No one would be surprised if the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens Week 2 game turned into a shootout. The Ravens put up the second-most points in Week 1, dropping 41 on the Indianapolis Colts, while the Saints also finished just outside the top-10 with 30 points in overtime against the Detroit Lions.
Both quarterbacks, Tyler Shough for the Saints and Lamar Jackson for the Ravens, piled up over 300 passing yards. Shough eclipsed the 400-yard mark and both teams had top wide receivers that met or crossed the 150-receiving yard mark.
The team’s top wideouts both sit No. 1 and No. 2 respectively through the first week of the season in receiving yards. Saints’ wide receiver Chris Olave ranked at the top with 182 receiving yards and Baltimore speedster Zay Flowers not far behind at 150.
While Flowers’ hamstring injury threatens his availability for Sunday’s matchup in Baltimore, Ravens pass-catchers, including tight end Mark Andrews, stand to gain a lot of opportunity thanks to Jackson’s evasiveness and ability to extend plays.
Explosive passing could be a key factor with Shough and Jackson being two of the five quarterbacks through Week 1 to record more 100 yards passing on targets 20 or more yards down field. Though each defense will have something to say about that as well.
Neither the Saints’ nor the Ravens’ defense allowed significant yardage downfield last week. Lions passer Jared Goff took only two shots that were 20-plus yard depth with one completion for 22 yards. Meanwhile, Baltimore’s defense didn’t allow any receptions against the Colts in the area with quarterback Daniel Jones attempting only one deep shot, per Pro Football Focus.
Despite the defensive performances of the previous week, the Saints have the talent at quarterback, and across the skill positions, to hunt for big plays and the Ravens have the game plan in second-action opportunities to do the same.
Both teams rely heavily into zone coverage with the Saints leaning into a majority Cover-3 look, a trademark of the team’s approach and the Ravens being uniquely diverse in their defensive deployment.
Each defensive unit will try to keep a lid over the top of the passing game, so developing the downfield attack will take time.
Building up to those shots by leaning on the short and intermediate areas first, as well as establishing the run, should unlock some chances for big plays throughout the matchup. If each offense gets rolling the way they were attacking in Week 1, it could quickly become a high-scoring affair.
