Silver and Black Report

BALTIMORE, MD — It’s no secret what the Baltimore Ravens game plan will be this afternoon when they face the Oakland Raiders.

Run the ball often and productively and hope to keep rookie quarterback Joe Flacco out of situations that the Raiders defense can take advantage of. Last time the Ravens faced the Raiders in 2006, they compiled 138 yards on the ground. Last week, Oakland struggled mightily against the Jets, a team that enjoyed their best rushing effort of 2008.

And with the Raiders allowing 136.2 yards per game on the ground so far this season, there is no doubt that Willis McGahee (293 yards rushing), Le’Ron McClain (281 yards) and Ray Rice (121 yards) will be primed to attack the Oakland front seven.

The Ravens have the 7^th best rushing attack in the league. That is the fuel to an offense that ranks 25^th overall in passing. Sounds familiar? Yeah, just like the Raiders, they depend heavily on their offensive line to pave lanes for their trio of rushers. And both have young passers that still don’t appear ready to shoulder the burden of an offense quite yet.

In this game, the Raiders need to show that the addition of Gibril Wilson will make a difference the rest of the way. That moving Tommy Kelly to tackle and using the rotation of Terdell Sands and Gerard Warren will help slow down opposing ground games. That their secondary is good enough to leave out on a island in coverage as their front seven attempts to build a brick wall at the line of scrimmage.

If they can’t; expect another road loss, another pounding on the ground and yet another missed opportunity to prove that the moves they made in the off-season are the right ones as they move towards the midpoint of the campaign.

NOTE

Last time McGahee faced the Raiders, he was held to 50 yards on 16 carries on October 23, 2005. The then Buffalo Bill was coming off career best 143 yards rushing effort a week prior, and after stating the week leading to the game that he was the best rusher in the league.