35-year old linebackers don’t grow on trees, especially dominating ones like the Ravens’ Ray Lewis.  Lewis has played in 7 games for the Ravens so far this year and he has 60 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, 3 passes defensed, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.  He has now played in 201 games in his 15 years with the Ravens and he has 1,819 tackles, 110 passes defensed, 38.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles and he has 29 interceptions (2 returned for TDs).  Lewis is the best inside linebacker I have ever seen and he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  I’m still amazed watching him play every week as he looks like a player in his middle 20′s not his middle 30′s.

29-year old RB Willis McGahee continues to play very well for the Ravens when given the chance to carry the football.  He has played in 6 games for the Ravens so far this year and he has 51 carries for 207 yards (4.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  McGahee has also caught 4 passes for 6 yards (1.5 avg) this year.  McGahee was thought to become a forgotten man this year because of Ray Rice’s breakout 2009 season, but that has not been the case as of late and I look for McGahee to continue to get the ball more than anyone thought he would this year.  McGahee has now played in 50 games in his four years with the Ravens and he has carried the ball 624 times for 2,629 yards (4.2 ypc) with 30 TD carries.  He has also caught 86 passes for 495 yards (5.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his time with the Ravens.

The Bills came in with almost a perfect gameplan before falling in O.T. to the Ravens.  LB Ray Lewis stripped Bills’ TE Shawn Nelson in OT setting up kicker Billy Cundiff for the game winning 38-yard FG.  Lewis led the way for the Ravens on D in this game with 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed, 2 QB hits, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.  Safeties Dawan Landry (10 tackles) and Ed Reed (4 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 2 interceptions) also had solid games for the Ravens today.  The Bills finished up with a stunning 132 yards rushing on 35 carries (3.8 ypc) and they completed 29 of 43 passes for 374 yards as they had possession of the ball for 38:36.

The Ravens were effective on offense despite not having the ball much earlier today.  Joe Flacco was efficient in completing 16 of 31 passes for 250 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Ray Rice (16 carries, 72 yards) and Willis McGahee (11 carries, 64 yards, TD) gave Flacco some ground support today.  WR Anquan Boldin (6 rec, 92 yards, TD) and TE Todd Heap (3 rec, 59 yards, 2 TD grabs) led the way in the passing game for the Ravens today.  The Ravens are now 5-2 on the season.

This is the game where the Ravens might finally destroy a team.  The Ravens are winning by an average of 6.3 points per game but this is likely to be a blowout in their favor.  The Bills are 0-5 on the year and they get outscored by an average of 14.8 points per game.  The only thing the Bills have going for them is that they have had 2 weeks to get ready for the Ravens.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Ravens have the ball:  Ray Rice and Willis McGahee have to be excited about tomorrow’s game after watching game film of the Bills’ D all week.  The Bills are giving up 182.4 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry so Rice and McGahee should face very little resistance tomorrow.  Joe Flacco also has to be excited about this game as opposing QBs have a 114.8 QB Rating against the Bills who only have six sacks and 1 interception so far this year.  Flacco will likely be playing a game of catch with Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and T.J. Houshmandzadeh in this game.  

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 34, BILLS 10

23-year old running back Ray Rice broke out last season for the Ravens.  He played in all 16 games in 2009 for the Ravens and he carried the ball 254 times for 1,339 yards (5.3 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  Rice has also caught 78 passes for 702 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab in his NFL career.  It looked like Rice was going to develop into a awesome running back going forward but 2010 has been a struggle for him so far.  He has played in 6 games for the Ravens so far this year and he has 115 carries for 451 yards (3.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Rice has also caught 23 passes for 138 yards (6.0 avg) so far this year.  I’m thinking that tomorrow is the game that really jumpstarts his season as the Bills have given up 182.4 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry so far this year.

The Ravens fought hard today before falling on O.T. today when Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 35-yard field with 1:56 left in the period.  Joe Flacco had a solid game number wise as he completed 27 of 35 passes for 285 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs but he couldn’t make the big play with the game on the line.  Ray Rice carried the ball 28 times for 88 yards (3.1 ypc) and he also caught 8 passes for 38 yards (4.8 avg).  Derrick Mason (8 rec, 100 yards), Anquan Boldin (4 rec, 63 yards, TD) and Todd Heap (3 rec, 49 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Ravens today.  The Ravens finished up with 99 yards rushing on 34 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 35 passes for 278 yards.

