Sunday, September 29 at 8:20 p.m. ET
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
Weather: 70s, rain
Latest line: Bills +2.5, over/under 46.5
One at a time BillsMafia. Stay humble and hungry; but that was a highly satisfying three game stretch. On to Baltimore in prime time. Josh Allen vs Lamar Jackson. Who wins?
QB:
One has two MVPs, one has none. Yet. We are witnessing the best version of Josh. Advantage Bills.
Run game weapons:
There aren’t too many teams in the NFL that can compare to what the Ravens have in Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, but Josh Allen and James Cook are one of them. Close, but the Ravens win this one.
Pass game weapons:
Flowers or Shakir? I say Shakir. Bateman or Hollins/Coleman? The latter. Andrews/Likely or Kincaid/Knox? Advantage Bills.
Offensive line:
The Bills might just have the best OL in the NFL. Lamar helps to mask the subpar and banged up Ravens unit. Advantage Bills.
Run Defense:
The Ravens rank #1 through three weeks, so I won’t argue this one. Advantage Ravens.
Pass Defense:
The Ravens rank 32nd through the same stretch, so another easy call. Benford for Pro Bowl! Advantage Bills.
Special teams:
Remember the Matt Araiza draft? The better punter from that draft was the Ravens Jordan Stout. Justin Tucker may have been knocked off the #1 K spot by the Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey, but he’s still top three. Advantage Ravens.
Coaching:
I might defer to Andy Reid down the road, and no disrespect to the resume of John Harbaugh, but maybe Sean McDermott is the leading Coach of the Year candidate? Even.
Intangibles:
You pick: the hot team or the desperate team? Who might the rain affect more?
The Forecast:
My personal choice is the hot team.
Bills 24 Ravens 20. Game one of the gauntlet.
The Pregame Plan:
Food:
Maybe a little early in the season, but I’m in the mood for Clam Chowder in a Sourdough Bread Bowl.
Beer:
I wish I could get Heavy Seas Loose Cannon from Baltimore, but will happily settle for a couple Lagunitas IPAs.
Music:
When in doubt, default to the Rolling Stones. From the highly underrated “Aftermath” album:
- Doncha Bother Me
- Out of Time
- Mother’s Little Helper
- Under My Thumb
We are playing week 4 with house money. It’s a good feeling.
Editor’s babble: Everything is better listening to the Rolling Stones. Many thanks to Joe Reagan for his contributions to our blog. You can also find Joe on Twitter @joer869.
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