By DaVince “Dino” Wright
Game Info
Baltimore Ravens vs Miami Dolphins
Thursday – November 11 – 7:20 p.m.
TV: FOX / NFLNET
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL.
Records Before the Game
Baltimore Ravens (6-2, 2-1 Away)
Miami Dolphins (2-7, 1-3 Home)
Miami is a good team on paper, but has failed to give their fans a winning product on the field. The Dolphins are 2-7 and now fans are chanting, “Next year is our year!” They have been saying that since Dan Marino retired a million years ago. The Baltimore Ravens have started a run of winning taking the W in 4 of their last 5 games. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has taken the lead in MVP chatter over the past 3 weeks. Let’s take a close look at this week’s Thursday Night Football match up.
What’s the difference
A successful quarterback has a half ay decent offensive line. If you take a look at Miami’s offensive line. They struggle in pass protection and run blocking on their left side. They have plugged different guys on the left side because they want to protect Tua Tagovailoa, but back up Jacoby Brissett won in Houston. The Ravens offensive line is geared to run block because their quarterback can run as well as pass. It all starts upfront.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are leading the AFC North division by one game. In their last four games, the offense has racked up 281 yards passing and 161 rushing and leading the way is quarterback Lamar Jackson. He’s the team’s leading passer with 2209 yards through the air while posting 600 yards rushing and a couple of TDs on the ground. He is the x factor in this game and every game. If you want to shut down the Ravens offense, stop Jackson. The defense is giving up 24 points per game on average while the Dolphin offense only scores 17 points per contest. So the defense will be fine on the road this week.
Miami Dolphins
You can look at a team’s record and say, “Man! They suck!” Miami has a good team that hasn’t meshed yet. They are young, talented and in need of a few key leaders (veterans) and free agents to get them over the hump. Well since we’re almost in the middle of the season, the Dolphins will need to establish the run. They have three running backs that could play on any team in the league. Running back Myles Gaskin needs to to get the ball early and often. He can run the ball between the tackles and catch passes from the backfield. He is the x factor for this game.
Prediction
ESPN has the Ravens with a 63% chance of winning on the road. The over/under is 46.5 so take the over in this one. I’m taking the Ravens by 10!
Final Score
Ravens – 31
Dolphins – 21
