Bold Predictions: Ravens Celebrating Clinchmas?

The Baltimore Ravens (9-5), who have won six of their past eight games, host the Atlanta Falcons (5-9) in a Christmas Eve contest from M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore currently sits one game behind the Bengals (10-4) for the AFC North lead with three regular season games to play, including a Week 18 contest in Cincinnati.

Entering Week 16, the Ravens hold the AFC’s fifth playoff seed. Baltimore has clinched a postseason berth in three of the past four seasons (2018-20) and has earned the playoffs nine times during head coach John Harbaugh’s 14 seasons.

This is the sixth time in franchise history (also 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014 & 2020) that the Ravens started a season with a (9-5) record, earning a playoff berth in each of those previous seasons. The 2022 campaign marks the Ravens’ 11th winning season with Coach Harbaugh at the helm.

Can they make it a 7th time?

Tony Lombardi

The Ravens enter this game against the Falcons as 6 ½ point favorites with an over/under of 35 points. THIRTY. FIVE. POINTS. Thanks in large part to Greg Roman’s Mickey Mouse passing game, the Ravens have scored 16 points or less in four of their last five games, averaging just 13.8 points over that span. Also during that span, the Ravens are averaging just 169.6 yards passing and over the last two games combined, they’ve posted a TOTAL of just 220 yards throwing the football and they are dead last in the league over the past 3 games, averaging just 134 yards.

Meanwhile, the Falcons rank 31st in passing this season and over the last three they’ve chucked it for an anemic 138 yards per game while averaging 17.8 points over the last five. Add in the frigid temps and wind gusts up to 30 mph wind gusts and there’s little wonder why oddsmakers expect a low scoring game. EVERYONE is thinking under. So how will it play out?

• Tyler Huntley gets the start and despite defensive coordinator Dean Pees’ (remember him) 28th-ranked pass defense which yields 248.4 yards per game, the Ravens backup signal caller’s struggles will continue. He’ll throw it for just 160 yards, 50 coming on a house call from Sammy Watkins.

• Pees sells out to stop the run and the crowded box will result in a couple of big runs, one each from J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards for 25+ yards. Both players approach 100 yards as the Ravens surpass 200 rushing yards as a team.

• Kyle Hamilton gets another sack. This time he forces a fumble which will be scooped and taken to pay dirt by Tyus Bowser. It will be one of two defensive scores by the home team. Marcus Williams adds another pick during an afternoon which sets up a short field for Huntley. By the game’s end Falcons rookie QB Desmond Ridder gets ridden out of town with a passer rating of below 50 next to his name.

Everyone is going with the under so it’s only BOLD if you’re a contrarian, right?

Oh, and the Bengals dump the Patriots in Foxborough while the Ravens take care of business against the Falcons. Baltimore is back in the postseason!

Ravens 35 Falcons 7

[Battle Plans: Ravens v. Falcons]

Rob Shields

This will be another ugly game. The Ravens will be without Lamar Jackson, Marcus Peters and Calais Campbell. Huntley has an injury to his throwing shoulder.

The Falcons are starting rookie QB Desmond Ridder, who went 13-26 for less than 100 yards last week. He also ran for 38 yards on six carries, so the Ravens need to be ready for that.

On top of what is likely to be ugly QB play, the temps are going to be freezing cold. Ball security will be at a premium and simple things like catching the ball become difficult in weather like this. Even kicking field goals won’t be easy as the ball gets hard in these types of conditions.

I’m assuming (maybe hoping is the better word?) that the Ravens will run it 40+ times. Atlanta may do the same thing.

This game has no business being close. The Ravens should be able to run it well, stop/slow down their run significantly and the defense should be able to force turnovers from Ridder.

However, this is the 2022 Ravens and they don’t make anything easy because they make mistake after mistake and they aren’t playing with their starting QB.

Ravens win…but not an easy win, as it should be.

Ravens 13 Falcons 6

Darin McCann

It’s looking like Christmas Eve will be featuring Tyler Huntley and Greg Roman, so… go ahead and get that last-minute gift-wrapping stuff done while the Ravens have the ball. You won’t miss much.

The good news is they are facing an absolutely dreadful Falcons’ defense — one that is only ranked ahead of the Detroit Lions with an Expected Points Contributed score of -121.27. To put that number in perspective, the Ravens’ defense has a figure of -39.62, which is 13th in the league. More good news: The strength of Atlanta’s offense is running the ball, something the Ravens do a consistently good job of defending. The Falcons’ pass offense is rated 31st in the league, behind even the Ravens, who are 27th in passing yards, and we know what that’s looked like.

Let’s take a few swings at some bold predictions:

• I’m going to go ahead and get it out of the way this week: Odafe Oweh gets two sacks.

• Atlanta gives up 4.3 yards a rush, which isn’t horrendous. But it goes up this week as the Ravens finish the game rushing for more than six yards a carry.

• JK Dobbins continues his resurgence, finishing with 125 yards and a touchdown on the day.

• A receiver scores a touchdown! All hail Demarcus Robinson!

• Marcus Williams, have yourself a day. The play-making safety will register two picks and break up another pass.

