Both of these teams are 2-2 on the season.  The Ravens are 2-0 outside of the AFC North outscoring their opponents 46-36.  The 49ers started this season 2-0 but they’ve been punished in the last two games by a combined score of 60-19!

The Ravens want to run the football with Willis McGahee (376 yards rushing, 4.7 ypc) against a suspect run defense of the 49ers which is allowing 130.0 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  For the Ravens to have success throwing the ball the O-Line must give QB Steve McNair solid protection.  If McNair has time to throw look for him to look for his TEs Quinn Sypniewski and Todd Heap.  He also will likely want to challenge Walt Harris and Nate Clements but he better be careful because those guys are good.  Watch out for the Ravens secret weapon in this game which will be #3 WR Demetrius Williams who’s really fast.

The 49ers have the worst offense in the NFL as they are only averaging 213.3 yards of total offense per game.  Look for the Ravens to focus the whole defense on stopping Frank Gore (254 yards rushing, 79 yards receiving) from beating them.  That will make things tough on veteran QB Trent Dilfer as he doesn’t have many weapons in the passing game.  Darrell Jackson needs to find a heart as he seems to be just going through the motions and he will likely alligator arm a few passes against the physical Ravens defense.

PREDICTION:  Look for the Ravens defense to completely shut down the 49ers.  And when the 49ers defense gets tired the Ravens will pull ahead for a semi-easy victory.

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