After a heart-stopping overtime loss at the Detroit Lions in Week 1, the New Orleans Saints stay on the road for a Week 2 battle at the Baltimore Ravens. The Saints are looking to rebound from their 31-30 nail-biting defeat to Detroit, but they'll have to do it against a 1-0 Ravens squad that easily handled the Indianapolis Colts by a 41-23 margin in their opening game.
Baltimore is guided by first-year coach Jesse Minter. As is typical, the Ravens have a rugged run defense and two explosive offensive pieces in Lamar Jackson at quarterback and Derrick Henry at running back. The Saints, eventually, showed a much-improved passing game against the Lions and a solid defense behind coordinator Brandon Staley.
Sunday's matchup marks only the ninth all-time
meeting between the Saints and Ravens. That is slightly skewed because the Ravens weren't established until 1996 after relocating from previously the Cleveland Browns. Still, it's the first time these teams have met since 2022 and first trip to Baltimore since 2018 for the Saints. Here's a looks at the brief series history.
Saints vs. Ravens series history
- Overall: 2-6
- Away: 2-3
- Last 5 matchups: 1-4
- Last meeting (2022): Ravens (27-13)
- Last meeting in Baltimore (2018): Saints (24-23)
New Orleans and Baltimore have previously met only once in September. It was in Week 4 of the 1996 campaign and the second ever game for the Ravens at home after relocating to Baltimore. Despite a solid game from Saints quarterback Jim Everett, a fourth quarter touchdown pass from Vinny Testeverde to Michael Jackson provided the winning margin in a 17-10 Ravens victory.
In 2022, the Saints got both their first win over the Ravens and first win in Baltimore by a 37-25 score. New Orleans got 127 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns from Deuce McAllister in the win, as defensive back Fred Thomas notched 2 interceptions.
Oddly, the Saints have never defeated the Ravens in New Orleans in three tries. The last in the Superdome both Monday night meetings in 2014 and 2022, each handily won by the Ravens. New Orleans has fared slightly better in Baltimore, winning two of their last three trips to Maryland.
Week 7 of 2018 was the last time the Saints made the trip to Baltimore, emerging with a 24-23 victory thanks to a missed extra point with only seconds remaining. It was the first defeat of the Ravens for quarterback Drew Brees in his career, making it every NFL team that Brees had beaten. New Orleans is 2-3 in their last five matchups against AFC North opponents, with both victories against the Cleveland Browns. The last time the Saints beat an AFC North team other than Cleveland was on Dec. 23, 2018 when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: New Orleans Saints have brutal series history with Baltimore Ravens
