The Los Angeles Rams (3-2) are traveling to the east coast for the third time already this year to face the Baltimore Ravens (1-4). I believe the Rams are better than what their 3-2 record indicates but
you are what your record says you are. The running back position, secondary breakdowns, and special teams woes have held Los Angeles back from reaching their potential. Where do I rank them going into their Week 6 tilt with Baltimore? Check out my position by position breakdown for each team below.
QB Breakdown: Who had Matthew Stafford leading the NFL in passing yards after five weeks on their bingo card? Especially after he missed the majority of training camp because of his back injury. Stafford also leads all quarterbacks in 20+ yard throws, longest throw, and is tied for first with Prescott in first downs. Stafford has been nearly dominant to start the NFL season and doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
The Ravens will likely be without Lamar Jackson for a second straight week due to his lingering hamstring injury. With the bye week next week, it would seem that Baltimore would ensure that Lamar is healthy and able to return as the starter for Week 8. Cooper Rush seems destined to get the start again.
RBs Breakdown: The concerns of Kyren Williams have not gone away. Ball security remains a significant issue. Williams and Corum had accounted for 3 fumbles lost in 5 games. The yards per rush has been a bright spot but the explosive yards are still not there.
The Ravens offense runs through Derrick Henry. The 10 year vet is averaging 5.0 yards per carry and has found the endzone four times. Maybe the most shocking piece has been Henry having yet to eclipse 20 rushing attempts in a game this year.
WRs Breakdown: Puka Nacua continues to lead the offense (and NFL) in receiving with 588 yards. He found the endzone again via a creative play design by McVay to use Adams as a shield within the redzone. As for Davante Adams, he is putting together an under the radar season as WR2. He brought in 5 receptions (11 targets) for 88 yards against the 49ers. He is currently on pace for 1214 yards and 10 touchdowns. Pretty elite numbers for a WR2. Tutu Atwell continues to show up big moments. JB Long highlighted this in his 1 on 1 show with Sean McVay. If there was a player that was hurt most by Stafford’s training camp absence, it was Tutu Atwell. Some people might point to Adams but as a seasoned veteran, you’ve seen his ability to still get connected with Stafford.
The Ravens wide receiver room is actually very talented with Flowers, Bateman, and Hopkins; giving Baltimore its best core this century? But who can they get the ball in their hands? Maybe to some degree like Los Angeles, Baltimore has been one dimensional in how they are distributing their targets. Currently it stands as: 36:20:9 respectively.
TEs Breakdown: Rams fans got a taste of what Terrance Ferguson can do and now they will plead even more for him to be featured in the passing attack. Parkinson seems likely to miss this game; giving LA three options with Higbee, Allen, and Ferguson. Higbee has been shaken up as of late so this could be a game where the Rams do in fact rely on Ferguson.
Mark Andrews remains a threat in the passing game helping to move the chains. Isaiah Likely is still working his way back from injury; having just 1 reception so far.
OL Breakdown: The Rams are projecting for Steve Avila to return to the starting offensive line rotation. Based on McVay’s comments, it seems like he was having to earn that spot back based on performance and not just working back from injury. Rob Havenstein remains questionable but LA could have its Week 1 rotation back on the field together.
The Ravens offensive line had been without Ronnie Stanley but he is set to return this week. Linderbaum is the anchor for their line. A top 3 center according to PFF because of his run blocking but he has had issues with pass blocking (48.0 pass block grade). Vorhees, Faalele, and Rosengarten have been pretty mediocre at best at the LG, RG, and RT spots respectively. Will we get a Joseph Noteboom appearance?
DL Breakdown: Los Angeles has been stout against the run. Their investment in Poona Ford has paid off. Against another premier name, Christian McCaffrey, the Rams kept him in check on the ground. They have another big test this week against King Henry. This could be a game where if BAL is forced to pass a lot, Braden Fiske could get his name in the sack column.
Baltimore’s defensive front without Madubuike is bad. Urban, Jenkins, and Jones have a combined 10 pressures and 0 sacks.
EDGE Breakdown: Jared Verse has vaulted himself into the top 3 for edge rushers; posting a strong 91.4 defensive grade. Verse has been remarkable in run defense and pass rush; posting 73.0 and 90.5 grades in those respective areas.
Mike Green and Tavius Robinson are two of the lowest graded edge rushers in the NFL. Robinson leads the defense with his 2 sacks.
LB Breakdown: Omar Speights will not be on the field for Sunday’s game; leaving the Rams with a decision of whether to pair Troy Reeder or Shaun Dolac with Nate Landman. My vote is for Dolac as we saw how terrible Reeder looked when tasked with trying to cover Christian McCaffrey on the goal line.
Baltimore will be relying heavily on Trenton Simpson, a third year player from Clemson. The best linebacker amongst the two teams seems to be Nate Landman.
DB Breakdown: The Rams secondary on paper isn’t that bad. The problem is that the team doesn’t have a playmaker or someone that can erase an opposing team’s No. 1 WR. The group is very inconsistent week to week. I’d like to see them upgrade the team with a guy like L’Jarius Sneed. More cost efficient than someone like Denzel Ward.
The strongest positional unit on defense for the Ravens is their secondary. Nate Wiggins, Malaki Starks, and Kyle Hamilton are three first rounders. They are joined by TJ Tampa and Alohi Gilman. The defense may be giving up a lot of yards and points but the defensive line has gotten minimal pressure putting a ton of strain on the secondary.
ST Breakdown: Lost in yet another special teams debacle was Ethan Evans performance in Week 5. Evans punted twice; averaging 55.0/punt and landing both inside the 20. Alas, the Rams special teams continue to plague them because of blocked extra points and field goals. Not only did a crucial extra point get blocked but Karty missed a 53 yard field goal. That’s 3 of the last 4 weeks with an issue happening on kicks.
Loop will be doing the kicking for Baltimore. He is 8 of 9 on his attempts this year; missing this past week from 50+. Stout will handle the punting duties. He’s averaging 47.1 net yards per punt. Comparatively, Evans is only averaging a net of 40.9/punt.
COACHING Breakdown: Sean McVay has been extraordinary in 2025. Even with the offensive line having missing parts, the explosive aerial attack is encouraging. Chris Shula’s defense has been a little worrisome the past two games against castoffs Daniel Jones and Mac Jones. Hopefully, he has found a way to address the secondary where teams are exploiting Emmanuel Forbes.
John Harbaugh finds himself in unfamiliar territory. His team is 1-4 and tied with Cleveland for last place in the AFC North. This might be the weakest Ravens team I have seen in my memory and that is saying something.
Which matchups do you like the most for the Rams in this one? The least? How many yards does Puka Nacua finish with? Number of sacks for the defense? Let me know in the comments below.
