OWINGS MILLS — Tampa Bay’s Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are two of the NFL’s most explosive wide receivers and will create challenges for the Ravens in their Week 7 matchup on Monday night.
Godwin and Evans are tied for the league lead with five receiving touchdowns apiece and have dominated opposing secondaries throughout the season.
The Ravens’ pass defense has been their weakness and they are ranked 31st in the NFL, allowing 275.7 yards per game. Coach John Harbaugh said positioning is vital when defending Godwin and Evans.
“Mike Evans and Chris Godwin pose tremendous matchup problems,” Harbaugh said. “You single [Evans] up, he’s a problem, and then you have [Godwin] in the slot – if you single him up, he’s a problem. They’re both catch-and-run players; they’re both contested-catch players.”
Godwin leads the NFL in receptions (43), receiving first downs (30) and yards after catch (324). He also ranks second in catch percentage (81.1 percent — minimum of 25 targets) and third in receiving yards (511).
Evans has caught 25 passes for 310 yards. He needs one receiving touchdown to tie Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Steve Largent (100) for the ninth most receiving touchdowns in NFL history.
Evans and Godwin are one of just three different sets of receiving teammates since 2019 to each hold at least a share of the league lead in receiving touchdowns through Week 6 or later.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has done a solid job of getting Evans and Godwin the ball. Mayfield has completed 134 of 189 passes for 1,489 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in six games.
“I think [Mayfield] is still playing like he plays – he’s playing ‘Baker ball’ at a very high level,” Harbaugh said. “They’ve done a very good job of building the offense around what he does well with his two star receivers. Their offensive line is playing well, too. All those things have kind of come together for them, it seems, at this point.”
The Ravens might have to employ nickel and dime packages to defend the Buccaneers’ passing game. Baltimore’s cornerbacks will have a tough time matching up man-to-man against Godwin and Evans.
The Buccaneers rolled past the Saints, 51-27, on Sunday.
“It’s a little different watching that, because I haven’t seen a 50-point game in the NFL in a while,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said. “I think they had a defensive touchdown and some other stuff like that, but they still put up a lot of points. I think watching film like that is good and bad, because you’re obviously not getting the best look from the defensive side, just to have like what happens when stuff works against their offense, but at the same time, you can see the explosive passes and stuff like that and what we need to stop.”