Arizona Cardinals-Baltimore Ravens: Pregame analysis of Week 8 game
Baltimore Ravens (5-2) at Arizona Cardinals (1-6)
Time/site: 1:25 p.m. MST, State Farm Stadium.
TV: CBS. Radio: 98.7 FM, 106.7 FM in Spanish.
Last time they played: The last matchup between the two teams came in September 2019, when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson led Baltimore to a 23-17 home win over the Cardinals and then-rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, who was making just his second career start. Should Murray play on Sunday, which remains a possibility, it will mark the second-ever matchup between two of the nine former Heisman Trophy-winning players currently active in the NFL.
In that 2019 game, Jackson threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 120 yards.
Series history: The Cardinals and Ravens meet for the eighth time in a series that dates back to 1997. Baltimore is 5-2 against Arizona. Of the 31 other current NFL franchises, the Cardinals have played only the Texans (five) and Jaguars (six) fewer times than they have the Ravens. The Ravens will be making just their second-ever regular season appearance at State Farm Stadium - and first since a Monday night matchup in Week 7 of the 2015 season which Arizona won 26-18. The Ravens, Jaguars, Jets and Titans are the only NFL franchises who have played fewer than two regular season games at State Farm Stadium.
The seven games played in the series were decided by a combined 37 points and none were decided by more than eight points.
Coaching matchup
Arizona: First-year head coach Jonathan Gannon is off to a 1-6 start to his tenure.
Baltimore: John Harbaugh is in his 16th season as Ravens head coach. He has won a Super Bowl and was the 2019 NFL Coach of the Year. Under Harbaugh, the Ravens are 41-22 against NFC teams (1-0 this season). With Jackson as its starter, Baltimore is 16-1 against the NFC, with a 1-0 record against Arizona.
Storylines
Is this the week Kyler Murray returns to game action? That's the biggest storyline surrounding the Cardinals. It only makes sense for the Cardinals' decision-makers to see what they have in Murray in order to make a more informed decision as to if they want him to be the franchise quarterback moving forward after this season.
If Murray is held back another week, Josh Dobbs will make his seventh consecutive start for Arizona and ninth career start overall. He completed one pass for 22 yards against the Ravens in 2018 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cardinals wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, still close with many former teammates despite having left for Arizona before the 2022 season via trade, faces his old team for the first time.
Baltimore will win if . . .
Jackson dominates an NFC team, again: In a Week 7 38-6 rout of Detroit (NFC North), Jackson became the fourth quarterback in NFL history with at least 350 yards passing, three touchdown passes, a rushing touchdown and a passer rating of at least 150 in a game.
The Ravens' defense continues to play well: Baltimore has allowed the NFL's fewest overall touchdowns, seven, and six are against the defense with one via special teams this season. The Ravens' seven overall touchdowns allowed in 2023 tie for the fewest permitted by Baltimore through the first seven games of a season in franchise history, also achieved in 2000 when the Ravens won Super Bowl 35.
Arizona will win if . . .
1. The Cardinals force turnovers and score touchdowns off of them: It was something they couldn't do at Seattle last week and it cost them a chance to win. Even that might not be enough, but it's critical for any chance.
2. The defensive backs struggle to stop Baltimore's pass catchers: The Cardinals have given up perhaps too many explosive plays on defense. It'll be important to get pressure on Jackson, and equally as important to be strong in pass coverage.
They said it
"The fact that our guys are bought into (continuous improvement) and conscious of that on a day-to-day basis really makes me feel like they have a chance to really be successful. When you have agroup of guys — players or people — who think that way, and they’re thinking (with a) growth mindset, they’re thinking that way in terms of 'We can get better; I need to get better,' embracingthe imperfection, so to speak, that’s a good thing." - Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
"I remember being a young guy getting thrown into the fire as a rookie. I didn't really know what I was doing. ... and I felt like I was like a chicken running around with my head cut off. So it is dope to see because you know, they might mess some things up which is, granted you know, we all mess things up but I feel like they're fearless out there, especially you know Starling, Kei'Trel, just all the corners in general but especially the younger guys I feel like they just fearless. They'll get beat and still come playing aggressive and things like that, and they play the hardest, in my opinion the hardest position on the field on defense." - Cardinals ILB Kyzir White, on the young cornerbacks pressed into service for Arizona.
