Previewing the Ravens vs. Lions Week 7 showdown

The Baltimore Ravens welcome their toughest foe yet as the Detroit Lions head to M&T Bank stadium on for a Week 7 matchup. Both teams are among the best in their conference and hope to keep up their winning ways.

---

Teams (Records)

Baltimore Ravens: 4-2

Detroit Lions: 5-1

Odds (Courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Ravens -3

OVER/UNDER: 43

Moneyline: Ravens -162; Lions +136

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

Last 5 Games In Series

Ravens have won four of the past five matchups.

Matchup History

Ravens lead series 5-1-0

Injury Report

Both safety Marcus Williams and cornerback Kevon Seymour have been ruled out for Sunday. On a positive note, five players who were dealing with injury this week have been removed from the injury report after given no designation for Sunday’s game, including outside linebacker Odafe Oweh.

On Saturday, the Ravens added CB Marlon Humphrey to the injury report with an illness. He is questionable for Sunday.

The Lions enter Sunday a bit banged up as starting running back David Montgomery was ruled out. He suffered a ribs injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6. On Saturday, the Lions added cornerback Jerry Jones (knee) to the injury report and listed him questionable. Wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. is out, too, due to an undisclosed personal injury. According to Pride of Detroit’s Jeremy Reisman, this could be a big loss for the Lions.

“Jacobs’ injury could be a major blow to the Lions defense if he cannot play,” Reisman wrote. “He has been the team’s starter opposite Cameron Sutton all season, and while he was expected to be eventually displaced by Emmanuel Moseley, Moseley ended up tearing his ACL after just two defensive snaps this season. The good news is that it appears he’s traveling with the team (he’d be declared out if he wasn’t), which gives him a chance to play.”

---

Strength vs. Strength

Arguably the best game of the week will be the matchup in Baltimore. Everywhere a team is strong, they’re going against an opponent who specializes in the exact countermeasure. It’s going to be a war.

Second Half Adjustments and Consistency

The Ravens have struggled to close out games this season. They’ve struggled as an offense the later the game goes on. Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken shared it’s simply “doing better.”

“We can certainly do a better job at halftime, [and] we can certainly do a better job in the second half,” Monken said. “I didn’t see significant changes [from our opponent] in the second half other than we just have to do it better; I have to coach it better; I have to call it better; we have to execute better. It wasn’t as if we were consistently running the same things; we just have to do it better.”

Monken did note the offense performed better in the second half against both the Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals.

---

Red Zone Scoring

The Ravens went from being among the NFL’s best touchdown-scoring red zone offenses to struggling mightily. Monken was asked if it’s only a matter of time before they start getting touchdowns on big plays.

“All of it is a part of it – starting with me, players’ execution [and] giving our guys opportunities down the field so we don’t have to work so hard once we get down there,” Monken said. “It’s hard in the NFL to get those, but we certainly have to do a better job of that. We just do.”

---

Matchups vs. Generalities

Often times, media and fans look at matchups on the board and see “X wide receiver is going against Y cornerback.” Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald was asked if that’s something that matters to them or if it’s more based in generalities and execution.

“Yes, I think that’s very situational based. Like, first-and-10 is going to be a lot different than third-and-3, and then where you’re at in the field is going to matter, as well,” Macdonald said. “[The Lions] do a good job of moving both those guys [Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta] around, so [with] whatever world we’re in, we definitely have to account for them. Some of the calls could or could not be forwarded towards those guys in mind, but again, it’s going to be situation based.”

---

Return of Oweh

After a promising start to the season where Oweh generated numerous pressures, he was sidelined with a lower leg injury, keeping him off the field for the past few weeks. But on Wednesday he returned to practice and by Friday he participated in full and was cleared of his injury status, boding well for his return on Sunday. Outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney is eager for his teammates return.

“Oh, for sure, man – for sure. I’m tired of getting chip blocked,” Clowney said. “Having [Odafe Oweh] out there, it’s like another dog right there [that] we miss. And it’s going to keep getting better – getting the guys back week in and week out. Oweh is a good pass rusher, and we need him, and [he’s] a good run stopper. I think he’s just waiting on his time for him to peak in this league. He kind of reminds me of myself – a guy that just comes to practice, works extremely hard and brings it every day and beats guys.”