RSR staff offer up our predictions for the Ravens’ Week 5 tilt against the Washington Redskins…
Tony Lombardi
THE GOOD
– Alex Lewis proves to be a far better choice at left tackle than James Hurst
– Kenneth Dixon will leave us all wanting more after he posts 60 yards on 10 carries
– Lardarius Webb gets his first INT
THE BAD
– The only Ravens sack goes to Tim Jernigan
– Kirk Cousins throws for over 300 yards
THE UGLY
– 15,000 fans at The Bank wearing burgundy and gold
THE MEGAN FOX
– Mike Wallace leads the way with 125 receiving yards and 2 TD’s as the Ravens win a barn burner, 34-31.
Brian Bower
First Derek Carr and now Kirk Cousins, the Ravens secondary will again be heavily tested this week in a shootout at M&T Bank Stadium. Cousins will take many downfield shots and the secondary comes up with two interceptions this week including a late one by Shareece Wright to avoid another late game melt down.
On offense, the Ravens figure out how to protect Joe Flacco with rookie Alex Lewis moving to left tackle and they post their best performance of the season thus far. Flacco records three touchdown passes while rookie Kenneth Dixon finds the end zone in his season debut.
Ravens 30, Washington 24
Tyler Lombardi
For the first 3 games, Ravens fans were hoping that Kenneth Dixon would be the running game’s Messiah. Well, this week he’s coming up, and those fans desperate to see him in action will be disappointed. He’ll only receive a handful of carries and Terrance West will continue to be the workhouse and you’ll hear “CMON HARBAWW WHAT’R YOU DOIN!” from a few of the Baltimore faithful who forgot that West was stellar last week. They’ll soon remember as he’ll find holes in the Skins defense all day, ripping off a couple of 15+ yard runs in the first quarter. By the end of the day, Jay Gruden will look more like Chuckie than his brother.
It will be even worse for brother Jay as he watches his offense take the field. The pass rush will finally get to a QB for the first time since ‘Nam, and they’ll do so 5 times. The two youngest of the bunch, Matt Judon and Kamalei Correa, will each get his first career sack.
This game will have Ravens fans leaning back in their purple chairs like La-Z-Boys by the 4th quarter. They run away with it 30-13 for their first blowout of the season.
Adam Bonaccorsi
So I’m hearing through a very unreliable source that the Ravens will be handing out Xanax at the gates on Sunday prior to this game.
Having 16 of your last 20 games decided by 1 score will do that to a fan base, and this week will be no different.
I’m expecting a quick start from the offense this week. Why? Because Marc Trestman’s seat is en fuego right now. Another slow start would simply mean Harbs and Marty Mornhinweg will be looking over and laughing at Trestman, then Trestman will come over and try to insert himself in the convo and laugh along, but Harbs and Marty will ask him why he’s laughing and he’ll stumble for an answer, then walk away humiliated… yea, he doesn’t want that. Or a pink slip.
Joe Flacco throws for a rather pedestrian & quiet 250 yards, but adds a score in the air (Steve Smith Sr) and on the ground (NOT TO THE LEFT SIDE), while throwing another ill-advised pick along the way. Terrance West will add a second consecutive 100-yard game, with a touchdown of his own, while Justin Tucker tacks on a trio of field goals.
Did you do the math? That’s 30 points. I have the Ravens putting up a 30-spot on the questionable & injury riddled (DeAngelo Hall, David Brutton Jr, Bashaud Breeland, Su’A Cravens) Skins D.
On the flip side, Dean Pees’ defense will do what it typically does: let up almost exactly the same amount of points that the offense can score on any given week. Hooray bend, don’t break! Shareece Wright gets the start and gives up 100+ yards and a TD lined up against DeSean Jackson, Jordan Reed adds a score of his own, and Kirk Cousins adds a QB sneak TD of his own.
Ultimately, this game will come down to another 2-minute drill with the Ravens redeeming themselves after last week’s shortcomings. After scoring the game winning TD, Flacco will proceed to taunt the Skins with a ‘YOU LIKE THAT?!’ fist pump.
