Who will win the battles in the trenches?
Last week, the Raiders offensive line struggled tremendously. Las Vegas could not run the ball effectively or keep a clean pocket for Gardner Minshew, so he was under pressure throughout the day.
The Ravens faced a similar struggle on Thursday against the Chiefs, as players not named Lamar Jackson had 16 rushes for 63 yards, which is only 3.9 yards per carry. Jackson was on the run all day fending off Chris Jones and the rest of the Kansas City front.
Both the Raiders and Ravens have elite defensive line play, so much of this game will come down which offensive line can hold up better and help the offense create plays.
For the Raiders offensive line, the team needs to figure out how to better create holes for Zamir White and Alexander Mattison, which should be getting easier and easier as they play more live reps in their new blocking scheme.
For the Raiders defensive line, the team needs to imitate the pressure that the Chiefs were able to put on Jackson, but prevent him from wrecking the game on the ground. Jackson is the best running quarterback in the league and one of the most elusive players in the NFL, so missed tackles and allowing him to squirm out of the pocket will be disastrous for Las Vegas.
Multiple times throughout the game, Baltimore stuck running backs like Justice Hill in one-on-one blocking matchups against Chris Jones, so the defense needs to capitalize on these mismatches if they present themselves.
The Raiders defense, for the most part last week, was exceptional against the run. The problem was, late in the game, the unit got too tired and gave up a few explosive plays. Luckily for Las Vegas, Harbaugh said this week that they did not bring Derrick Henry in to "run him 30 times a game."
If the plan is not to run the ball down the Raiders' throat, that plays into the hands of the Silver and Black. The Raiders cornerback trio was elite last week and the Ravens are not exactly loaded at WR.
Hopefully, Jackson Powers-Johnson is healthy and ready to go this week if his name is called because the offense will continue to stall if the men up front cannot provide resistance.