The Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills will take part in one of the highly anticipated matchups of the NFL in Week 14. Of course, the Ravens are steamrolling their way to being arguably the best team in the AFC.
Baltimore is amid an eight-game winning streak that came into fruition with Justin Tucker nailing a game-winning field goal against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13. Above all, Lamar Jackson continues to do Lamar Jackson things as he is on track to win the NFL's MVP Award.
With Jackson at the helm, the Ravens are 10-2 and are now the first seed in the AFC. On the other hand, the Bills are 9-3 and are the fifth seed in the AFC due to the New England Patriots being in their division.
Considering all of that, here are four things to watch and a prediction for Sunday's game between the Ravens and Bills.
4. Who will TreDavious White cover?
Every week, the Bills usually have TreDavious White shadow the opposing team's best wide receiver. While the Ravens have Marquise Brown, Baltimore's leading receiver is Mark Andrews—their tight end.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Los Angeles Rams chose to have Jalen Ramsey spend a good portion of the game on Andrews. As a result, Brown torched the Rams for two touchdowns.
Provided that, it will be interesting to see whether Buffalo chooses to have their No. 1 cornerback cover Brown or Andrews in Week 14.
3. Will Josh Allen be able to limit turnovers?
To begin the season, it appeared as if Josh Allen was going to have another season littered with turnovers. In his first five starts, Allen had five touchdown passes and nine turnovers (seven interceptions, two fumbles).
But in the second-year quarterback's last seven starts, he's been able to clean up his mental errors. The Bills' franchise quarterback has been efficient since Week 7, throwing 11 touchdowns and has only two turnovers in that span.
The young signal-caller will need to continue playing clean football against a Baltimore defense that can take advantage of mistakes.
2. Can Buffalo contain Lamar Jackson?
The toughest task that plenty of defensive coordinators have been asked to do this season is contain Lamar Jackson. Thus far, there has yet to be a team that has been able to achieve the seemingly possible feat.
Even against a daunting 49ers defense, Jackson gashed them for 101 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Altogether, the dynamic quarterback for the Ravens has rushed for over 100 yards four times in 2019.
The Bills' run defense is the most glaring weakness of Buffalo's talented defense, allowing 104.3 yards per game (14th in the NFL).
1. Will Buffalo be able to control the time of possession?
While everyone has tried to configure ways to defeat the Ravens, not many have tried to control the time of possession. However, that is easier said than done when it comes to being able to run effectively on Baltimore's defense.
Currently, Buffalo has the fifth-best rushing offense in the NFL, and they'll definitely need their rushing attack to be at its best on Sunday. That is because the Ravens own the sixth-best run defense in the NFL that has given up only 94.9 yards per game.
Teams have tried plenty of things, but the way to beat most teams is keeping the opposing offense off of the field as often as possible.
Prediction: Ravens 27, Bills 19
If people haven't gotten a chance to watch the Bills yet, they are undoubtedly a good football team. But as good as they've been, they haven't faced an offense as dangerous as Baltimore yet.
The difference in this game will be the Ravens' running game being able to seize control of the game early and often.
Follow Us
Subscribe