Packers vs. Ravens Matchups: Who Has Advantage in Critical Clash?

The Green Bay Packers have a simple mission this week. If they win, they are in the playoffs. That’s a sigh of relief for the team after last week’s disaster in Chicago, and a thank-you note is due to former quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the process.

On Saturday night, the Packers will play the Baltimore Ravens at Lambeau Field for what could be the final home game this season.

That’s a separate story for a different day. To get into the postseason, the Packers will have to take care of business. They still have hopes of winning the NFC North but will need to beat the Ravens to keep those hopes alive.

The interesting part about this game is the uncertainty that surrounds it. Both teams have questions about their quarterback situation.

More on that, and the rest of the matchups for this primetime showdown.

Ravens Pass Offense vs. Packers Pass Defense

Much like the rest of the phases of the team, the Packers’ pass defense was lights-out for the first 58 minutes against Caleb Williams and Co. Had Romeo Doubs recovered an onside kick, Williams would have led the Bears to nine points on 12-of-25 passing for 151 yards.

Of course, the NFL doesn’t operate in hypotheticals; it deals in reality. The reality is the Packers’ defense, like the rest of the team, collapsed down the stretch. Williams completed seven of his last 10 passes, including touchdown passes that tied and won the game.

What’s next for Green Bay’s defense without Micah Parsons? How about a two-time league MVP in Lamar Jackson?

Like Green Bay has questions under center, so too do the Ravens. Jackson left Sunday night’s game against the New England Patriots with a back injury.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) warms up prior to the game against the New England Patriots. | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

John Harbaugh called Jackson day-to-day with a significant contusion. Jackson has been banged up this year, and that has affected him in other phases of his game. More on that later.

When Jackson is at his best, he’s one of the league’s best players. He won the MVP unanimously in 2019 and won another in 2023. He was the runner-up to Buffalo’s Josh Allen a season ago.

He has two dynamic weapons in the passing game with Zay Flowers at receiver and Mark Andrews at tight end.

Flowers is far and away Jackson’s go-to guy, as he has 1,043 yards on 107 targets. The next-closest pass catcher is Andrews with 380 yards on 63 targets. DeAndre Hopkins is the team’s second-most targeted receiver. He’ll make some contested catches but is not near the player he was in his prime.

This could be a get-right game for Green Bay’s pass rush. Jackson, despite his mobility, has been sacked 33 times. Backups Tyler Huntley and Cooper Rush were sacked eight times when Jackson missed time with a hamstring injury.

If Jackson can’t go, Huntley would get the nod. Huntley has had success in the past, including a start in Baltimore against the Packers in 2021. Huntley helped take the Packers to the brink, but his final pass for a two-point conversion fell incomplete. Green Bay escaped that day with a 31-30 victory.

“There’s a lot of similarities; I would say there’s more similarities than not,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of the quarterbacks. “Certainly, Lamar has been an MVP of this league, so we all know the type of talent that he has. It’s just not those two guys. They’ve got multiple weapons when you talk about Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, the tight end – both tight ends are dynamic players. I think their offensive line is one of the better ones in the league.”

Green Bay’s defense has to find some answers in that phase of the game. It has one sack in the last three weeks. The only other sack was wiped away when Warren Brinson grabbed Williams’ facemask on a killer third-and-20.

If Jackson starts, it’s hard to not give the nod to the Ravens, but with the uncertainty, this is too close to call.

Advantage: Push

Ravens Rush Offense vs. Packers Run Defense

Derrick Henry is still churning. It feels like just yesterday that Henry came into Lambeau Field as the biggest bully on the block in 2020 and 2022. The Packers’ defense won both matchups, including in the snow in 2020.

Henry was a second-team All-Pro last season, when he rushed for 1,921 yards and led the league with 16 touchdowns. With his 32nd birthday coming up next week, he maybe is no longer elite but he’s still a formidable foe. He’s rushed for 1,253 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 5.0 yards per carry.

One bugaboo for Henry this year has been fumbles. Henry has four fumbles and lost three. That includes one that helped turn the tide of Sunday night’s game against New England. He is still a challenge.

Lamar Jackson is usually part of a powerful Ravens run game that has consistently been at the top of the league since he took over as the team’s starting quarterback. He’s averaging 5.4 yards per carry – the lowest since his rookie season and down from last year’s NFL-best 6.6. His 28.3 rushing yards per game is the worst of his career and about half of last year’s 53.8.

He has been hobbled through the season with a hamstring injury and has not run as much as he has in the past. After running 139 times for 915 yards last season, he’s carried 63 times for 340 yards this season.

