The Baltimore Ravens' Week 5 bout against the Atlanta Falcons could ultimately be decided by battles between specific position groups or individual players outperforming their counterparts on the other side of the ball.
It'll take place in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium under a national spotlight as it'll mark the Falcons' third straight primetime game of 2026 and the first for the Ravens. With two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson out for this game with an ankle sprain, they're entering this matchup as slight underdogs.
If the Ravens prevail, they will improve to 4-1 and could be in a two-way tie for first in the AFC North standings, depending on how the Cleveland Browns fare on the road against the New York Jets this week. Here are the five matchups that can either make or break this game.
Ravens defensive line vs. Falcons offensive line
While Falcons All Pro running back Bijan Robinson has garnered most of the headlines for the offense's success on the ground, their offensive line has been the driving force propelling him to back-to-back monster games. Even after franchise left tackle Jake Matthews left last week's game, they didn't miss a beat and kept steamrolling the New Orleans Saints defense.
The Ravens are going to need their vaunted interior defensive line, featuring a pair of Pro Bowlers in Calais Campbell and Nnamdi Madubuike and rising star Travis Jones, to step up in a big way in this game. They've gotten blown off the ball far too often by some of the worst rushing offenses in the league in the first month of the season as they've been gelling and getting healthier after long ramp-ups during training camp and preseason. They'll need to dominate at the point of attack to keep their linebackers clean and get penetration into the backfield themselves.
WR Zay Flowers vs. Falcons secondary
In a similar way that limiting Robinson is a total team effort for the Ravens' defense, guarding Baltimore's homegrown two-time Pro Bowl receiver won't solely fall on the shoulders of one or two Falcons defensive backs. Since Flowers lines up in a multitude of spots, ranging from all three receiver spots to even in the backfield to create and exploit favorable matchups, face off with any of the players in their secondary.
With a Jackson out, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle might not try to push the ball down the field to Flowers in the same ways as with backup signal caller Tyler Huntley, who is more proficient at throwing underneath and at the intermediate level. Thankfully, Flowers is even more dangerous moving horizontally in space than he is as a traditional vertical threat, meaning that he is just as likely to turn a shallow or quick pass. The Falcons have allowed a 100-plus-yard wide receiver in three straight games, and they don't have anyone on their team who can stop Flowers from extending that streak.
Ravens linebackers vs. Falcons running backs
Whether they're mostly kept clean by their compatriots in the trenches or not, the responsibility of getting both Robinsons, Bijan and Brian, on the ground at, behind and beyond the line of scrimmage will fall to likes of Roquan Smith, Trenton Simpson and Teddye Buchannan more often than not. They'll need to be both disciplined and decisive when shooting and filling gaps created by the Falcons' offensive line. Bijan, in particular, can make a defense pay dearly for not being gap-sound on any given down and turn a play that should be a loss of yardage or minimal gain into an explosive play and even a house call.
Ravens offensive line vs. Falcons defensive front
Despite not having two of their best returning players due to injury and off-field behavior, Atlanta's front seven has surprisingly been one of the best in the league thus far this season. Since recently acquired two-time Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens won't be making his debut this week, the Falcons will be going up against a reshuffled Baltimore offensive line that will be starting first-round rookie guard Olaivavega Ioane out of position for the second week in a row and one of either Andrew Vorhees or Emory Jones Jr.
Atlanta won't have sack leader and former Raven Za'Darius Smith available after he was downgraded to out with a concussion/neck injury, but defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich's unit still has several of the league's leaders in pressure rate both on the edge and along the interior. The Ravens will likely look to get the ball out of Huntley's hands quickly in the passing game while leaning heavily on star running back Derrick Henry to carry a lot of the offensive load on the ground, so being able to own the line of scrimmage when they need to will be key.
CB Nate Wiggins vs. WR Drake London
The Ravens traditionally have their outside cornerbacks play sides, but head coach Jesse Minter should make an exception in this case and have Wiggins follow the Falcons' top wideout early and often because he's the best man for the job. Four-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey is listed as questionable with a hamstring and calf injury that kept him out of practice for most of the week and had him as a limited participant in Friday's session. Fellow 10th-year Chidobe Awuzie struggled in relief of Humphrey in last week's win over the Tennessee Titans, leaving Wiggins as their best possible option to limit, if not neutralize, London's impact in this game.
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