Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens: Key information and first quarter discussion

We are just one hour away from kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium between the Baltimore Ravens and your Minnesota Vikings. The Ravens are coming off of their bye week atop the AFC North, while the Vikings are coming off an incredibly disappointing loss and trying to rebound against one of the NFL’s best teams. Here’s everything you need to know about this one.

Date and Time: Sunday, 7 November 2021, noon Central time

Location: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

Television Coverage: KSTP-9 in the Twin Cities, FOX affiliates around the country, DirecTV Channel 709

Radio Coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 119, XM Channel 387, SiriusXM App Channel 820

Line: Vikings +6, Over/Under 50.5

Chris’ Prediction: Ravens 34, Vikings 27

Three Keys

1) Please, for the love of God, open up the offense - Even though it goes against pretty much everything Mike Zimmer wants to do, the facts show that the Ravens have the 32nd-ranked pass defense in the NFL. . .or, to put it a different way, the worst in the league. The Vikings have way too much talent at the skill positions to not be aggressive in this one, and with the offense the Ravens are bringing they’ll have to put up the points in this one.

2) Do your best to slow down Lamar Jackson - Jackson is one of the league’s best quarterbacks and is having a phenomenal season so far. He can hurt you in so many different ways that you’re not going to be able to stop him all the time. . .you just hope to limit the damage. It will be a tall order to keep him contained without Danielle Hunter in the mix, but letting Jackson do what he wants will make this one a rout quickly.

3) Avoid penalties - This is an obvious one, sure, but it bears repeating. The Ravens are always among the league’s most physical teams, and the Vikings come into this one without their starting center with Garrett Bradbury on the COVID list. The Vikings can’t afford to get behind the chains against the Ravens and put themselves in consistent second or third-and-long situations. Keeping the yellow flags in the referee’s pockets will go a long way towards preventing that.

Know the Foe: Baltimore Beatdown

Twitter: @DailyNorseman

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As is our wont, we will be putting together an Open Thread at the start of each quarter, so keep an eye out for those and keep the discussion moving along accordingly.

As you can tell, I don’t have a good feeling about this one, folks. Hopefully in about three hours or so we’ll all be able to get together and everyone can tell me just how wrong I was and how foolish I was for doubting.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!