8 keys to a Detroit Lions’ victory over the Baltimore Ravens

The Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens have a limited history, having faced each other only seven times since the Ravens’ inception in 1996. Unfortunately for the Lions, in the four times they’ve played the Ravens in Baltimore, they’ve never secured a win. If Detroit wants that to change this Monday, they’ll need to follow the keys to victory laid out in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint.

“It’ll be a good challenge, but I’ll tell you, we’re excited for this challenge,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said earlier this week. “We recognize this opponent, we respect what they’re about, and we’re looking forward to this. Going out there at their place on Monday night, so this is going to be fun, man. This is one of those, this is why you do it.”

Ravens’ base schemes

For a detailed look at the opposing scheme, make sure you check out our complementary breakdown piece: Lions Week 3 Preview: Breaking down Ravens’ offensive and defensive schemes.

Key 1: Pass Pro stays a strength

While the Lions’ offensive line has taken some time to refine their communication methods, statistically, they’ve been one of the best pass-blocking units in the NFL. Here are a few of the advanced statistics that they’ve excelled in through two weeks:

Pressures allowed: 18 (3rd best)

Pressure rate allowed: 25% (4th)

Sacks allowed: 4 (T-9th) — all in Week 1

Time for QB to throw: 3.1 (3rd)

Time until pressure arrives: 2.95 (4th)

They’ll face a stout front on Monday night, and while the Ravens will likely be without their reigning sack leader from 2024, Kyle Van Noy, they still have plenty of talent. As a unit, they’ve found ways to pressure opposing quarterbacks, but the pressure takes a long time to arrive, and their success rate is among the bottom-10 teams in the NFL, and they only have three sacks on the season. Here’s a look at how they compare to the Lions’ offensive line:

Pressures: 33 (5th)

Pressure rate: 32% (20th)

Sacks: 3 (T-25th)

Opposing QB time to throw: 2.91 (25th)

Pressure time: 2.86 (25th)

If the Lions can meet their statistical average in this matchup, they’ll have an advantage in the trenches, and Jared Goff has been lethal when kept clean in the pocket. Here’s a look at what he’s been able to accomplish with the time afforded to him by his offensive line:

Six passing touchdowns on the season (T-1st)

80.6% completion percentage (1st)

+11.9% Completion percentage above expectation (2nd)

125.1 passer rating (3rd)

EPA: +22.4 (4th)

EPA per drop back +0.31 (4th)

“It was impressive, just all phases, man,” Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said of the offense’s performance in Week 2. “The line coming off the surge, the guys running routes, Jared (Goff) throwing the ball. I mean, he’s been over 80 percent the last two weeks. You don’t see that. Yeah, it was fun, but it’s all about the players. It’s not about me. My job is to put them in the right position, man. And everything was clicking.”

Much has been made about the offensive line’s communication issues in Week 1, but Morton feels like they’ve addressed the problem and will be ready for a hostile crowd in Baltimore.

“I’m going to feel real comfortable,” Morton explained. “Like I said, we’re going to practice it in the noise. We’ll be smart where we use things and where it’s the loudest towards the red zone and things like that. But I think I feel pretty good.”

Key 2: Intermediate + YAC

One of the major problems from Week 1 was the Lions’ inability to attack the intermediate part of the field early in the game. It set them up to have problems in other aspects of their offense and made the offense look disjointed. In week 2, they aggressively attacked the intermediate part of the field, early and throughout the entire game.

As a result of their return to form, the Lions exited Week 2 as the second-most efficient team in the NFL when throwing to the intermediate levels of the field. In contrast, while the Ravens’ passing defense has improved significantly from last season, they have struggled when defending the intermediate parts of the field, ranking as the 21st most efficient defense by Nex Gen Stats.

The biggest catalyst in both teams’ rankings is achieving/defending yards after the catch (YAC). For the Lions, they have produced 292 YAC through two games, second most in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Ravens have allowed 254 YAC, 25th in the NFL.