Of course classy Joe won’t do that, but I can dream…
BAL- 30
WAS- 27
Mike Fast
Another Ravens win leaving the “fans” unsatisfied. Baltimore beats Washington, 23-18.
Joe Flacco has a bit more time in the pocket than he had last week, but not much, as Ryan Kerrigan is chasing him all afternoon. Flacco connects with Pitta and Kenneth Dixon on TD passes, while throwing for less than 250 yards.
C.J. Mosley shines for the Ravens, as he records a sack, an interception, and tips another pass which results in an Eric Weddle INT.
DeSean Jackson gets behind Dean Pees’ defense twice, but Cousins can’t connect as Timmy Jernigan and Za’Darius Smith are constantly in his face.
4-1 heading into Week 6 against a sub-par NY team? I’ll take it.
Derek Arnold
Revenge on Kirk Cousins has been on our mind for nearly four years. We get it this week.
Ravens 26 Redskins 17
(And hey, if the Skins do come out on top? Don’t fret. They’ve beaten the Ravens in two regular seasons in team history – 2000 and 2012. Those years turned out OK.)
Cole Jackson
Redskins 27
Ravens 17
For me, last week was the game where we’d really find out who this team was. I was left disappointed and frustrated. The injuries to the OL are definitely a mitigating factor, but seeing Trestman do nothing to help James Hurst against Khalil Mack was some horrendous gameplanning. When you consider the fact that we have Crockett Gilmore who is one of the top blocking TEs in the league, it’s even worse (Has he ever heard of a chip block from a TE?).
While, I would never say the season is lost, I do think we have a lot of work to get to where we need to be to win consistently. Given that Stanley may not be back, it may take a few games for the O to start clicking.
I expect our secondary to have difficulty containing Jackson’s speed given that Wright will most likely match up with him. The lack of a pass rush means we can’t get to Cousins. Cousins plays at his worst when he’s rattled and that includes a lot of pressure.
Our O will once again struggle to generate much from the poor pass blocking. Joe will throw more passes off his back foot and will struggle to get in rhythm. West will have a nice game against a weak run D and I think Dixon pulls off a few big plays that get fans excited.
Joe Polek
Even after facing a high-powered Raiders offense last week, the Ravens have the league’s top-ranked defense, giving up the fewest yards per game. They rank 3rd in passing yards per game and 5th in rushing yards per game.
Last week, the Ravens offense couldn’t keep up with the Raiders offense, so can they keep up with the Redskins offense this week, that has scored 60 points in the last two games? Once again, it’s going to be a big time passing offense that the defense will have to stop. Kirk Cousins, who has struggled this season, has thrown for nearly 500 yards in the last two weeks.
And it won’t be easy for Flacco to go deep with Josh Norman roaming the secondary for Washington.
This game could very much go just like last week. I actually felt better about last week’s chances then I do about this week’s chances. But if Baltimore wants to have a chance to be above .500 this season, this is a game they have to win, and I think they find a way to do just that.
Ravens win 35-31.
Ryan Jones
Much like the Ravens, it’s hard to know at this point if the Redskins are a contender or a pretender. They beat the 0-4 Browns and a Giants team that doesn’t look very good at the moment.
The key to this game for the Ravens is dialing up pressure on the quarterback. Cousins has shown he can get pretty easily rattled both on and off the field. YOU LIKE THAT!!!! But if he has time to sit in the pocket with a bucket of popcorn like Derek Carr did last week he’ll pick the Ravens apart.
I think the Ravens pass rush bounces back and gets to Cousins early and often. They’ll do enough to get the Ravens the win. But until the offense shows that they won’t sleep walk through the first half this team isn’t scoring 30+ points. Even if it’s against a bad defense.
On a side note, if you have tickets do the game this weekend please don’t sell them to Redskins fans. WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!!!
Ravens 24
Redskins 20
Ken McKusick
– Pressure on Cousins is far better than it was versus Carr and the Raiders.
– Terrance West has another effective day of pass blocking to give Flacco a little more time.
– The Redskins aren’t able to run on the Ravens either.
– The Ravens use a combination of a rejuvenated pass rush and effective running to close out the game.
– The Redskins last offensive snap will be an interception on which pressure has an impact.
– Ravens 23-17.
