Ravens vs. Cardinals: Previewing Baltimore's Week 7 Matchup

The Baltimore Ravens will look to get back to their winning ways when they take on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7.

After suffering a narrow loss last week to the San Francisco 49ers, the Ravens are now 1-5 and clearly in the midst of a rebuilding year. While some franchises would pack it in at this point and focus more on getting a high pick in the next NFL draft, Baltimore is too proud of a franchise to mail a season in, even if they are 1-5. 

The Ravens' players, coaches and front office will continue to put all of their effort into winning every game left on the schedule. That starts with a Cardinals team this week that has looked very impressive at times during their 4-2 start this season.

However, they're coming off a deflating loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. It was game Arizona appeared to have control of, but the Steelers rallied to score 22 of the game's final 25 points to escape with a 25-13 win. 

The Cardinals will look to get back on track this week when they host the Ravens on Monday Night Football. Here's a preview of the matchup for Baltimore. 

Game Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Location: University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix

Date: Monday, Oct. 26

TV: ESPN

Week 6 Results and Recap

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Narrow losses have been the theme of Baltimore's season and that continued with last week's 25-20 loss to the 49ers.  

Like every loss this year, the Ravens had their chances to win the game but failed to make enough plays to do so. They also got burned by several deep passes as their secondary continued to be their biggest weakness. 

They allowed 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to throw for a season-high 340 yards to go with two scores and no turnovers. That was the most yards Kaepernick had thrown for since Week 6 of the 2014 season. 

He's simply not a quarterback who puts up those kind of numbers, and it's reflective of how poorly this unit is playing. However, the offense blew this game just as bad, thanks in large part to a pair of Joe Flacco interceptions that were absolutely horrendous. 

Making this loss even harder to bear was the fact that the Steelers and Bengals continued to win. Cincinnati scored a 34-21 win at Buffalo, while Pittsburgh beat Arizona 25-13. 

Here are the updated AFC North standings following Week 6 and heading into Week 7. 

AFC North	W	L	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Streak
Cincinnati Bengals	6	0	3-0	3-0	1-0	5-0	W6
Pittsburgh Steelers	4	2	2-1	2-1	0-1	1-2	W2
Cleveland Browns	2	4	1-2	1-2	1-0	2-4	L1
Baltimore Ravens	1	5	0-2	1-3	1-2	1-4	L2

News and Notes

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Steve Smith Reconsidering Retirement?

One of the biggest bright spots of Baltimore's disastrous season has been the play of wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. Against the 49ers this past week, Smith finished with seven catches for 137 yards and a touchdown.

In five games this season, Smith now has 36 catches for 510 yards and three scores. Per ESPN, Smith is on pace to catch 96 passes for 1,360 yards and eight scores. 

That's elite receiver production, and it shows just how good Smith is in the twilight of his career. Could it help him decide to keep playing beyond this season after originally deciding to retire after the 2015 season? 

Earlier in the week, ESPN's Jamison Hensley speculated that Smith might be reconsidering his retirement. However, Smith has since told Hensley that he still is planning to hang up his cleats at the end of this season. 

"I'm on schedule for what I discussed earlier in the year," Smith said of his plans for retirement. He also added that he wasn't worried about retiring right now with his team in flux, saying, "We're trying to fix all of the damn holes in this boat right now."

It's good to hear Smith is more worried about making this team as good as it can be right now than what he'll be doing in several months. If this is going to be Smith's last season, he's going to make sure he gave his all in his final campaign. 

Dennis Pitta Practices

With all of the injuries plaguing the Ravens, they're finally getting some good news on that front. It comes in the form of tight end Dennis Pitta, who is now practicing after opening the year on the  Physically Unable to Perform. 

Multiple hip injuries put Pitta's NFL career in jeopardy, but he decided to keep playing for the Ravens this offseason. They still wanted to play it safe with his recovery by putting him on the PUP list so that he'd miss the first six games this season.

That gave Pitta more time to recover and rehab in hopes of avoiding another major hip injury. He's now back practicing, but according to ESPN's Jamison Hensley, his status going forward is unclear. 

Head coach John Harbaugh would love to have Pitta back, but he's going to be cautious with him in the coming weeks. 

"We'll how it goes," Harbaugh said. "I wouldn't make too much of it. Especially for this week, don't get carried away. Probably the bigger thing is not how he feels today but how he feels tomorrow, the next day and the day after practicing."

Because Pitta was on the PUP, the Ravens have a three-week window that began as soon as he practiced. Within that three weeks, Baltimore must bring him up to the active 53-man roster if he is to play this season.

Once they do so, Baltimore will have to make a roster move to free up a spot for Pitta to be eligible to play. It doesn't look like he'll play this week against the Cardinals, but this is a great sign that Pitta will eventually be playing for the Ravens on an NFL field again. 