Key 3: Extended drives

“Offensively, look, we’ve got to be very efficient,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said earlier in the week. “We’ve got to get first downs. First downs, first downs, first downs. And then that’ll lead to the next thing, explosives. Explosives lead to touchdowns. But we have to be very disciplined on offense, too.”

Over the last several seasons, the Lions’ offense has won the time-of-possession battle in most games. Through two weeks, they continue to have success keeping the ball in their offense’s hands, averaging 32 minutes and 52 seconds of possession per game, seventh best in the NFL.

Conversely, the Ravens have only possessed the ball for an average of 26 minutes and 41 seconds through two games, 28th in the NFL. While that is quite a bit lower than what the Ravens are used to, there are two reasons for this ranking. First, their defense and special teams have put them in short fields with turnovers or outright touchdowns scored, and second, their offense has been quick to strike and score.

The Lions will have their hands full with a potent Ravens offense, and it’d go a long way to helping Detroit corral Baltimore’s production if they can keep them on the sidelines.

Key 4: Win turnover battle

Through two games, the Lions and Ravens are both +1 in the turnover battle, and their takeaways have played a factor in each team’s end result. In Week 1, both teams gave up a turnover and failed to force any, resulting in a loss. In Week 2, both teams forced two turnovers and didn’t give up any, resulting in wins. The only subtle difference was that the Ravens managed to score 10 points off turnovers, while the Lions only generated seven.

Neither team appears to have an advantage in this area, but there is certainly an advantage for the team that is able to force takeaways, and that’s something Campbell has stressed in the media this week.

Another very popular theme for Campbell this week has been stressing the Lions’ need to have “population to the football” and limit the Ravens’ ability to gain YAC and create explosive plays. Here’s a sampling of Campbell’s remarks from the week:

“We have to be very disciplined. Gang tackling, they do a lot of different things scheme-wise.”

“We have to have population of the football, whether it’s run or pass. Population, population. And that’s where it starts.”

“Population of the football. Gang tacking. Trying to make (Henry) stop his feet, which is not an easy task.”

There are no fancy stats I can present to show that the Lions are successful at this more than any other team in the NFL, but if Campbell is stressing this to the media, he’s also surely drilling it home in practices and meetings.

Key 6: Stack the box

The Ravens’ offense is unique in that it can out-athlete defenses with its passing game while also overpowering them with a strong power run game. At their core, the Ravens like to maintain a size advantage, and they deploy at least two tight ends on the field on over half their offensive snaps. The Ravens use 12 personnel 38% of the time (sixth most in the NFL in 2025) and 13 personnel 12.6% (third most).

From a size standpoint, the Lions match up well, considering how much they prefer to stay in their base 43 defense. In Week 1, they stayed in a 43 base 90% of the time, and while that base percentage dropped to 50% of the time in Week 2, they still kept three linebackers on the field 75% of the time.

But the Lions also take things a step further by stacking the box with safeties as well, and through two weeks, they’ve presented a stacked box 40.4% of the time (third most in the NFL). One of the reasons the Lions take this approach is because of their dedication to stopping the run—but they’re also very good at it, checking in as the 10th most efficient defense when stacking the box, per Next Gen Stats.

In Week 2 against the Browns, the Ravens only managed to run the ball for 45 total yards, and superstar running back Derrick Henry was held to a measly 23 yards, with a 2.1 yards per carry average. The Browns accomplished this by heavily focusing on stopping the run, and stacking the box 33.3% of the time, sixth-most in the NFL in Week 2. With this aggression up front, the Browns only allowed the Ravens 0.21 yards before contact, a stark contrast from their 2.93 yards before contact in Week 1 against the Bills. For reference, the Lions allow 1.57 yards before contact, so not as elite as the Browns, but also noticeably better than the Bills.

So why did the Browns—and Lions presumedly will—take this approach? It’s an area where the Ravens have struggled. Currently, they rank 31st in rushing efficiency against a stacked box, and simply rushing it up the middle has been an issue, as they rank 28th in efficiency when rushing between the tackles. Meanwhile, the Lions check in as the fourth-best team at defending runs inside, giving them a heavy statistical advantage.

