Chargers vs. Ravens: Previewing Baltimore's Week 8 Matchup

The Baltimore Ravens will look to end a three-game losing streak this week when they return home to face the San Diego Chargers.

This was expected to be a matchup of two playoff-contending teams before the regular season opened. These two franchises have combined for three winning records and two playoff berths in the last two seasons, but they are off to a combined 3-11 start this year.

San Diego is coming off an embarrassing home loss to the Oakland Raiders. The loss itself wasn't as embarrassing as the fact that the Chargers trailed 37-6 before ultimately losing 37-29.

As for Baltimore, it's coming off three straight losses in which it had a chance to tie or take the lead on its final possession. Last week was a 26-18 loss at Arizona, as the Cardinals took a 26-10 lead in the fourth quarter before the Ravens nearly rallied for the win.

Here is our full preview of the game for Baltimore.

Game Time: 1 p.m. ET

Location: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore

Date: Sunday, Nov. 1

TV: CBS

Week 7 Results and Recap

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The Ravens are all but eliminated from the AFC North race thanks to the Cincinnati Bengals' 6-0 start.

However, the fight for one of the two wild-card spots is not completely out of the question despite Baltimore's 1-6 start. That was aided by the Pittsburgh Steelers losing 23-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7.

According to ESPN's playoff standings, the Steelers still hold the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC with their 4-3 record. That means Baltimore is just three games behind Pittsburgh for that playoff spot in addition to having already beaten the Steelers once this season.

The Ravens will get another shot at the Steelers in Week 16 to cut into that lead. It seems ridiculous to think this 1-6 Ravens team should even be considered a threat for the playoffs, but thanks to the rest of the AFC struggling, there is still a sliver of hope if Baltimore can go on a run.

Here are the updated AFC North standings heading into Week 8:

AFC North	W	L	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Streak
Bengals	6	0	3-0	3-0	1-0	5-0	W6
Steelers	4	3	2-1	2-2	0-1	1-3	L1
Browns	2	5	1-2	1-3	1-0	2-4	L2
Ravens	1	6	0-2	1-4	1-2	1-4	L3

News and Notes

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Breshad Perriman Could Still Play in 2015

The Ravens offense has desperately needed another wide receiver to step up this season, but no one has thus far.

A big reason why is Breshad Perriman's inability to make it onto the field after Baltimore spent a first-round pick on him in this year's NFL draft. Perriman was expected to start alongside Steve Smith and provide the Ravens with a deep-threat receiver who could stretch the field and open up the offense more.

Unfortunately, Perriman has rarely even practiced, let alone play in games after suffering a sprained PCL in training camp. That kept him sidelined for over a month, and once he returned, he re-injured himself during pregame warm-ups.

That led to Perriman having arthroscopic surgery in early October, and he has yet to even practice since then. At this point, a lot of teams may have just called it a year and placed him on injured reserve.

The Ravens aren't ready to throw in the towel on Perriman's rookie season quite yet, though. Head coach John Harbaugh told ESPN's Jamison Hensley that there's still a chance Perriman plays this season, though when is uncertain.

"I'm still hopeful," Harbaugh said. "We have our fingers crossed. He hadn't been put on IR yet, so that means we still have a shot."

At this point, it's probably a long shot for Perriman to play this week, but thanks to a bye in Week 9, it's not out of the question for him to play in Week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

NFL Admits Referee Error During Ravens' Loss to Cardinals

The Ravens appeared to be on the way to a touchdown on their opening possession of Monday's loss to the Cardinals.

A promising drive got derailed by an odd play that saw Baltimore's offense get into the red zone by lining up guard John Urschel as an eligible receiver before Joe Flacco completed a six-yard pass to him.

That play would have set up 2nd-and-6 at the Cardinals' 7-yard line, but it was wiped out by penalty after the referee ruled that Urschel failed to report as an eligible receiver.

It appeared on the replay that Urschel had in fact reported himself as eligible, and the NFL now acknowledges he did. NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino admitted on the NFL Network that the refs should not have flagged Urschel after he properly reported himself as eligible.

"What the referee was actually doing at that moment, he was correcting a number from a foul on the previous play, and he just didn't recognize [No.] 64 signaling him," Blandino said on the NFL Network, via ESPN's Jamison Hensley. "We didn't recognize that he reported, and that's why the penalty was called."

