Four Keys to Ravens Victory vs. Lions

The Lions have a four-time Pro Bowler under center leading the charge for their prolific offense with former No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff. While he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league when he's kept clean and isn't under duress, he becomes one of the worst when pressured. With Pro Bowl pass rusher Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy ruled out for this game due to injuries, the Ravens and second-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr will need to dial up some simulated pressures and deceptive coverages to get to Goff or make him hold the ball a tick longer for the rush to get home.

In the last meeting between these two teams played in 2023, the Ravens sacked Goff five times. Two came from Van Noy, another from Madubuike and the other two came via a nickel blitz from veteran slot corner Arthur Maulet and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, who also stripped the ball. Even without their two proven veteran, the Ravens still have some promising young pass rush talent who can wreak havoc, especially on stunts up the middle, where the Lions are the most inexperienced and susceptible to giving up swift pressures.

Establish the Run Early and Start Fast

Coming off a game where it took a whole half for their offense to get going and the ground game never found any traction, the Ravens will need to come out of the gates moving he ball much better than this week and get their rushing attack star running back Derrick Henry back on track. Faster starts create earlier leads and avoid the possibility of falling into an early hole. Being able to run the ball to their usually dominant league-leading standard helps them not only get on the scoreboard and open up the passing attack, but it also allows them to dictate the pace of the game more often than not, as well as dominate time of possession.

There's also a psychological component and advantage that is gained when both of these goals are achieved because it puts pressure on the opponent to feel like they have to respond or risk falling behind even more. By dominating on the ground, a team is imposing its will and demoralizing its foe to the point where they begin to lose hope that they'll be able to get a stop and keep up.

Make Detroit One-Dimensional on Offense

On the other side of the ball, in addition to being able to generate consistent pressure on Goff, the Ravens need to takeaway the best friend of any and all quarterbacks, the run game. After being held in check on the ground in their season opener against a division foe, similarly to the Ravens last week, the Lions bounced back in Week 2 and rushed for nearly 200 yards. Even under first-year offensive coordinator John Morton, Detroit's recipe for success on offense remains the same as it was under Ben Johnson. It is predicated upon being able to run the ball well to stay in short-to-manageable down and distances while avoiding obvious passing situations.

If the Ravens can shut down or at least limit the dynamic running back tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery on early downs, they'll find themselves with more opportunities to pin their ears back on third-and-longs. Goff is an immobile pocket passer who will hang onto the ball and step up in the pocket longer than he should to try to keep the play alive to a fault at times, resulting in more chances for strip-sacks to occur.