The Baltimore Ravens and the Minnesota Vikings will both look to right the ship when they face off Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD. Through eight weeks of the season, the Vikings are 3-4, 2nd place in the NFC North, and currently sit just outside the NFC playoff picture as the 1st team out in a crowded conference. On the flip side, coming off their bye, the Ravens boast a 5-2 record and managed to leapfrog the Cincinnati Bengals for 1st place in the AFC North after the Bengals suffered a head-scratching loss on the road to the lowly New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. For Baltimore, finessing their way to the top of the division without even taking the field is not a bad bye week by most standards.
Both teams are entering this Week 9 cross-conference matchup with significant injury woes. As far as the Ravens are concerned, injuries have been the greatest obstacle thus far midway through the season making the mantra, “next man up” a way of life in charm city. Baltimore listed six players on their injury report Thursday including players like Justin Houston, Patrick Mekari, Latavius Murray, Sammy Watkins, and Brandon Williams. Minnesota also listed some significant names on their injury report Thursday such as Anthony Barr, Cameron Dantzler, Everson Griffen, Harrison Smith, James Lynch, Michael Pierce, and Dede Westbrook.
Analyzing this matchup through the injury lens can offer greater insight as to how each team will devise a gameplan to shut down their purple counterpart with the personnel each coaching staff has available to them. The NFL, in and of itself, is a “next man up” league because injuries happen to be pretty prevalent in a sport where grown men are hitting each other as hard as they can every week for 18 straight weeks. This means that, inevitably, every team is going to get hit by the injury bug. However, as this season has continued to prove, not every team gets hit with injuries to the same degree. Within this article, I’m going to lay out a plan for how the Baltimore Ravens can use the Vikings’ injuries against them to exploit the holes the team will have without some of their key players on the field.
Starting with the Vikings, the most impactful players The Purple and Gold could be without when they travel to Baltimore Sunday are all on the defensive side of the ball with Barr, Smith, & Pierce either going through a limited practice or not practicing at all. Minny’s most devastating injury though is undoubtedly Danielle Hunter, who suffered a torn pectoral, prematurely ending his season. Hunter currently leads the team in sacks (6) and the Ravens offensive linemen should all exhale a sigh of relief they won’t have to deal with the 6th-year man’s unrelenting pressure.
As for Barr and Smith, the former tweaked a knee injury Sunday night against the Cowboys that held him out of Minnesota’s first four games of the season. His status for Sunday’s contest remains questionable, but the 6’5 257 lb. linebacker still has to make considerable progress if he hopes to take the field against the Ravens. Smith’s situation is slightly less concerning for Vikings fans as the 5x pro-bowler was limited in practice Thursday, but was just given a veteran’s rest day by coaches, as do many high-profile veterans around the league. This is HUGE for Minnesota as Smith is the best defensive player the Vikings have now with Hunter out for the season. He leads the team in tackles (44).
For The Flock, the names that will have the biggest impact on the team’s performance if they are fit to take the field are the skill-position guys Murray and Watkins. Last time out the Ravens had one of their worst rushing performances of the season against Cincy’s stout defense and a big part of that was not having the bruising rushing ability of Murray to take the pressure off of QB Lamar Jackson’s shoulders. With the former Vikings ballcarrier not yet practicing this week due to a lingering ankle injury, signs point to Murray watching the game from the sidelines for the 2nd straight week. This means the Ravens will more than likely lean on a running-back trio of Devonta Freeman, Le’Veon Bell, and Ty’Son Williams to tote the rock, as well as the legs of Lamar Jackson, naturally.
There are encouraging signs on the injury front, however, as Watkins looks to return to the lineup for the first time since Week 5 when he injured his hamstring vs. the Indianapolis Colts. According to multiple reports, Watkins returned to the practice field Thursday offering Ravens fans some hope they could see the receiving core of Rashod Bateman, Hollywood Brown, and Watkins take the field together for the first time this season. Additionally, the Ravens also expect TE Nick Boyle to return to the lineup after nearly missing a whole year with a career-threatening knee injury. The additions of Watkins and Boyle will obviously improve Baltimore’s passing game as Jackson will have two additional trusted pass-catchers to throw to. Boyle’s return however should be the most celebrated return of any player thus far because the impact Boyle will have in improving Baltimore’s run-blocking will inevitably open more running lanes for Jackson, Freeman, and co.
With Minnesota missing key defensive playmakers and Baltimore gaining key offensive weapons, this could lead to a productive day from Jackson and the Ravens offense. The Vikings typically boast a stout pass defense as they’ve only allowed seven passing touchdowns thus far this season. The play of Smith along with CBs Patrick Peterson and Xavier Woods is the primary reason for the Vikings’ stellar pass defense along with the consistent pressure they’re getting from guys like Griffen, Hunter, and Barr. However, with the latter two most likely not suiting up against the Ravens, this means Baltimore’s signal-caller will have more than enough time to become Action-Jackson and torch the Vikings defense.
Flipping to the defensive side of the ball, Houston is expected to play, although Williams is looking questionable with a shoulder ailment. Regardless, in order for Baltimore to win this game they will need to shut down QB Kirk Cousins and the Vikings talented offense. For starters, the Ravens must put an emphasis on limiting the production of RB Dalvin Cook as he is the Vikings most lethal threat, especially as the game progresses and legs start to get tired. Additionally, the Vikings boast one of the most explosive WR duos in veteran Adam Thielen and 2nd-year pro Justin Jefferson. The greatest recipe for Ravens success in this game is shutting down the run game with Cook and forcing the Vikings to become one-dimensional. The Vikings receivers are dangerous from any point on the field as the duo has combined for 86 catches for 1,034 yards, and nine TDs up to this point in the season. Despite this fact, if Baltimore forces Minnesota to pick up yards and points solely through the air instead of sticking with their identity as a run-first offense, The Flock can, in turn, sell out on the pass and feast on Kirk Cousins as Wink Martindale is will be salivating at the thought of calling heavy-blitz after heavy-blitz to rattle Minnesota’s gunslinger.
Wrapping up, the Ravens-Vikings prior game history coming into this contest is split three games apiece. It was a freezing, slushy affair the last time these two teams met in Charm City as the purple and gold of Baltimore triumphed over the purple and gold of Minnesota in a gutsy 29-26 victory. Seriously, if Webster’s dictionary needed a picture to go along with the definition of “frozen tundra” they should’ve taken a picture of M&T Bank stadium that day because the field on that day epitomized the term. If Baltimore is going to taste victory and temporarily tilt the series between these two teams in their favor, Baltimore will have to limit the production of Minnesota’s run game and take advantage of the injuries the Vikings have in the core of their defense, most notably with Hunter being out and potentially Barr as well.
If these things don’t occur, we could be looking at another shootout under the Sunday Baltimore sky.