"We get down there and we just haven’t been finishing in the red zone, whether we drive the ball down there or we’ve gotten some opportunistic opportunities with turnovers to be able to score and we aren’t able to capitalize on that. I think it just comes down to those little details. Those little details in the execution. We look back at the game, at those plays and there’s one play either throughout the drive, one false footwork, one off ball location or just one little detail that ends up either putting us behind the sticks or causing us not to execute. (We end up) either settling for field goals or not being able to score when we get down there. This week, man, we’re focused on those details. Uncovering all stones, locking in on the game plan because we’ve identified the last two weeks when we’ve gone down there those opportunities have been the differences in the game. This week with another really good opponent coming to town, you have to take advantage of those opportunities when you get them." - Cardinals QB Josh Dobbs, on why it has been challenging for the offense to score points of late.
By the numbers
5.4 - Average margin of victory in the seven all-time matchups between the Cardinals and Ravens. None were decided by more than eight points.
9 - Active NFL players who are former Heisman Trophy winners. That group includes Arizona QB Kyler Murray and Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.
132 - Combined field goals of 50-plus yards for Cardinals kicker Max Prater (74) and Ravens kicker Justin Tucker (58). Prater's 74 FGs of 50-plus yards are the most in NFL history while Tucker's 58 are tied for second.
130 - Combined distance, in yards, of the two longest field goals in NFL history, which are owned by Tucker (66 yards) and Prater (64 yards).
139 - Rushing yards per game for the Cardinals in 2023. Arizona ranks sixth in the NFL in rushing this season. The 2023 season marks just the second time in the last 35 years (1,125 in 2020) Arizona has rushed for 970 or more yards through the first seven games of a season.
4 - Cardinals players who have rushed for 100+ yards in 2023. Running backs James Conner (364) and Emari Demercado (117), quarterback Josh Dobbs (232) and wide receiver Rondale Moore (136).
5.23 - Rushing average for Arizona in 2023 (973 yards on 186 carries). Only the Dolphins (6.31) have a better rushing average than the Cardinals this season.
13 - Runs of 20 or more yards for the Cardinals in 2023. That is tied with Miami for the most in the NFL this season and already easily surpassed Arizona's total from all of 2022 (9).
1991 - Prior to rookie cornerbacks Garrett Williams this season, the last time a Cardinals player had an interception in his NFL debut. With his pick of Geno Smith last week, Williams became the first Arizona player to accomplish the feat since Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams.
5 - Cardinals players who have already established career highs in sacks this season: Victor Dimukeje (3 ½), Zaven Collins (3 ½), Kevin Strong Jr. (2 ½), Kyzir White (2) and Jonathan Ledbetter (1 ½).
23 – Consecutive games the Ravens have rushed for at least 100 yards, marking the NFL's longest active streak. (Arizona is second with six games).
343 – Consecutive games the Ravens have scored, marking the NFL's longest active streak, which dates back September 30, 2002. Carolina is second at 333, while Pittsburgh is third at 269.
Who will win and why
Ravens 27, Cardinals 16: Sam Howell. Daniel Jones. Dak Prescott. Brock Purdy. Joe Burrow. Matthew Stafford. Geno Smith. The Cardinals have faced a few outstanding NFL quarterbacks already. None may be as talented as Jackson, however, and he seems to have rounded into as much a threat with his arm as his legs. His ability to make plays and lead long drives, plus Baltimore's stout defense, should make it a long afternoon for the Cardinals.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals-Baltimore Ravens NFL Week 8 game preview, prediction
