Ravens try for third straight win, travel to face struggling Cardinals
BALTIMORE (5-2) at ARIZONA (1-6)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, CBS
BETTING LINE: Ravens by 8 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Ravens 5-2; Cardinals 3-4.
SERIES RECORD: Ravens lead 5-2.
LAST MEETING: Ravens beat Cardinals 23-17 on Sept. 15, 2019, in Baltimore.
LAST WEEK: Ravens beat Lions 38-6; Seahawks beat Cardinals 20-10.
RAVENS OFFENSE: OVERALL (9), RUSH (3), PASS (16), SCORING (10).
RAVENS DEFENSE: OVERALL (2), RUSH (9), PASS (2), SCORING (1).
CARDINALS OFFENSE: OVERALL (19), RUSH (6), PASS (28), SCORING (24).
CARDINALS DEFENSE: OVERALL (28), RUSH (25), PASS (23), SCORING (26).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Ravens minus-1; Cardinals plus-3
RAVENS PLAYER TO WATCH: DT Justin Madubuike has already matched a career high with 5½ sacks. Baltimore leads the NFL with 29 sacks from 12 different players. That's part of the reason the Ravens have improved significantly against the pass this season.
CARDINALS PLAYER TO WATCH: Rookie CB Garrett Williams played the first game of his NFL career last Sunday after missing the first six games while he recovered from an ACL tear during his final year in college at Syracuse. Williams had an interception against the Seahawks and the Cardinals hope the third-round pick can continue to help a pass defense that's been suspect all season.
KEY MATCHUP: QB Lamar Jackson should feast against a Cardinals defense that's in the bottom third of the league in pretty much every major category. The Cardinals have had a decent pass rush at times this season — led by Dennis Gardeck, Victor Dimukeje and Zaven Collins — but it remains to be seen if they can slow down Jackson.
KEY INJURIES: Ravens S Marcus Williams (hamstring) missed practice time this week after sitting out the win over Detroit last weekend. WR Odell Beckham Jr. (shoulder), LB Odafe Oweh (ankle) and RB Keaton Mitchell (hamstring) were limited in practice. ... Baltimore LB Roquan Smith (shoulder) missed practice Wednesday, but was back as a full participant Thursday. ... Cardinals starting S Jalen Thompson (hamstring) was inactive last week and has been limited in practice this week. ... LB Krys Barnes (hamstring), DL Kevin Strong (shoulder) and OL Elijah Wilkinson (neck) are also battling injuries. ... QB Kyler Murray (knee) was a full participant in practice this week, but hasn't played since tearing his ACL last December.
SERIES NOTES: The home team has won four straight games in the series. ... The average margin of victory in the series is 5.4 points and no game has been decided by more than eight points.
STATS AND STUFF: Murray and Jackson are two of the nine active NFL players who have won the Heisman Trophy. ... The Ravens are 16-1 against the NFC with QB Lamar Jackson as their starter. … Last weekend, Jackson became the fourth QB in NFL history with at least 350 yards passing, three TD passes, a rushing score and a passer rating of at least 150 in a game. The others were Drew Brees, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Aaron Rodgers. … Baltimore has rushed for at least 100 yards in 23 straight games. That's the longest active streak in the league. Arizona is second at six games. … The Ravens have allowed an NFL-low seven TDs this season. … Baltimore's Geno Stone has a league-best four INTs. ... The Cardinals ran for 127 yards last week against Seattle and have the NFL's sixth-best rushing attack. They've continued to move the ball well on the ground even after starter James Conner (knee) went on injured reserve. ... Conner (364), Joshua Dobbs (232), Rondale Moore (136) and Emari Demercado (117) have all run for at least 100 yards this season. They're one of just three NFL teams to have four players already reach that mark. ... Williams was the first Cardinals player to have an interception in his NFL debut since Aeneas Williams in 1991. ... The Cardinals are averaging 5.23 yards per carry, which ranks second in the NFL behind the Dolphins. ... Dobbs has run for at least 20 yards on five plays this season, which leads QBs.
FANTASY TIP: Cardinals WR Marquise Brown will be playing his former team for the first time since he was traded on draft day in 2022. He's been the team's most reliable big-play threat all season and should be extra motivated to have a productive game.
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