Joe Flacco and The Baltimore Ravens Open Their Season in Cincinnati On Sunday

WE MAAAADE ITTTTT.

FINALLY Week 1 has arrived. Not only has it arrived, but it’s arrived with an elite quarterback in tow. The main story and concern surrounding the Ravens from day 1 of training camp was the status of Cool Joe, and I tried to talk everyone off the ledge. Sure, I’m not validated until he goes out there and plays like we know he can, but the main point is that there was never a doubt from me that he’d be under center come September 10th in Cincinnati. 50% of Joe is better than 100% of Ryan Mallett. That’s just a fact.

Having said all of that, the Ravens have struggled mightily with and without Joe in Cincy in recent years. They’ve lost 5 straight at Paul Brown Stadium. Not great. Now some of those games were week 17 games with zero implications, but it’s still doesn’t bode well for confidence. I don’t care if the Bengals struggled through a 6-9-1 campaign last year, I still have a lot of respect for some of the weapons they have. Here are 3 things I’m watching that I think will be the difference on Sunday:

1. Can Joe Flacco Find A Rhythm After Missing Nearly All Of The Preseason?

For most guys who have been in the league for a decade, this would be less of a concern. But here’s a QB who has an assortment of things working against him. First, his receivers are guys who he hasn’t had a long relationship with. Not a single receiver on the roster has played more than a full season with Joe, including newcomer Jeremy Maclin. Maclin has the opportunity to be a great weapon for this offense, but they’ve had a total of 7 practices together and zero live game snaps. On top of that, Joe has had roughly a billion different offensive coordinators in his career. Joe and Marty Mornhinweg have had less than a full season together with Marty as the OC. So it’s not like he’s working in a system that he knows frontwards and backwards.

Sunday will be a very interesting test for the offense. They have to commit to the run (as they always should), and I would expect their throws to be relatively simple. Run on first and second down, shorten up the sticks, and hit the easy stuff underneath to move the chains. Time of possession will be very important for the 2017 Ravens, and these circumstances should only push them further towards that mentality. They don’t need to set the world on fire, just take care of the football and put up 20 or so points a game. I’m hoping to see some balance on Sunday.

2. Can The Improved Secondary Stop AJ Green?

AJ Green is a phenomenal receiver. Have a ton of respect for that dude. It’s easy to when he saves his best for the Ravens. It seems like every damn time we play the Bengals, he’s gotta do something ridiculous in the 4^th quarter to ruin my Sunday. Guy owns us, plain and simple.

Luckily for us, he missed both of our games last year with a hamstring injury. Which means the likes of Eric Weddle haven’t even seen him as a Raven yet. On top of that, the Ravens invested heavily in the secondary this offseason, scooping up Pro Bowl safety Tony Jefferson and veteran corner Brandon Carr and drafting Marlon Humphrey in the 1^st round. Plus Jimmy Smith is as healthy as I can remember (for now). Ozzie Newsome knows that winning this division is defined by your ability to stop the AJ Greens and Antonio Browns of the world, and he’s invested accordingly. Sunday will be the first great test for these guys to show their mettle as a unit.

3. Can Terrell Suggs and his young pass-rushers pressure Andy Dalton into some poor decisions?

Every QB struggles when the defense is in his kitchen, but Dalton is one of the shakier QB’s when he’s pressured. Not only will getting to him be key to this game, but the pass-rushers’ performance this season just might be the difference between this being a good defense and a great defense. We all know Sizzle and what he can do. He sets the edge well in the run and has over 100 sacks in his career. But facts are facts. He’s 35 years old. At some point he’s going to drop off, and there’s reason to believe that process has already begun. And when pass-rushers fall off, they fall off HARD.

The good news is that rookie Tyus Bowser has looked terrific so far in preseason in all facets of the game. He’s gotten to the QB and dropped back in coverage and shown ability to blanket tight ends. Tyler Eifert is a pretty good one, and he and the LB corps will have their hands full Sunday. I’m also interested to see what Tim Williams can do as a passrusher on 3^rd down. The Ravens have done a good job developing passrushers over the year, and the guy certainly has the talent. Matt Judon and Brent Urban also made some noise coming off the edge in preseason, and should get plenty of snaps on Sunday. We know we can stop the run. We know the secondary has depth and should no longer be a liability. Hopefully the pass-rush can tie it all together and force some takeaways.

There ya have it. This is a major swing game on the Ravens schedule. Most don’t think they can win it, but I think the matchup is dead even. Would be a great opportunity to get out in front with a big win Sunday. Let’s get it done.