Beatdown contributors share their bold predictions for Week 9.
The Baltimore Ravens will begin a three-game homestand on Sunday when they play the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9 in a duel between a pair of division leaders. Here are a few bold predictions for another interconference battle of the birds from the Baltimore Beatdown staff.
Although a reporter tried to jinx Lamar Jackson earlier in the week by reminding him about his impressive record against NFC opponents, it won’t work and he will lead the Ravens to their fourth straight win to ensure they stay ahead of competitive AFC North. He’ll throw four touchdown passes to four different pass catchers with at least one going to Rashod Bateman and Odell Beckham Jr. who both will have big games. Elsewhere on offense, undrafted rookie running back Keaton Mitchell will record the Ravens’ longest rush of the season on a touchdown of 40-plus yards.
On defense, Geno Stone will extend his impressive interceptions streak to four games in a row by extending Geno Smith’s to fourth straight games as well. This time around, he won’t go out of bounds or be tackled short of the goal line as we will score the Ravens’ first defensive touchdown since 2020 on a pick-six. The Ravens’ top-ranked pass rush will rack up five-plus sacks for the fifth time this season with Odafe Oweh leading the team with two. — Joshua Reed
After a mostly boring and somewhat close game versus the Cardinals, it’s a question of how the Ravens take on the incoming Seattle Seahawks. It figures to be a close one with two teams vying for playoff spots with two losses each.
Instead, the Ravens will absolutely dominate what will turn out to be a partially fraudulent Seahawks team. Just like the Lions game, Seattle has yet to face an opponent of Baltimore’s quality despite their impressive 5-2 record. Specifically, their defense hasn’t played a single quarterback even close to Lamar Jackson’s caliber. The Ravens offense dances on them, scoring 5 total touchdowns. The run game and Mark Andrews go wild while the receivers are mostly held in check by what is still a very talented Seattle secondary. Either Zay Flowers or Rashod Bateman catch a deep shot at some point.
In the meantime, the defense does its job, more in control rather than flat-out dominate. They will personify the classic bend-don’t-break mentality, allowing long drives but no touchdowns with Seattle trying to keep pace with multiple field goal attempts, which aren’t enough to keep pace. The Ravens are limited in sacks for the first time in a while, not because of Seattle’s offensive line but only because Geno Smith is great at avoiding them. Marlon Humphrey nabs his first interception of the season against Tyler Lockett, a guy Humphrey has gone on record saying he struggled against. — Zach Canter
Just as they did against the Lions a few weeks ago, the Ravens once again take care of business in a dominating fashion against one of the NFC’s better teams in the Seahawks. Baltimore’s defense steals the show as quarterback Geno Smith throws a pair of interceptions, including one to Geno Stone — his sixth of the season. Justin Madubuike gets yet another sack on his path to a monster payday and the pass rush finishes with over five sacks to maintain the league lead. On offense, it’s the ground game for the second week in a row that takes control of the game as Gus Edwards scores twice and crosses 100 yards rushing. — Dustin Cox