowed 44 yards, 2.9 yards and a touchdown. On the offensive end, quarterback Lamar Jackson had nine carries and 43 yards. For the 2022 season, Jackson has a 94.2 rating and 7.4 YPC. Other than Jackson, running back Gus Edwards and Kenyan Drake had 5.9 and 8.9 YPC respectively. The Saints’ rush defense would have to decide whether it is going for Jackson, Edwards or Drake.

BIG RUN @KDx32‼️

Tune in on @NFLonPrime. pic.twitter.com/3M7KGxwflE

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 28, 2022

Meanwhile, Saints tight end Taysom Hill, and running back Alvin Kamara lead New Orleans on the ground. In Week 8, Hill had 10 carries and 61 yards, while Kamara had 62 yards, 3.4 YPC and a touchdown. Kamara has a 4.3 YPC this season.

On the defensive end, linebacker Pete Werner has been crucial to the defense with 71 tackles and 41 stops this season. Overall, the rush defense has a 4.5 YPC allowed, tied for 17th in the league.

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Battle in the Third Down

The Saints’ offense on third downs was 7-12 in Week 8. At the same time, Ravens’ defense was held to 4-13 on third downs in 2022. In Week 8, they held Tom Brady to 9-13 in the third downs.

The Passing End

Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson and Isaiah Likely were key on the passing offense last week. Jackson has an overall 94.2 rate this season with 238 yards, two touchdowns and a 104.9 rate last week.

The Saints running back, Kamara, had 10 targets, nine rec, 96 yards and two touchdowns last week. Also, quarterback Andy Dalton had 229 yards, two touchdowns and a 117.2 rate.

A Likely Story#AndFootball | @DaGorilla4 pic.twitter.com/pbvb370iek

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 28, 2022

Overall, the Ravens quarterbacks have been held to an average of 90.1 rates, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. In Week 8, they held Tom Brady to a sub-90 rating.

Meanwhile, the Saints’ pass defense has a 92.5 rating this season. It holds tight ends to a 61.1 rate which ranks first in the league. In Week 8, it held Raiders’ quarterback Derek Carr to 101 yards and 3.9 YPA.

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