Safety Dawan Landry (12 tackles, 1 QB hit), LB Ray Lewis (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and DT Haloti Ngata (7 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits) all had good games for the Ravens today.  The Patriots finished up with 127 yards rushing on 26 carries (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 44 passes for 267 yards.  The Ravens are now 4-2 on the year.

The Ravens are 2-1 on the road this year while the Patriots are 2-0 at home (outscoring the opponents 76-54).  The Ravens rolled into Foxboro last January and they destroyed the Patriots 33-14 as they pushed them around all day long.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens are going to probably run a very balanced offense against a very poor Patriots’ D.  This could be the game that Joe Flacco really breaks out as the Patriots are giving up 272.3 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 91.2 QB Rating against them so far this year.  I fully expect Ray Rice to have another monster game too against a Patriots’ D that is allowing 112.3 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year.

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots will likely try to be balanced against the Ravens in a attempt to control the football.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis has been really solid so far this year and he’s a bigger back like Peyton Hillis who gave the Ravens’ D trouble earlier in the year.  The Patriots will likely keep the passing game short to nullify the Ravens’ pass rush.  That means that Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Aaron Hernandez and Deion Branch will all likely be in on the action.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, PATRIOTS 20

Sure, the Ravens are averaging 214.2 yards passing per game this year but they have not been effective throwing the ball.  Joe Flacco only has a 72.1 QB Rating and he has thrown more pickoffs (6) than TD passes (5).  His protection hasn’t been a problem as he has only been sacked 5 times so far this year.  The only thing I can figure is that he’s just not in sync with his WRs and TEs so far this year.  With Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin, Todd Heap and T.J. Houshmandzadeh going out for passes the Ravens expect to have a good passing game.  I’m pointing the finger right at Joe Flacco and saying that he needs to step up.

This was the Ravens playing the way they scripted before this year started.  Joe Flacco managed the game by completing 14 of 25 passes for 196 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 20 yards (4.0 ypc) with a TD run.  Ray Rice was finally healthy and unleashed today as he carried the ball 27 times for 133 yards (4.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Rice also caught 4 passes for 26 yards (6.5 avg) in this game.  Willis McGahee pitched in with 10 carries for 67 yards (6.7 ypc) with 1 TD run in this game.  Rookie TE Ed Dickson (1 rec, 58 yards) and WR Derrick Mason (3 rec, 47 yards) led the way through the air for the Ravens in this game.  The Ravens finished up with 233 yards rushing on 47 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 25 passes for 182 yards as they possessed the ball for 36:17.

LB Ray Lewis (6 tackles), CB Fabian Washington (5 tackles, 4 passes defensed) and DT Haloti Ngata (3 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss) led the way for the Ravens’ D today.  The Broncos finished up with 39 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 38 passes for 307 yards.  The Ravens are now 4-1 on the year.

Both of these teams are coming off huge road wins last week as the Broncos beat the Titans and the Ravens beat the Steelers.  With the Steelers being a bitter division rival they probably had more taken out of them last weekend than the Broncos did.  This has trap game written all over it.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens have passed the ball 56.6% of the time this year and they would likely want to be more like 50/50.  This could be the week that happens.  Ray Rice finally looks healthy and the Ravens are going to likely get him the ball a lot both running and catching passes out of the backfield.  The outside linebackers of the Broncos are converted DEs so they will likely have big issues trying to cover Rice on pass patterns.  The Broncos have a good, veteran secondary but the Ravens shouldn’t have a lot of problems moving the ball through the air because the Broncos only have 4 sacks so far this year.  If Joe Flacco has time to throw the ball one of the talented WRs or TEs of the Ravens will be open.

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos suck at running the ball as they are only averaging 55.0 yards rushing and 2.2 yards per carry.  The front seven will be responsible for stopping the run game of the Broncos on the way to the QB.  Kyle Orton already has 1,419 yards passing and 6 TD passes this year so it’s no secret what they are going to attempt to do this weekend.  He has been sacked 11 times this year so look for the Ravens to attack the pocket.  Because if Orton has time to throw the ball the Ravens could be in trouble as Jabar Gaffney, Demaryius Thomas, Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal are all having good years.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, BRONCOS 20