Bills/Ravens Preview – Conversation With The Purple Chaos
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The 0-5 Buffalo Bills travel to Baltimore this weekend to take on a 4-2 Ravens squad who is fresh off a tough loss to the New England Patriots.
As we do every week here at BuffaLowDown, we reached out to a blog of the enemy to get an inside look of the game to come.
This week, I had to pleasure of talking to Conoon Kim of The Purple Chaos, a Ravens Blog. Here is what he had to say:
1) BLD: We all know that the Buffalo Bills are playing terrible football right now, but what do the Ravens need to execute on Offense and Defense this Sunday to avoid an upset?
TPC: The Ravens need to make sure they don’t stray from running the ball. It’s just common football knowledge that if you run the ball well, it sheds time off the clock and keeps the defense off the field. It also improves the effectiveness of play-action plays and keeps the opponents on their heels. Defensively, the Ravens need to bring heavy pressure on the quarterback. They were doing well against the Patriots at the start of the game last week, but they were getting killed towards the end when they chose to rush only 3 men. This week, look for the Ravens to establish a ground game with all 3 backs and also a 4-5 man blitz on every down.
2) BLD: What is one favorable match-up that you feel the Ravens have over the Bills, as well as one favorable match-up the Bills may have over the Ravens?
TPC: To be honest, I think the Ravens are favored in nearly all head-to-head matchups. The Bills are ranked at the bottom of the league in nearly all categories: offensive yards per game (30th), offensive points per game (26th), points allowed per game (32nd), and rushing yards allowed per game (32nd). However, one positive thing is QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Harvard graduate is showing promise by throwing 2 TDs in the past 3 games.
3) BLD: Who is one player on this intimidating Ravens defense that Bills fans might not yet know about, but should look for come Sunday?
TPC: Cornerback Lardarius Webb. After suffering an ACL injury last year, Webb has come back healthy this season to the highest of standards. He may not get many tackles, but that’s simply because he’s so good at defending receivers and breaking up catches. This sophomore is turning out the be one of our best cornerbacks. I have a feeling he will get his first interception this week. If not, he will surely break up a touchdown-pass.
4) BLD: Ray Rice has 67 touches in the past two games (rushing & receiving). With skilled backs like McGahee and McClain on your roster, do you think Coach Harbaugh needs to slow down Rice’s workload to avoid him being worn down come December/January?
TPC: I expect Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron to utilize Willis McGahee more in this game, and even throughout the stretch of this season. Not to say that Rice couldn’t do it (he could be an every down back and start every game if he really needed to), but McGahee still has tremendous talent. His amazing ball-carrier vision helps him become a touchdown machine, and his stiff-arm is devastating. Though I’m not worried Rice will be worn out, I think the coaches will start implementing all 3 backs once they feel comfortable with the passing attack.
5) BLD: Game Prediction?
TPC: After coming off a disappointing loss and having Ed Reed back, I just can’t see any other possibility then the Ravens winning this game. However, I do see the Bills putting up a tough fight trying to avoid going 0-6. Ravens prevail, 27-16.
There you have it, another week, another blogger predicting that their team will be the Buffalo Bills, but I like to see that The Purple Chaos is giving the Bills a little credit.
The Bills seem to perform well after the bye week, in fact, Buffalo has won four of their last five games coming off the bye and the Bills have the fifth best post-bye week record in the league since the bye was introduced with an overall record of 14-7.
So let’s see if the Bills are able to put up a fight about the intimidating defense of the Baltimore Ravens coming off of this year’s bye.
Also – there is still time to enter BuffaLowDown’s contest for a Buffalo Wild Wings Tailgating Chair!