• Patrick Queen goes on a tackle binge — finishing with 12-plus stops on the day against a run-heavy opponent.

Ravens 17 Falcons 6

Derek Arnold

I’m one of the eternal Ravens optimists around here. Last week though, broke something inside me. Watching this offense flail around, shooting themselves in the foot time and again the way we are used to watching lesser squads do, and failing to execute anything remotely resembling a modern passing attack, for the umpteenth week in a row (backup QB or not), was the straw that broke this camel’s back.

I fear that things are about to snowball around here in the worst way. As TL wrote earlier this week, the pressure is clearly mounting on the players and coaches to avoid yet another late-season collapse, and again without their star quarterback. I thought with the loss last week, Lamar Jackson would certainly suit up against Atlanta, helping his team secure that all-important tenth win. With a berth all but assured, conceding the division to Cincinnati and resting up until the Wild Card round (and hoping to see their twins, Tennessee) didn’t seem like the worst plan. Now, if they stumble tomorrow, they’ll need Jackson to give it a go at home against Pittsburgh, a team he’s still only beaten once, and which boasts quite a different defense than the Falcons.

I hope I’m completely wrong. I hope Christmas Eve turns into a joyful Clinchmas for Baltimore as our Ravens secure a playoff spot. A turnaround at this point though, seems akin to hoping for a young reindeer to randomly have a glowing red nose as we stare up at the dark foggy sky.

• Dean Pees has stolen Greg Roman’s lunch money before. He’ll do it again. Despite having a fraction of the defensive talent than he did in Tennessee, stopping Tyler Huntley is a much shorter task than stopping Lamar.

• The Ravens manage just 120 yards on the ground. That’s not awful, but when you can’t pass at all – which will be the case especially with the gusty winds added to Huntley’s wet noodle – it becomes limiting.

• Without Calais Campbell, the Falcons running game finds some success, and with Marcus Peters sidelined, rookie Desmond Ridder is allowed to gamble and air it out a bit. It only takes hitting one or two…and he does, a 30-yard touchdown to Drake London. He also breaks contain inside the red zone, spiking the ball as Baltimore defenders stare at one another, dumbfounded.

Falcons 20 Ravens 10

Chris Schisler

The Ravens have a great chance to get a victory and clean up some of the problems that plagued them against the Browns. The Atlanta Falcons aren’t a good team. The Ravens can always get in their own way, but they have the tools to get the job done.

The Falcons are on the negative side of the turnover ratio. They struggle to stop the run. Desmond Ridder, a rookie quarterback, is getting the start for Atlanta. Lost in the almost scoring-free game in Cleveland, is the fact that the Ravens’ defense only gave up 13 points and faced bad situations all day long. The Falcons offense isn’t going to have a fun Christmas Eve.

The Ravens probably won’t play inspiring football. They probably won’t look great offensively, the way things are going. They should however get the win. They won’t ruin your Christmas weekend.

Bold predictions

• JK Dobbins gets 100 rushing yards

• Tyler Huntley is turnover free and runs for a touchdown

• Roquan Smith will score on a pick 6.

• Marlon Humphrey will have an interception and a forced fumble.

• Sammy Watkins will play and will lead Ravens in receptions (Which won’t be too high of a bar).

Ravens 24 Falcons 10

Kevin McNelis

*Deep sigh*

Atlanta’s defense has been abysmal to this point in the season, but who knows which version of the Ravens offense we’ll see. Tyler Huntley looks to be prepared to play, but he isn’t 100% as he nurses a shoulder injury. My hopes for this game are a couple of short fields off of turnovers and sticking to the run game once it gets established. WHAT A NOVEL CONCEPT.

• Desmond Ridder struggles against an opportunistic Ravens secondary in the bitter cold. He coughs the ball up twice, once as it bounces off of the numbed hands of a receiver and into the waiting grasp of Marlon Humphrey.

• JK Dobbins takes advantage of a short field off of one such turnover as he records a rushing touchdown. He’ll notch 80 yards on the ground.

• With Calais Campbell ailing, another big body in the middle of the D-line needs to step up. This game, it’ll be Travis Jones, who records two TFLs and a sack.

And for kicks, since I’ll be freezing my butt off at the game:

• Kevin’s feet are completely numb by the second quarter.

• Out of necessity for warmth, Kevin kills at least two cups of coffee before the end of regulation.

Ravens 16 Falcons 13

Jared Pinder

On paper this is a game the Ravens should dominate. The Falcons have a horrible run defense and their offense is all about running the ball. The Ravens should destroy the Falcons even without Lamar.

This is truly the last chance for the Ravens to show something. The fan base is at an all-time low and Harbaugh’s seat should be getting hot, so show us something this game. Stop trying to be cute on offense and just run the ball. Stop fighting what you are as an offense.

• Roman wakes up and the Ravens run the ball well with Dobbins reaching over 100 yards again.

• The Ravens defense puts the pressure on Desmond Ridder and they hold the Falcons to under 200 yards.

This game is it for the Ravens. It is time to put up or shut up or more of the fan base and media will be at the end of the bar.

Ravens 17 Falcons 10