Cardinals at Ravens: Somebody's Defense Has Gotta Give

To get you ready for week 3, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Arizona Cardinals/Baltimore Ravens preview.

2007 Records:
Arizona Cardinals: 1-1 (t-2nd in NFC West)
Baltimore Ravens: 1-1 (t-2nd in AFC North)

Last Week:
Arizona 23, Seattle 20
Baltimore 20, New York Jets 13

Last Meeting: October 12, 2003 – Baltimore 26, Arizona 18. Baltimore picks off former Raven Jeff Blake three times and wins without scoring a offensive touchdown.

When the Cardinals have the ball: In the preseason the focus was on Matt Leinart and his talented band of wide receivers. The first two weeks have shown that Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm brought a taste for the running game with them from Pittsburgh. Edgerrin James looks revitalized and the Cardinals have rolled up an average of 146 yards per game through the first two. The Ravens have a rugged front seven, even without the injured Trevor Pryce, so Leinart will still be called on to make plays. He'll need to be accurate and keep an eye out for playmaker Ed Reed.

The Ravens defense will do what it always does: attack. They need to avoid the fourth-quarter letdown they suffered last Sunday and steel themselves for the power running game. Defensive coordinator Rex Ryan doesn't let offenses dictate the pace of games, though, so look for a lot of activity up the middle to trip up the running game.

When the Ravens have the ball: It looks like Steve McNair will be back under center and he must improve on a hellish performance against Cincinnati. The Ravens are never going to be confused with the Colts but McNair will need to get some yards through the air to keep Arizona guessing. He'll be helped in that regard if Mark Clayton is at full strength. It would also help Baltimore if Jonathan Ogden can go full speed because that would help the running game and set-up play-action passes to Todd Heap.

The Cards run defense relies on the massive Gabe Watson and agile Darnell Dockett in the middle of the defensive line. The Cardinals have shut down two excellent running backs in Shaun Alexander and Frank Gore so Willis McGahee and the Ravens line will need to excel to establish their running game. They've been less successful against the pass but Baltimore's conservative approach will help them avoid too much damage in that area.

The Edge: Experience. Both teams are going to try and keep it simple on offense and count on their defenses to win the game. The Ravens defense has been doing it a lot longer than the Cardinals unit. Arizona rookie RT Levi Brown is going to have his hands full against the best defense he's ever seen.

Keep an eye on: Leonard Pope. The massive Cardinal tight end will be matched up against linebackers or strong safety Dawan Landry. If he is consistently getting open and Leinart finds him it will probably force Reed to pay attention to him and leave Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald in one-on-one situations on the outside.

Terrell Suggs. The Cardinals have kept Leinart's uniform clean for the most part but they haven't done it against a pass rusher of Suggs' ability. He moves around a lot and if they have to slide their protection to corral Suggs it will open blitzing lanes for Bart Scott, Corey Ivy and the rest of the Ravens. With running yards likely tougher to come by the Cardinals must continue to protect Leinart as well as they have in the first two games.

McNair. His turnovers sabotaged the Ravens on opening night and Kyle Boller played well against the Jets last week. In a game that looks close on paper the Ravens wonn't suffer that many mistakes again when they know that Boller can do the job. If McNair needs to come out, either for performance or injury, and Boller does well again there will be a full-fledged quarterback controversy.