Instead of getting to run a play at the 7-yard line, Baltimore was pushed back to the 18-yard line and ended up later settling for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

It turned out to be a game the Ravens lost by eight points, so not getting those four points certainly altered how the Ravens were able to approach their final drives in the fourth quarter—not to mention changing the momentum in the first half.

Injury Report

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

NAME	POSITION	INJURY	WED
Brooks, Terrence	S	Thumb	LP			-
Lewis, Kendrick	FS	Knee	LP			-
Monroe, Eugene	T	Shoulder	DNP			-
Osemele, Kelechi	G/T	Knee	LP			-
Perriman, Breshad	WR	Knee	DNP			-
Walker, Tray	CB	Concussion	DNP			-
Williams, Maxx	TE	Knee, Ankle	LP			-

The Ravens got good and bad news on the injury front on Wednesday after watching several key players leave Monday's loss to Arizona with injuries.

Starting guard Kelechi Osemele left during the second half with a knee injury and never returned. According to BaltimoreRavens.com, he was able to practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday, so he may be able to play this week.

Starting left tackle Eugene Monroe suffered a shoulder injury in the second half on Monday night before the team ruled him out as well. He was unable to practice on Wednesday, which could suggest that he'll miss this week.

Rookie cornerback Tray Walker suffered a concussion in the second half while trying to make a tackle on special teams that forced him to leave the game. He's now in the NFL's concussion protocol, so we probably shouldn't expect to see him against the Chargers.

Starting safety Kendrick Lewis and backup tight end Maxx Williams were able to practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday after missing Monday with knee and ankle injuries.

Matchups to Watch

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

DC Dean Pees vs. QB Philip Rivers

The Ravens' pass defense will be getting another big test against a pass-happy offense.

After facing the Cardinals' sixth-ranked passing offense on Monday, Baltimore will face the Chargers' top-ranked pass attack this week. No one throws the ball around as well as San Diego and quarterback Philip Rivers, and the Ravens know this all too well.

Last season, Rivers rallied the Chargers to a 34-33 win in Baltimore thanks to 383 yards and three touchdown passes. The Ravens built a 30-20 lead with roughly six minutes left before Rivers led San Diego on a pair of touchdown drives to win the game.

Defensive coordinator Dean Pees undoubtedly remembers that game, especially after he had called a good game up until that fourth quarter. His defense held the Chargers to just 13 points through the first three quarters, sacked Rivers twice and intercepted him once.

His defense also forced a fumble, finished the game with a plus-two turnover margin and held the Chargers to just 64 rushing yards. All of that typically leads to a win, but Baltimore's inability to finish in the closing minutes allowed San Diego to rally for the win.

Pees is going to have to call a nearly masterful game plan this week for his defense to keep Rivers from going off and picking apart his defense.

WR Keenan Allen vs. CB Jimmy Smith

While slowing down Rivers is the real key, doing so will require shutting down his favorite target. That's been third-year receiver Keenan Allen, who's on pace for a monster season.

Through seven games, Allen has caught an NFL-high 62 passes. He also has the third-most receiving yards (690) and ninth-most yards after catch (222). At his current pace, Allen will finish this season with 142 catches for 1,577 yards.

The NFL record for catches in a single season is 143 (Marvin Harrison in 2002). That's how big of a year he's having, and expect Rivers to target him early and often against a Ravens defense that's struggling against the pass.

The man who will largely be in charge of this is Jimmy Smith, Baltimore's No. 1 cornerback. He's been very erratic this season, as he's shut down some good receivers while letting some average ones embarrass him at times.

Smith has shown flashes of being a shutdown corner, but he'll need to put a full game together to have any hope of slowing Allen down. With Smith injured last year, Allen caught a game-high 11 passes for 121 yards and two scores against Baltimore.

If Allen has another big game like that, it's hard to see the Ravens winning this game.

Prediction

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The Ravens and Chargers are in need of a win just to try and get their seasons back on track.

While both teams may have dug too deep a hole to climb out of and make the playoffs, they are two franchises that are far too proud to mail a season in and tank for a good pick in the NFL draft.

In fact, neither of these franchises has won fewer than seven games since the 2008 season, but whoever loses this game may not reach that total this year.

Frankly, neither one of these teams should have its current record, and whoever wins this game will likely be the team that actually plays up to its potential. That's why I'm picking Baltimore to win this one, as it will find a way to slow down Rivers while doing enough on offense to come away with a close victory.

Final Score: Ravens 27, Chargers 23