The Baltimore Ravens finally look like themselves again. Ravens fans were beginning to sweat after starting the 2024 season with two straight losses. Now Baltimore is on a three-game winning streak and looking like the only dominant team in the AFC North.

Baltimore is in the unfortunate position of having to play one of the NFL’s hottest teams in Week 6. The Washington Commanders are coming to town, led by rookie QB Jayden Daniels. Daniels is truly having a rookie season for the ages through five weeks. Washington has dominated some inferior competition, so they will receive a true acid test by playing the Ravens in front of their home crowd.

Will the Ravens take care of business on Sunday?

Below we will discuss three Ravens bold predictions ahead of their spicy Week 6 matchup against the Commanders.

Ravens’ Lamar Jackson wins QB duel with rookie Jayden Daniels

The Ravens have a dominant offense, but they haven’t had to ask much out of Lamar Jackson through five weeks. However, that all changed last week against the Bengals.

Baltimore and Cincinnati got into a shootout in Week 5 and Lamar Jackson showed up big for his team. Jackson threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns while also adding 12 carries for 55 rushing yards.

The most encouraging part of this performance was that everyone on offense was involved, even players like Charlie Kolar, Tylan Wallace, and Rashod Bateman who do not always put up good numbers.

There is no reason to doubt that Lamar Jackson can ride that momentum into Week 6 against the Commanders. If the Commanders try to make this game into a track meet, Lamar is willing and able to keep up with Jayden Daniels.

My prediction: Lamar Jackson will throw for more passing yards and have more first downs gained (rushing + passing) than Jayden Daniels.

Ravens lean on Derrick Henry, running game to pound Commanders defense

The Ravens don’t always need to have a complicated game plan. Baltimore should be more than content to hand the ball off to Derrick Henry early and often against the Commanders.

It is no secret that Derrick Henry is a special talent at the running back position. Henry inflicts damage on a defense that seems to stack up over time, exhausting his opponents with his bruising running style.

Henry is bad news for a Commanders defense that does feature some talent in its front seven, but not nearly enough to bottle up the league’s best runner. Washington will get a taste of its own medicine in Week 6, going up against an offense with a strong running game and a mobile QB.

The Commanders are in for a tough day on defense unless they can play a perfect game. I simply don’t see that happening.

My prediction: Derrick Henry will rumble for over 125 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown against the Commanders. In true Derrick Henry fashion, this will include one explosive run of at least 35 yards that breaks the back of the Commanders defense in a crucial part of the game.

Baltimore’s defense forces multiple turnovers from rookie QB Jayden Daniels in close game 

Jayden Daniels may be one of the most impressive rookies we’ve ever seen through five weeks, but he is still a rookie.

The Ravens would be wise to come up with a game plan that focuses on confusing and harassing Daniels. This could be Baltimore’s best chance at winning this game. If the Ravens can force the Commanders to be inefficient in the passing game, that will limit their scoring potential.

Even if Washington decides to control the clock and keep the ball on the ground, that’s fine too. Baltimore is more than capable of putting up a solid run defense, especially against Washington’s personnel. They would also be more than happy to deploy the same strategy against the Commanders, bruising them with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson for the entire afternoon.

So how can Baltimore make this happen?

The Ravens need to cook up an aggressive game plan that confuses Jayden Daniels with disguised coverages and pressures him with a ton of blitzes. Daniels may be able to weather the storm in some situations, but he is bound to make some crucial mistakes as well.

My prediction: I see the Ravens forcing Jayden Daniels into at least two turnovers, which should be the difference in this game. Give me Baltimore by one score over a very frisky Commanders squad.