In Week 1, the Las Vegas Raiders will host the Baltimore Ravens in a critical AFC matchup. To get you prepared for that contest, we talked to Kevin Oestreicher, the managing editor of the Ravens Wire, about this matchup. Here are his thoughts on the Ravens this season and how they might fare against the Raiders on Monday Night Football.
1. What is the current health status of the wide receivers?
The Ravens’ wide receivers have been banged up for much of the offseason, but the group is starting to get healthy again. While both Rashod Bateman and Miles Boykin will miss the first three weeks of the regular season, Marquise Brown and Sammy Watkins returned to practice recently, which is a big boost.
2. How big of a loss is J.K. Dobbins and what can you tell us about Ty’Son Williams?
There’s no understating how big of a blow losing J.K. Dobbins is. He was expected to be one of the biggest breakout stars of 2021, and his balance, power more will be missed. However, Ty’Son Williams showed during training camp and the preseason that’s he’s more than ready to step in. While he’s no Dobbins, he can get to the edge in a hurry, has good vision and is solid in pass protection as well.
I think the Raiders present more of a challenge for Baltimore than people think. However, the Ravens have been unstoppable in Week 1 over the last four years, outscoring their opponents 164-19 over that span of opening games. I think Baltimore will be able to continue that trend by riding their running game as well as playing stellar defense on their way to a 1-0 record, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Las Vegas puts up a good fight
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