Falcons vs. Ravens: What you need to know to watch Week 13, if that’s still your thing

Oh, right, the Falcons still have five football games left to play. Forgot about that.

As my esteemed colleague Allen Strk noted, this is the first time in the Dan Quinn era the Falcons haven’t been in playoff contention for more than a single week, as they were pretty much eliminated in Week 17 of 2015. Barring a five game winning streak and some nigh-impossible luck, they’re out of this one, and that means we’ll be talking about and evaluating this team in a slightly different light.

They start this stretch off with a game against a Ravens team that may be passing the torch at quarterback sooner than later, though we’ll talk more about that later. After a last-second loss to the Saints that still rankles, the Ravens embarked on a two game losing streak before righting the ship and snagging a 24-21 win last week with Lamar Jackson at the helm. They can mostly run the ball effectively, they still have one of the best defenses in the NFL, and Jackson adds a dimension to the offense that wasn’t there previously. They’re a good team, despite their 5-5 record, and they’ll challenge this ailing Falcons team quite a bit.

If you’re up for tuning in on Sunday—and of course you, you’re a Falcons fan and this kind of disappointment is not foreign to you—here’s what you’ll need to know.

Falcons vs. Ravens info

Time: Sunday, December 2, 1 p.m. EST

Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

TV Channel: FOX

Streaming: FuboTV

Radio: 92.9 The Game

Key Questions: Can the Falcons keep Lamar Jackson in the pocket and keep him from killing them on the ground, assuming he is the starter? Will the Ravens have the offensive firepower to get by the Falcons at home, where they’ve (mostly) been good this year on offense themselves? Are there lineup changes coming for Atlanta?