It sure seems like there’s a lot stacked against the Ravens this week, facing a bitter rival. (No matter what Jon Gruden foolishly thinks, if the Ravens donned throwback jerseys, it would be the blue and white of the Baltimore Colts.) Indianapolis is riding high following a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Patriots — perhaps you’ve heard an opinion or two about that game’s ending. Although the Ravens shut out the Browns on Monday Night Football, the win didn’t instill much confidence in them winning on Sunday.

Sure, even excluding the Browns’ pathetic offense, the Ravens’ defense has played much better since their bye week, especially when Lardarius Webb replaces Chris Carr in the secondary. But without Terrell Suggs to help apply pressure to Peyton Manning, which worked fairly effectively when these teams went head-to-head in the playoffs in 2007, there’s a good chance Manning could pick apart the Ravens’ D.

Of course, Haloti Ngata’s return should help against Indy’s running game. But the real question is what will the Ravens do on offense? They haven’t scored in the first quarter in five straight games. And if the offense doesn’t get going in the first half, this game could be a blowout by the second half.

Fortunately, Indianapolis has secondary problems of their own with multiple injuries. So perhaps this will be the first week in far too long that the Ravens’ receivers can create some separation between themselves and the opposing defense. But another issue is Indy’s ferocious pass rushers, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, going up against the Ravens’ young offensive line. This is the type of situation where Freeney and Mathis — kind of like Jared Allen several weeks ago — thrive. One way to try to combat this is to establish the running game from the get-go and to rely on screens in an effort to open things up downfield.

But, really, sadly, there are a lot of "what ifs." I really want to have a happy Sunday, but it doesn’t look great. Prediction: Indianapolis, 31-17.
--- RONALD T. ZIZMOR.