To counter, the Ravens will surely design rushes to the outside—57% of their rushes are outside the tackle box— where they are currently the most efficient team in the NFL. They’ll have an advantage over the Lions here, but not as much as one might think, as the Lions are the ninth most efficient team at defending runs to the outside. Detroit has found success in this area by leaning on their stacked boxes and getting help from their cornerbacks.

Key 7: Contain and squeeze

Because the Lions always prioritize stopping the run, they typically don’t create a lot of immediate pressure from their front. Instead, pressure takes time, as the Lions work to maintain their gaps while attempting to overpower the offensive line. This process is even more exaggerated when defending against a mobile quarterback.

“Did a good job last week,” Campbell said of containing Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. “That was one of the things we really talked about. We talked about improving, we improved even from Week 1. […] it was a point of focus. We worked on it. Our guys really worked with each other, running the stunts in the games. And I thought we were very disciplined in that regard, and it helped us. It helped us. So, we’re going to have to be on point again.”

Through two weeks, the Lions had generated 21 pressures (19th most in NFL, per Next Gen Stats) and four sacks (T-16th), with superstar Aidan Hutchinson accounting for nine pressures (T-12th) and a sack.

Opposite the Lions’ defensive line will be a Ravens’ offensive line that has been inconsistent to start the season, especially on the interior. Through two weeks, they’ve allowed 21 pressures (fifth most) but have only given five sacks (17th)—thanks mostly to Lamar Jackson’s ability to extend plays.

Jackson’s escapability affords him the ability to buy time, and he often retreats away from the collapsing pocket, trusting that he has the arm strength to still make tough throws downfield, once his receivers uncover. When this occurs, which happens nearly 22.1% of the time, according to Next Gen Stats, Jackson will often hold the ball for over 4.0 seconds, significantly above his average of 2.83 seconds.

In these situations, the Lions’ defensive line will need to demonstrate great discipline, and their secondary will have to remain alert to prevent giving up any explosive plays.

Key 8: Limit explosive plays

“They keep you on your heels. You mis-fit a gap one time and you’re in trouble,” Campbell said of the Ravens offense. “So, there’s a lot of three-yard gain, three-yard gain, three-yard gain, 40, 50. So, those are the things, man. You can play great for 59 minutes, and that one minute can cost you. So, be very disciplined.”

On the ground, Derrick Henry’s explosive run rate is 17.2% (T-third), but all five of his explosive plays came in Week 1, as the Browns bottled him up. As we’ve discussed, the Lions will likely work to eliminate Henry’s impact, and so far this season, Detroit has only allowed an explosive run on 8.6% of plays, seventh-best in the NFL. The trick will be: maintaining an aggressive approach to stopping the run while not leaving their secondary in the lurch.

“If you’re going to sell out for the run, there’s a ton of space for these receivers,” Campbell continued. “Then your cornerbacks get hung out to dry, but yet, that’s part of the deal, too. They know that if you’re going to do that, they’ve got to lock them down and try to make it a difficult throw, play sticky coverage.”

Jackson’s favorite weapon outside of Henry is wide receiver Zay Flowers. A quick and fast receiving option, Flowers is incorporated into the Ravens’ offense in multiple ways: jet sweeps, screens, passes at all three levels, and YAC.

While Flowers has 117 YAC yards (third best in the NFL), the rest of the Ravens’ offense only accounts for 68 YAC as a collective. The Lions’ defense has also been very solid in limiting YAC this season, only allowing 142 yards, which is the fourth-fewest amount allowed.

Where things get dicey for the Lions will be defending the deep ball. With Jackson’s ability to buy time and the arm strength to chuck it deep, the Ravens have been very successful in pushing the ball deep down the field, checking in as the fifth most efficient offense in producing long pass plays. Meanwhile, the Lions have struggled in this area and are currently ranked by Next Gen Stats as the third-worst team at defending the deep ball.

Communication in the secondary has been the culprit on several of their big plays allowed, but they’ll need ot have an answer for this against the Ravens.

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