The Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions have been two of the NFL's better teams over the past few seasons, and their Week 3 matchup on "Monday Night Football" looks to be a heavyweight bout.
Last time these two teams met, however, that wasn't the case at all.
On Oct. 22, 2023, the Ravens welcomed the Lions to M&T Bank Stadium and sent them home with a 38-6 blowout loss. Lamar Jackson completed 21 of 27 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns (plus another score on the ground) for a passer rating of 155.8, just shy of perfect. The Ravens' offense finished with more than 500 yards of offense on the day.
The defense was also nothing short of dominant in this game, pitching a shutout until early in the fourth quarter. Baltimore had five sacks on the day, with Kyle Van Noy - who had just signed with the Ravens a few weeks prior - having two and Nnamdi Madubuike, Odafe Oweh and Arthur Maulet each having one.
Heading into this Week 3 matchup, Lions head coach Dan Campbell hasn't forgotten the beatdown his team suffered at the hands of the Ravens.
"You don't forget those," Campbell told reporters this week, via the Lions' website. "We didn't give ourselves a chance. By the end of the first quarter, we were in a bad way.
"The environment, the opponent, most of our guys have seen them up close, real-time. If you didn't have an idea, you have a real good idea now what you're going into."
The Ravens are 6-1 all-time against the Lions, and the 2023 game was one of several blowout wins in the series.
However, Campbell has done an amazing job of turning the Lions, one of the NFL's worst franchises historically, into a winning team. Building his own culture has been paramount to his success, and - intentional on his end or not - he sees many similarities between his team's culture and the Ravens'.
"Rugged team, tough, disciplined, really good players," Campbell said. "We respect what they're about. We're looking forward to this, going out to their place on Monday night. This is going to be fun. This is one of those, this is why you do it."
Both teams may be 1-1 entering this game, but if they play up to their potential, this should be one of the best games of the week, if not the best.
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