Anatomy of Baltimore’s Lost Season

This year has been one of the most challenging seasons in the history of the Ravens franchise. A 1-5 start is something Baltimore has never gone through.

Even during the franchise's early years, when they went 16-31-1 from 1996-98, the franchise never opened a season with as many losses as this Ravens team has through six weeks.

What's caused it all? 

While the secondary deservedly gets a lot of the blame, there are many more aspects that have led to Baltimore enduring this disastrous start. Grantland's' Bill Barnwell wrote a great piece on what's led to the Ravens' demise.

It's painful for any Ravens fan to read, but it's something that should be read to better understand why a team with as much talent and potential as the Ravens is 1-5. 

Injury Report

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The Ravens are still dealing with injuries to several key starters, one of whom being running back Justin Forsett. An ankle injury had Forsett listed as a gametime decision last week, but he went on to play against the 49ers and finished with 101 all-purpose yards.

He's still dealing with the injury though, so how much he's able to practice in the coming days will be key. Forsett should be expected to play against the Cardinals, but if he doesn't, rookie Javorius 'Buck' Allen could be in line for his first NFL start.

Also not practicing Wednesday was starting guard Marshall Yanda, as he too is dealing with a lingering ankle injury. It wasn't enough to keep him out last week, so hopefully it won't against the Cardinals either. 

Rookie receiver Breshad Perriman continues to sit out as he recovers from his knee surgery. It's still unclear if/when the first-round pick out of Arizona State will play this year, but it won't be this week at Arizona.

Defensive end Chris Canty is back practicing after missing the past four games with a calf strain. Lawrence Guy has been starting in his absence, but Canty should get his job back if he's able to play this week. 

Injury report courtesy of ESPN's Jamison Hensley.

Matchups to Watch

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Ravens CBs vs Cardinals WRs

Baltimore's struggling secondary will face arguably its biggest test of the season when they take on a Cardinals offense that ranks sixth in passing offense.

They've got a dynamic trio at wide receiver, led by future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald. Now in his 12th NFL season, Fitzgerald currently ranks fourth in the league with 583 receiving yards. He also has the fifth-most catches (43) and is tied for the NFL lead in touchdown receptions (6). 

Fitzgerald is going to be a load to stop, but Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith has shut down some pretty good receivers in his career. The problem with Arizona is they have two other explosive pass-catchers in the form of John Brown and Michael Floyd.

Brown is a deep-threat specialist who has 33 catches for 497 yards (15.1 yards per catch) this season. Brown also led the Cardinals with 10 catches for 196 yards in Arizona's Week 6 loss at Pittsburgh. 

Floyd is off to a slow start this year after breaking a finger in the preseason. He did catch five passes for 50 yards and a touchdown last week and almost had another potential score, but he narrowly missed getting two feet down in the back of the end zone. 

Those three will be catching passes from Carson Palmer, who's playing like one of the NFL's best quarterbacks right now. He's the top-ranked QB on Pro Football Focus, but having those three receivers has been a big reason why he's looked this good. 

Again, this Ravens secondary has been flat-out bad far too often this season, but they're going to have to step up and slow down those receivers if Baltimore is to have any shot at winning this game. Guys like Lardarius Webb, Kyle Arrington, Asa Jackson and Tray Walker are going to have to step up and be at their best for the Ravens to win this game. 

Steve Smith Sr. vs. Patrick Peterson

The focal point in Baltimore's passing game, and offense in general this season, has been Steve Smith Sr. The ageless wonder looks like he's in the midst of his prime with how well he's played in his 15th season while trying to carry the Ravens.

It won't be easy for him this week, though, with one of, if not the, best cornerback in football lining up opposite of him. Getting open when Patrick Peterson is the man in coverage is no easy task, and Smith will have his work cut out for him.

This will be a great matchup to watch, but it will also go a long way in affecting how well Baltimore's offense operates. They go as Smith goes, and if he's having a big game, the Ravens may just score enough points to win this game.

If Peterson is keeping Smith contained though, it's going to be long day for this offense against Arizona's eighth-ranked scoring defense. 

Prediction

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

This might be as big of a mismatch as the Ravens will have with an opponent this season.

The Cardinals have one of the league's best passing attacks. The Ravens have arguably the worst passing defense of any team.

Their defense backs won't be able to keep up with Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and John Brown as Carson Palmer dissects them with relative ease. 

This one could get ugly if the Ravens don't bring their A-game. Even then, this is simply a Cardinals team the Ravens are not capable of beating right now. 

That's not to say this Arizona team isn't flawed and can't be beaten. Baltimore is just too banged up and too weak at the positions Arizona is best at exposing. 

Final Score: Cardinals 33, Ravens 17