The Baltimore Ravens (8-6) are a much better team than the Chicago Bears (5-9) and they proved that on Sunday.  Joe Flacco did a great job leading the way offensively, and helped the Ravens pull away in the 3rd quarter with 2 touchdown passes within 2 minutes of each other.  He finished with four touchdown passes and 234 yards on 21/29 passes.  Ray Rice gave Flacco a lot of support running the ball.  He didn’t need a ton of carries to be effective, rushing for 87 yards on 16 physical carries.  An impressive game for the Ravens offense, but their defense gave them a huge lift as well.

The Ravens were able to force 6 turnovers against the Bears, getting 4 interceptions and 2 fumbles.  They completely shut down Jay Cutler and the Bears passing game.  Cutler only threw for 94 yards on 10/27 passes and had 3 interceptions.  Caleb Hanie came in for Cutler late in the game and it only took 5 passes for the Ravens to pick him off as well.  They didn’t do too great stopping the run giving up 122 rushing yards, but they did force Bears’ running back Matt Forte into 2 fumbles, recovering 1.  This was a dominant game for the Ravens.

The Baltimore Ravens (7-6) have the Chicago Bears (5-8) coming to town, and if they play like they did last week the Ravens should not have a problem.  The Bears don’t do very many things well, so the Ravens should attack Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler as much as they can.  Cutler has been having a terrible season and has lost a lot of confidence, so if the Ravens can get some pressure on him they will likely force some turnovers.  The Bears are going to look to establish their running game because of this, but the Ravens should be able to shut down Bears’ running back Matt Forte like most other teams have done all season.

On offense, the Ravens should run the ball early and often.  The Bears do not have a good run-defense, and are giving up 129 rushing yards per game.  Ray Rice and Willis McGahee both had very strong games last week, so they should continue that success against the Bears.  Joe Flacco should have some success too, he just needs to make sure he doesn’t throw some interceptions like he did in their loss to Green Bay two weeks ago.  They need to win out if they want any chance of making the playoffs, and if they take care of the ball they will win this game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Baltimore Ravens 28, Chicago Bears 14

The Ravens simply punished the Lions all day long in the game today in Baltimore.  Joe Flacco had his best game in a while completing 13 of 20 passes for 230 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Troy Smith even got in on the action completing 2 of 3 passes for 10 yards and he also carried the ball 2 times for 14 yards (7.0 ypc) with a TD run.  Ray Rice was a absolute beast in this game as he carried the ball 13 times for 166 yards (12.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 4 passes for 53 yards (13.3 avg) in this game!  Willis McGahee had probably his best game of the season too with 12 carries for 76 yards (6.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Le’Ron McClain even got in on the action with 6 carries for 32 yards (5.3 ypc) with a TD run.  WR Derrick Mason led the way in the passing game for the Ravens today with 5 grabs for 94 yards (18.8 avg) with a TD grab.  The Ravens rolled up  548 total yards on offense (308 rushing, 240 passing) in this game.

LB Ray Lewis (9 tackles, 1 pass defense) and rookie CB Lardarius Webb (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) led the way on D for the Ravens today.  The Lions finished up with 229 total yards on offense (103 rushing, 126 passing) in this game.  The Ravens are really back in the hunt for the Wild Card in the AFC as they are tied with the Dolphins, Jets and Jaguars at 7-6 on the year.

The Ravens need this game on Sunday.  Hopefully they watched the Steelers/Browns game last night so that they don’t take the Lions too lightly this Sunday.  The Ravens will likely come out really physical on offense running the ball a lot with Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Le’Ron McClain against a Lions’ D that is allowing 113.4 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Lions’ secondary really sucks as the Lions are allowing 274.8 yards passing per game this season and opposing QBs have a 108.5 QB Rating against them.  That should be good news for Joe Flacco who has been pretty bad lately.

The Ravens will likely key on Kevin Smith of the Lions as they will try to make the Lions’ offense one-dimensional this Sunday.  Daunte Culpepper will be starting at QB for the Lions so the Ravens will likely blitz often to force him into making some big mistakes.  Still, the Ravens should be worried about WR Calvin Johnson especially because of the problems the Ravens have at corner.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, LIONS 6

The Baltimore Ravens are in a good position to make a run at the playoffs in the AFC but they need to pick up their play to get there.  The Ravens got the Lions and Bears at home the next two weeks and they don’t have any excuses to lose either of those games as they are way better than both of those teams.  December 27th they will travel to Pittsburgh who lost to the Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs in the last five weeks.  They might be raising the white flag by then.  The final game of the season is a trip to the Black Hole in Oakland to play the Raiders.  The Raiders might be a improved them as of late but the Ravens have no reason to lose that football game.  It all starts this Sunday against the Lions as the Ravens make a final push for the playoffs.

The Ravens looked lost last night especially on offense and it cost them a game they really needed.  Joe Flacco had one of the worst games I have ever seen out of him as he completed 15 of 36 passes for 137 yards with 1 TD pass and 3 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 16 yards (5.3 ypc) last night.  The Packers bottled up Ray Rice most of the game as he carried the ball 14 times for 54 yards (3.9 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 17 yards (5.7 avg) last night.  Todd Heap led the way in the passing game for the Ravens last night with 5 grabs for 54 yards (10.8 avg).  Kelley Washington pitched in with 4 catches for 39 yards (9.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Ravens finished up with 185 total yards on offense (66 rushing, 119 passing) last night and that is pathetic.

The defense didn’t play too well either last night for the Ravens.  Ray Lewis finished up with 7 tackles including 2 tackles for a loss last night but it didn’t look like anyone else came to play.  The Packers finished up with 350 total yards on offense (94 rushing, 256 passing) last night.  The Ravens are now 6-6 on the season and they will have to fight tooth and nail the rest of the year to have any chance of making the playoffs.

A lot of “experts” are picking the Ravens to win this game but I am not one of them.  The Packers are a very underrated team that is better than the Ravens on both sides of the football and it will show on the scoreboard Monday Night.  The Ravens would probably like to run the ball a lot on Monday Night but it won’t be easy as the Packers are only allowing 89.1 yards rushing per game and 3.6 ypc.  That means that Ray Rice and Willis McGahee will have to earn every yard they get on the ground.  Joe Flacco has padded his stats this season with short throws to his backs but the Packers have the linebackers to match up with them.  Flacco will have to be very careful when throwing the ball down the field as Derrick Mason will likely be shadowed by Charles Woodson who already has 7 interceptions this year.

The Packers probably won’t have a lot of success on the ground against a Ravens’ D that is only allowing 97.6 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry this season.  But, if Aaron Rodgers has the time to throw the ball he will likely have a field day against a Ravens’ D that is allowing 211.3 yards passing per game.  Rodgers has been sacked 44 times this season but the Packers will likely have the WRs and TEs run shorter patterns to protect him.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 24, RAVENS 16