Tonight is an amazing night for football as two of the NFL’s most exciting teams to watch, battle for the Wild Card in their own Conferences.
Ray Lewis and the 6-5 Ravens travel to Green Bay to try to dethrone the Packers of their three game win streak pulling them to 7-4.
With the Minnesota Vikings at 10-2, it’s pretty obvious that the Packers are out of reach of winning their division in the NFC North. However, the Packers are among the best second place in-their-devision teams in the league, behind the 8-4 Eagles and followed by the 7-5 Giants. And with the Giants fresh off of their losing streak with this week’s victory over the Atlanta Falcons, a win tonight is critical for Green Bay in their hopes of clinging to one of the two available Wild Card berths in the NFC. Plus, next week the Giants take on the Eagles, so if the Packers claim a W tonight they will invariable be in first or second place for the Wild Card with either the Eagles falling to 8-5 or the Giants falling to 7-6, while the Packers hypothetically residing at 8-4.
This game could be a huge phenomenon in the outcome of the Packer’s playoff hopes this year. However, it is even more of a do-or-die for
the Ravens. Three Games behind the Cincinnati Bengals who lead the AFC North and only one loss above the defending-champion Pittsburgh Steelers, who have undergone a four game losing streak, the Ravens are barely holding on to playoff dreams; a Wild Card will be difficult to attain in the AFC this year with the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-5) and Denver Broncos (8-4) ahead in the race.
Besides the weight that lies on tonight’s game, the talent, potential, and albeit- wild entity that both these teams possess will make for a great game. While the Ravens are notoriously known for their prominent defense, it is the Green Bay Packers who are second in the league for least yards allowed. The heated Green Bay Packers offense led by the successful, young QB, Aaron Rodgers, will also add to the excitement. Rodgers has attained a respectable 22 passing touchdowns this year and 3 rushing touchdown. However, the Baltimore Ravens may step in and dominant the run game tonight, both key running backs, Ray Rice and Willis McGahee having ran for more touchdowns than Green Bay’s Ryan Grant.
This will be a good one! My bet is on the Packers, but I would not put it past the Ravens to pull a fast one. They have, after all, done it countless times before. You can watch the game tonight at 5:15 PM on ESPN Monday Night Football.
Photo: Baltimore Ravens middle linebacker, Ray Lewis, paces the field. Photo on commons.wikpedia.org.
