Rob Long: Ravens/Falcons Prediction
The Baltimore Ravens host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens are coming off of a beat down of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week in which Joe Flacco threw for 5 touchdown passes and won AFC Offensive Player of The Week.
The Ravens have done well against the NFC South so far this season. They defeated Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, September 28th by a score of 38-10. That's a combined score of 86-27 in two games against that division. The Ravens hope to have the same results against a Falcons team that has more offensive weapons than their two divisional predecessors.
The Falcons are led by Matt Ryan who has Julio Jones and Roddy White to throw to. That could potentially make the Ravens secondary look bad. Terrell Suggs and company has to make life tough for Ryan and not give him a clean pocket. The Falcons will throw the ball. That's what they do.
Joe Flacco and the Ravens have the ability to torch the Falcons defense and they have to do so early and often. With a balance offensive attack, Flacco can keep the Falcons offense off of the field and expose the glaring weakness of this team. The Falcons defense is ranked 31st in the National Football League. They could drop to 32nd after Sunday.
Ravens 30 Falcons 21