
Ravens vs. Colts: Week 5 Game Preview for Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens hit the road this week to face the Indianapolis Colts. Sitting at 3-1, Baltimore has a chance to ascend into first place in the AFC North with a win over Indianapolis and a Cincinnati Bengals loss to the New England Patriots.
It won't be easy though. The Colts are 14-4 at home over the past three seasons. Indianapolis won the AFC South division in 2013.
That's significant for the Ravens, who went 1-4 against division-winning teams in 2013.
The last time the Ravens faced the Colts was in the Wild Card Round of the 2013 NFL playoffs. Baltimore hosted Indianapolis in what turned out to be a low-scoring affair that the Ravens won, 24-9, on the strength of their defense.
While some players from both teams played in that game, the two teams have vastly changed overall. This time Baltimore will have seven different offensive starters than it did in that playoff game.
Here is my preview of Baltimore's Week 5 matchup with Indy.
Week 4 Recap
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Baltimore hosted Carolina in Week 4, and the Ravens put a beatdown on the struggling Panthers. Quarterback Joe Flacco picked apart Carolina while spreading the ball out to keep the Panthers off balance. He finished the game completing 22 of 31 passes for 327 yards and three scores.
His first touchdown came in the form of a 61-yard score thrown to Steve Smith in the second quarter to put Baltimore up 7-0. After Carolina tied the game at 7-7, running back Justin Forsett scored on an 11-yard touchdown run. With the first half coming to a close, Flacco hit Smith again for a 21-yard score to give the Ravens a 21-7 lead at halftime.
Though the Ravens had a nice lead, they didn't rest on it. Flacco would hit Torrey Smith early in the third quarter for a 25-yard score. That put the Ravens ahead 28-7.
Baltimore would outscore the Panthers 17-3 in the second half to cruise to a 38-10 victory. Baltimore finished the game with 454 yards of offense, 127 of which came on the ground to complement Flacco's 327 passing yards.
Smith, facing his former Carolina team for the first time since it traded him this offseason, finished with seven grabs for 139 yards and his two scores.
News and Notes
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What's Up with Lardarius Webb?
There was a time when Lardarius Webb was not only the Ravens' best defensive back, but also one of the NFL's rising stars at cornerback.
Things changed in 2012 after he tore his ACL and missed 10 games that season. While he did return to play in 2013, Webb wasn't quite as good as his pre-injury form.
Webb had five interceptions in 16 games in 2011, his last full season before tearing his ACL. While he played in all 16 games in 2013, he only managed to grab two interceptions that year.
With a full season under his belt in 2013 following the ACL tear, Webb was expected to get back closer to his 2011 form. However, a back injury this summer caused him to miss the entire preseason and training camp.
That injury lingered into the regular season, causing Webb to miss the first two games before he made his debut in Week 3. However, Webb only played in four snaps that week versus the Cleveland Browns, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Webb was then held out in Week 4 versus the Panthers, and it's unclear as to when Webb will return on a full-time basis. Head coach John Harbaugh isn't sure either, but he does think Webb could play this week against the Colts.
"I’ll probably have a pretty good idea after watching practice, but I won’t let anybody know until Sunday," Harbaugh said, via The Baltimore Sun. "It will be based on how he practices and how he looks, just in terms of him getting his acceleration and his burst back, things that everybody saw that weren’t quite there. They tell me that he’s healthy now and he says he feels healthy.
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Based on Webb's limited snaps through four weeks, it's probably safe to assume he's still not ready to be a full-time starter. However, he can still be of great help this week against a pass-happy Colts offense, even if it's just for a handful of snaps.
Bernard Pierce Falling and Lorenzo Taliaferro Rising
When the 2014 NFL season began, Bernard Pierce was the Ravens' starting running back, and Justin Forsett was the backup. Things have changed significantly over the first four weeks.
Pierce suffered a thigh injury in practice that caused him to miss Week 3 versus the Browns. It also limited him in Week 4 versus the Panthers. He was active that game but didn't receive a carry.
A big reason why is the rise of Lorenzo Taliaferro. The rookie fourth-round pick out of Coastal Carolina has rushed for 149 yards and two scores over the past two games while Pierce has battled his injury.
The rookie now looks entrenched as the No. 2 back behind Forsett, who rushed for 129 yards and one score while catching seven passes for 33 yards as well.
Injury Report
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NAME | POSITION | INJURY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | GAME STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brown, Chykie | CB | Neck | FP | FP | - |
Canty, Chris | DL | Illness | DNP | DNP | - |
Daniels, Owen | TE | NIR | - | DNP | - |
Jernigan, Timmy | DT | Knee | DNP | DNP | - |
Monroe, Eugene | T | Knee | DNP | DNP | - |
Pierce, Bernard | RB | Thigh | FP | FP | - |
Smith Sr., Steve | WR | NIR | - | DNP | - |
Suggs, Terrell | OLB | Thigh | DNP | DNP | - |
Injury Report courtesy of BaltimoreRavens.com.
- DNP = did not participate in practice
- LP = limited participation in practice—less than 100 percent of a player's normal repetitions
- FP = full participation—100 percent of a player's normal repetitions
Matchups to Watch
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WR Reggie Wayne vs. CB Jimmy Smith
Father Time hasn't caught up with Reggie Wayne just yet. The 35-year-old still is the Colts' leading receiver with 23 catches for 307 yards and one score.
Jimmy Smith has been the Ravens' No. 1 cornerback thus far, and he'll be tasked with containing Wayne. According to Pro Football Focus, Smith has allowed just 11 passes to be completed against him through the first four games.
In Week 4 versus the Panthers, Smith was targeted six times but allowed just two receptions for 25 yards. He's not allowed more than three catches in any game this year.
If he can hold Wayne to three catches or less, that will cripple the Colts' passing game.
LT James Hurst vs. OLB Erik Walden
The Ravens will be without starting offensive tackle Eugene Monroe this week as he deals with a knee issue that caused him to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery. That's left undrafted free agent James Hurst to start at left tackle and protect Joe Flacco's blind side.
Though he played well in his first start, the Colts will likely test the rookie by lining up their best pass-rusher over Hurst. Walden leads the team with three sacks and five QB hits, according to Pro Football Focus.
Expect to see a lot of Hurst vs. Walden matchups in this game. If the rookie can keep Walden off Flacco, the passing offense should do well against a passing defense that ranks 21st in the league.
Prediction
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The Ravens are riding high with a three-game winning streak coming into Week 5. Baltimore will look to keep that going against a Colts team that started 0-2 but then got two easy wins against the now 0-4 Jacksonville Jaguars and 1-3 Tennessee Titans.
Baltimore is the better team, and it'll prove it this week. Though it's a road game, the Ravens will control the game at the line of scrimmage with a dominant running game to go with a solid defensive line.
The Ravens control the clock on the strength of Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro, who have quietly merged to become one of the NFL's best one-two punch.
Those two have combined for 280 rushing yards over the past two games. They'll combine to rush for over 100 yards again this week.
That will control the clock and keep Andrew Luck and the high-flying Colts offense off the field. On defense, Baltimore stops the run and makes the Colts a one-dimensional team that relies on the pass.
That spells disaster for them with Baltimore having two elite pass-rushers in Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil to capitalize.
All of this leads to a Ravens win to improve their record to 4-1 on the year.
Ravens win, 24-20

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