Baltimore Ravens at Chicago Bears Preview

By J.E. | Saturday, October 22, 2005 | ( 0 )

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The Baltimore Ravens (2-3) head to the Windy City to face the Chicago Bears (2-3). Kickoff is set for 4:15pm ET at Soldier Field.

The Baltimore Ravens are coming off a 16-3 win over the Browns last week. Baltimore's defense, which ranks second overall in the league, held the Browns to just 186 net yards on the day. Linebacker Ray Lewis and the rest of the squad will be looking to stifle the Bears' struggling offense in a similar fashion.

On offense, the Ravens are led by running back Jamal Lewis. Despite gaining just 292 yards and scoring one touchdown through 5 games this season, Lewis still draws a lot of attention from opposing defenses. So expect Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher and to shadow Lewis all game long, as the Bears look to preserve their 4th-best defensive ranking against the run.

The Chicago Bears' defense will be able to key on Lewis because quarterback Anthony Wright doesn't pose much of a deep-ball threat. Wright has thrown for 1,013 yards and 5 TDs this season, but his longest pass from scrimmage so far is just a 48-yarder, which came in the Week 5 loss to Detroit. Wright has also been picked off 7 times � not a good sign for an offense that averages just 12.6 yards per game. In fact, the only team that scores fewer points than the Ravens is the 0-5 Houston Texans.

Chicago has had many problems of their own on offense this year, so this game should be a relatively low scoring affair. The Bears are led by running back Thomas Jones, who has rushed for 502 yards and 6 TDs in Chicago's first 5 games. Jones, like Lewis, draws most of the coverage from opposing defenses. He might have some trouble moving the ball against the stingy Baltimore run defense, especially if quarterback Kyle Orton can't get the passing game going in order to spread out the defenders.

Orton's struggles in his rookie year have been well-documented. He won the starting job in training camp after Rex Grossman went out with an ankle injury. Since that time, Orton has had his ups and downs. He has thrown for just 674 yards and 4 touchdowns this season, and when those numbers are combined with his 7 picks, he ends up with a dismal passer rating of 57.7.

Orton will have to step up and make some plays this weekend if the Bears expect to win. He'll look for wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad and tight end Desmond Clark to get open downfield. Muhammad has 27 receptions for 298 yards and 1 TD this year, while Clark caught 2 TD passes in last week's win over the Vikings.

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