5 things to watch for in the Ravens-Raiders game Sunday

The Raiders and Ravens enter their Sunday matchup with two-game losing streaks and struggling offenses.

In their past two games, the Raiders have scored 10 points against the Broncos and 10 against the Redskins. The Ravens have scored nine against the Steelers and seven against the Jaguars.

Baltimore’s defense won’t have to worry about quarterback Derek Carr when they travel to Oakland. The Ravens will get EJ Manuel, who is filling in for the injured Carr (back).

The Ravens (2-2) and Raiders (2-2) each started the season 2-0. Here are five things you should know about the Ravens:

1. The offensive numbers aren’t pretty for quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens. Baltimore’s offense is ranked 30th in the NFL with 269.8 yards per game. The Ravens are last in passing yards per game with 142.5 and are tied for 31st in points per game with 15.0. Flacco didn’t blame the back injury that kept him out most of the offseason for his poor start. The lack of production is more perplexing when you look at his wide receivers. The receiving corps of Mike Wallace, Jeremy Maclin and Breshad Perriman is arguably the fastest in the league, but they have combined for only one play that went 20 yards or more. Flacco needs to connect with his playmakers if they want to leave Oakland with a victory.

2. Flacco said he’s been rushing his throws and thinking too much on the field. A big reason for that could be the loss of six-time Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2. Flacco threw for 28 yards in his first game without Yanda in a 44-7 loss to the Jaguars. The short-handed Ravens offensive line could be in for a long day against the Raiders’ Mario Edwards Jr. and Khalil Mack, who recorded two sacks last week. Bishop Gorman High product Ronnie Stanley, the Ravens’ starting left tackle, will be tasked with slowing Mack.

3. The lone bright spot on the Ravens’ offense is the running back committee, which is averaging 127.3 yards per game on the ground, ninth best in the NFL. Alex Collins leads the NFL with 8.2 yards per attempt, and Javorius Allen has had a strong start to the season. Terrance West also has had his moments. Expect the three to attack the Raiders’ inexperienced linebackers often.

4. The Raiders’ offensive line hasn’t dominated opponents in the past two games as they usually do. They’ll have a tough challenge against Terrell Suggs and C.J. Mosley. Suggs is playing like he did four years ago, and Mosley continues to rack up tackles and flourishes in pass coverage.

5. Oakland’s struggling receivers went from Josh Norman to the “No Fly Zone” in consecutive weeks. It gets a little easier against the Baltimore secondary, but Manuel could have a tough time throwing against safety Eric Weddle and cornerback Jimmy Smith. The Raiders can’t afford any more dropped passes from Amari Cooper.

More Raiders: Follow all of our Raiders coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Raiders and @NFLinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.