Beginning with Sunday's game against the New York Giants, the Ravens will play three games in 11 days for the first time in franchise history.
They'll face the Pittsburgh Steelers in a huge AFC North showdown on Saturday, Dec. 21, before visiting the Houston Texans on Christmas. That's a lot of football in a short period of time, and several factors will make that stretch even more challenging.
Start with the Giants game at MetLife Stadium, where many NFL players have complained about the playing surface in the past. A new synthetic turf has been installed at MetLife since the Ravens last played there in 2022, but most players prefer grass fields.
The Giants and Jets share MetLife as their home field, and Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy played there many times when he was with the Patriots facing the Jets in the AFC East.
"I'm not a fan of it," Van Noy said. "The turf sucks. I'll be the one to say it. I've played there many times playing with the Jets. You better get massages on your feet and your knees and your hips after this one. That turf is brutal."
All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton says the challenge of playing three games in 11 days could be more mental than physical, but he's up for the test.
"I just kind of put myself in a basketball perspective, those guys play back-to-back," Hamilton said. "There's a little bit of merit to quote, unquote complaining about it, but they're playing 82 games, MLB players are playing 162 games, but we've got 17 we're trying to fight them to go to 18. We'll see who's most prepared down the stretch."
Ravens Not Buying Into Being Huge Favorite vs. Giants
The Giants (2-11) have lost eight straight games and are the only NFL team that has not won a home game (0-7). With quarterback Tommy DeVito scheduled to start Sunday in place of injured Drew Lock (heel), the Giants have become even bigger underdogs than they were earlier in the week.
Hamilton said the Ravens aren't paying any attention to being heavy favorites.
"Those guys play in the NFL too, they've got a lot of talent over there," Hamilton said. "We lost to the Raiders who are 2-[11] right now. We're locked in on the Giants. You've got to win every game in this league."
Nate Wiggins Looks Forward to Malik Nabors Matchup
A pair of first-round picks will face each other when Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins matches up against Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers, who's having an outstanding season (80 catches, 819 yards, three touchdowns).
Wiggins is looking forward to it.
"He's a good player," Wiggins said. "I'm a good player. So we'll see what we do.
"They love the quick game and they're going to throw shots. We know they're going to feed Nabers, so we've just got to go get him. We're two high rookies that came out in the draft. It's going to be a great matchup and I'm ready to go get it."
Wiggins has become firmly entrenched in the cornerback rotation, playing at least 62% of the defensive snaps in six of his last seven games. The playing time has accelerated Wiggins' learning curve and he's ready to finish the season strong.
"I don't feel like a rookie no more," Wiggins said.
Hamilton Thinks Defense Is Ready to Become More Aggressive
Baltimore's defense played its best extended stretch of football leading up to the bye, yielding just four touchdowns over the last three games. Heading into the home stretch, Hamilton thinks the Ravens are ready to attack more defensively, which could lead to more takeaways.
"We've turned a corner in terms of not letting up as many points," Hamilton said. "That's a good corner to turn, but I still think we've got a long way to go. We can get a lot better in certain areas. I think we're trending up, which is a good thing going into the playoffs.
"For a few weeks in the season, we were just trying to play defense and not give up big plays. It was attached to our name, our defense as a whole. We had a tendency to soften up a little bit, just keep everything in front of us. Now that we have that pretty well put together, I feel like we can get a little more aggressive. That's all 11, me included."
