Baltimore Ravens Visit New Orleans Saints in Big Easy for ‘Monday Night Football’

Posted on: November 7, 2022, 03:58h. 

Last updated on: November 7, 2022, 01:26h.

Erik Gibbs Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

The  Mercedes-Benz Superdome is the stage for Monday Night Football and the end of Week 9. The New Orleans Saints and the Baltimore Ravens meet in a game that has a lot on the line for both teams.

The Ravens visit the Saints with the mission of continuing to control the AFC North. They’re now 5-3 and have picked up two straight wins, their last coming against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New Orleans faces a very different situation with their five losses and three wins. This has them next to last in the NFC South, barely in front of the struggling Carolina Panthers.

Saints Turn to Dalton

The Saints have faced highly mobile quarterbacks this season, and the results have been a mixed bag. They had wins against Geno Smith with the Seattle Seahawks and Marcus Mariota with the Atlanta Falcons. They took losses against Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals), Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals), and even Carolina’s Baker Mayfield.

The Saints are coming off their best defensive performance after beating the Raiders 24-0 in Week 8. On offense, they’re ranked fourth in total yards this season at 394.4 per game.

Saints quarterback Andy Dalton has been inconsistent under center. Last week’s performance followed an abysmal showing just a week earlier. The Saints will start him again tonight to see what he’s made of, despite a 2-6 “Monday Night Football” career record.

So far this season, Jackson has 1,635 passing yards with 15 TDs through the air for the Ravens. On the ground, he has 553 more yards and two touchdowns. Baltimore has proven that it’s capable of switching things up with relative ease in order to keep defenses guessing, and that will be their strength for the rest of the season.

Injuries Plague Both Sides

On Friday, the Ravens announced that they’ve lost wide receiver Rashod Bateman for a few weeks because of a foot injury. The team said they expected Bateman to return later this season, but that’s no longer the case.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh revealed that Bateman won’t play again in this season, as he will need surgery for a Lisfranc fracture. Bateman was having an outstanding season in his second year as a pro with Baltimore, accumulating 15 receptions for 285 yards and two TDs. DeSean Jackson will make his debut as Bateman’s replacement.

Perhaps worse than losing Bateman is losing Mark Andrews. The tight end had 488 yards and five TDs this season, but didn’t travel with the team to New Orleans. Rookie Isaiah Likely is the best target to fill in, especially after his performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.

The Saints are dealing with their own issues as well. Running back Michael Thomas is out for the season because of injury, as are running back Mark Ingram and linebacker Chase Hansen. Saints wide receiver Jarvis Landry is also questionable for today’s game. On defense, cornerback Marshon Lattimore is out, which is going to be a problem.

The 46.5 over/under seems high, considering how these teams have performed so far this season. This is going to be a hard-fought contest and both teams are missing key offensive elements.