Keaton Mitchell adds a speed element to Baltimore’s backfield; he’s averaging an explosive 6.4 yards per carry. Justice Hill has 18 carries, but is mainly used in the passing game.

From a name-brand standpoint, there may not be a better tandem the Packers will face this season than Henry and Jackson. Obviously, the quarterback run game would take a significant dip if Jackson is unable to play.

On defense, the Packers did another good job against Chicago’s run game. D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai were limited to 108 yards on 22 carries. The longest rush for either was 13 yards.

The Packers keep getting asked about whether they can hold up against opposing run games, and they keep answering the bell. At some point, we have to believe what we are seeing, which is why they get the nod here.

Advantage: Packers

Ravens Pass Defense vs. Packers Passing Offense

Jordan Love or Malik Willis?

Does it really matter?

No, not because Willis is just as good as Love. As great as Willis has been since coming to Green Bay before last season began, he is the backup for a reason.

The reason it may not be that significant, however, is the Ravens’ pass defense has been atrocious for most of the season.

They have 26 sacks, which is tied for 30th. There is not an individual rusher with more than 3.5 sacks. That’s 2025 second-round pick Mike Green.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins (2) breaks up a pass intended for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams. | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

They do have a talented secondary with cornerback Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey with three interceptions apiece. Kyle Hamilton, who has 92 tackles, seven tackles for losses, eight passes defensed and two forced fumbles, is one of the NFL’s best safeties. He’s all over the field, and the Packers will have to account for him at all three levels of the defense.

Despite the talent, the numbers are not where the rest of the league is used to seeing the Ravens. Baltimore is 28th in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game. New England’s Drake Maye, who hadn’t had a 300-yard game this season, just beat them up for 380 yards.

Green Bay would like to have some clarity under center – Love practicing on Tuesday is a good sign – but with the porous Ravens’ defense, both quarterbacks have shown to be capable. This is a matchup the Packers should win.

Advantage: Packers

Ravens Rush Defense vs. Green Bay’s Rush Offense

Some of the calculus in this phase of the game depends on who is under center for Green Bay. Malik Willis took off and ran 10 times in Green Bay’s 22-16 loss against Chicago. He’s a much more willing scrambler, and LaFleur is more willing to utilize the quarterback run game when Willis is in the game.

If he’s not in the game, the Packers’ run game is banged up. Josh Jacobs may have finally succumbed to the injury that has been bothering him for weeks. He struggled in Chicago and looked less explosive before being sidelined after a critical fumble in the red zone.

Green Bay Packers running back Emanuel Wilson finds a crease against the Bears. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Emanuel Wilson is a capable backup who ran for 82 yards on 14 carries vs. the Bears. Had the Packers won on Saturday night, one of the biggest stories would have been how Green Bay’s interior pushed Chicago around. Instead, that became a relative footnote in one of the most disappointing losses in recent history.

Baltimore’s defense, for all its struggles against opposing pass games, has done a nice job against the run this year. It’s 13th in rushing yards allowed per game (108.9) and per carry (4.16).

Their defensive line is anchored by Travis Jones and John Jenkins. Jones is the lighter of the two at 341 pounds. They are big and they occupy some space. That will be an interesting thing to watch with the size that occupies the interior of Green Bay’s offensive line.

This matchup is close, but with the uncertainty surrounding Jacobs and the quarterback situation, the Ravens get the nod.

Advantage: Ravens

Special Teams

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The Green Bay special teams made a catastrophic mistake in a game of significance. That’s exactly what happened against the Bears with Romeo Doubs bobbling an onside kick with the Packers leading 16-9 in the fourth quarter.

Matt LaFleur can waive his hands at the catastrophes that have happened on special teams this season, but the reality is one play can lose a game. The Packers have seen that happen multiple times in just the last 10 years, starting with the infamous onside kick in Seattle that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s special teams is led by John Harbaugh, who cut his teeth as a special teams coordinator in Philadelphia before moving to Baltimore. They are No. 4 in our NFL Special Teams Rankings.

LaJohntay Wester ranks among the NFL leaders with 12.4 yards per return. On kickoff returns, Keaton Mitchell is averaging 26.6 yards and Rasheen Ali is averaging 25.4 yards. They will test Green Bay’s solid coverage units.

Kicker Tyler Loop is 27-of-30 on field goals and punter Jordan Stout leads the NFL with a 44.9-yard net average.

This is a mismatch. The Packers just need to hope it doesn’t cost them dearly.