Ravens vs. Panthers: Baltimore Looks to Avoid Trap Game Against Carolina

If there’s a way for the Baltimore Ravens (6-3) to improve their overall record against NFC opponents, it will be against the Carolina Panthers (1-8), who have been completely decimated by injuries this season.  However, teams like Carolina love to play the spoiler, and the Ravens would be the perfect team to pounce on.

Baltimore understands what is at stake this Sunday, so the likelihood of an upset is very slim.  Going into Week 11, the Ravens remain in the driver’s seat in the AFC North, still holding the tiebreaker over the 6-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.

Baltimore is coming off a last-second loss to the Atlanta Falcons (7-2) last Thursday night, which is nothing to be ashamed of this year.

Carolina is a much different team, however.  The Panthers are dealing with major injuries at nearly every position on offense—injuries that have put a cap on a season that was already lost early on.  Panthers third-string QB Brian St. Pierre will start in place of rookie QB Jimmy Clausen, who is suffering from a concussion.

St. Pierre has only thrown five passes in eight NFL seasons and is set to face a Baltimore defense that is livid over giving up a game-winning touchdown in Atlanta last Thursday.

In addition to St. Pierre’s lack of experience, Carolina ranks dead last in the league in every offensive category except rushing, where they rank 24^th, averaging almost 94 yards on the ground.

To make matters worse, Carolina will be playing without their two star running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.  As a result, fourth-string RB Mike Goodson will get his second start of the season after rushing for 150 yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) last Sunday. 

It’s worthy to point out that the Buccaneers rank 31^st in the NFL defending the run, so expect Baltimore to fare much better in stopping Goodson.

If Baltimore can manage to win on Sunday, it would be their first win over the Panthers in franchise history.  The Ravens can improve their record to 1-4 against Carolina if they manage to succeed in doing the following:

Don’t Take Anything for Granted

Sure, the Panthers are coming into Sunday’s game terribly banged-up, but this is a desperate team looking to put their best players on the field.  This could make it tougher for the Ravens to game plan with the lack of film on players starting opposite-field.

Ravens fans got a taste of what desperate teams are capable of, when Baltimore came out lackadaisical against the Buffalo Bills (1-8) several weeks ago.  Thankfully, when the Ravens finally awakened from their coma, the offense did just enough to come away with a 37-34 overtime win.

Even though the Panthers are possibly the worst team in the NFL, this won’t be a good time for the Ravens to rest on their opponent, given their track record of blowing several late game leads over the course of five weeks.

Avoid Playing Musical Chairs with Cornerbacks

It was CB Fabian Washington’s poor play against Buffalo that resulted in his benching, allowing CB Josh Wilson to get a feel for the Ravens defense.  Wilson notched one interception the following week against Miami, and then it was back to Washington Thursday night in Atlanta. 

Washington struggled to cover Falcons WR Roddy White, so head coach John Harbaugh elected to insert Wilson back into the game.

With the return of safety Ed Reed, we all saw how one player could change the makeup of a defense.  The playbook changes depending on the personnel taking the field, so every time you make a switch at any position, you must make changes to the playbook. 

In the end, this creates chaos, which is what we’re seeing out of Baltimore’s secondary lately.

If the Ravens want to send a message to the NFL with a solid win Sunday, they must stick with the corner back that gives them the best shot of winning.

Play to the Panthers Weakness—Run the Football

Surprisingly, Carolina ranks fifth in the NFL defending the pass, yielding just 195 yards through the air to opposing teams.

Harbaugh made it clear earlier this week that the running game will be established early on.

However, Harbaugh sent this same message before the game in Atlanta last Thursday, and the Ravens ended up abandoning the run instead, in favor of a pass-happy attack.

Running backs Ray Rice and Willis McGahee are both averaging four yards per carry.  Neither back has had a stellar year up until now, so this Sunday would be the perfect time to get the ground game going.

Playing great defense, running the ball and chewing up clock wins games.  It’s that simple.  If Baltimore expects to make a run at the Super Bowl, they will need to establish an identity for themselves in what could end up being nothing more than a scrimmage game in Carolina.

It’s time to test the playbook and see what works.

In the end, when all is said and done, this game won’t be a high-scoring event, as some are predicting.  Baltimore will likely do the minimum on a long week of rest in order to come away victorious on Sunday.  This isn’t saying they will rest on Carolina, but instead, play to their strengths and grab a very important win.

The AFC is tight at the top, so there's no room for error on the part of the Ravens. With that said, Baltimore will be safe in this contest and will take a 7-3 record back home to face the Buccaneers next Sunday.

Todd McGregor is a Ravens Featured Columnist here on BleacherReport.com

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