Philadelphia allowing up to 7,500 people in stands for Sunday game
The Ravens’ Week 6 road game against the Philadelphia Eagles will mark their first of the season in front of a substantial crowd of fans.
The city of Philadelphia has permitted crowd sizes of up to 7,500 people at outdoor venues, opening the door for the Eagles to welcome fans to Lincoln Financial Field for the first time this season. The Eagles have already played two home games, a Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams and a Week 3 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The 7,500-person limit at Lincoln Financial Field includes players, coaches, team and stadium personnel, media and fans. According to an ESPN report, about 5,500 to 6,000 fans will be in attendance.
The Ravens opened the 2020 season at home against the Cleveland Browns with no fans at M&T Bank Stadium. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan relaxed more coronavirus restrictions in September, allowing the Ravens to welcome 250 family members of players, coaches and team staff for their Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs and last Sunday’s game against the Bengals.
A spokesman for Hogan told The Baltimore Sun on Friday that no changes to the state’s stadium policy were imminent.
At his weekly news conference, Ravens coach John Harbaugh took time to express his disappointment with the lack of fans at home games so far this season.
“You guys and gals as a media corps, you see it in the stadium, but it’s quite a different atmosphere,” Harbaugh said Monday. “I just want to say, we miss our fans. We have a great fan base; that stadium would’ve been rocking and rolling [Sunday], and they would’ve been fired up for what they saw. I think they would’ve been really into the game.
“And not just that, but the interactions with the fans, driving in and seeing them tailgating, the cheering, the high-fives, the smiling faces, the not-so smiling faces sometimes, all the different things that kind of go into that. I just wanted to mention that. We have great fans, even on the road. We miss you. We hear you.
“We know you’re out there. We know you’re cheering, and we really appreciate you.”
Ravens TD favorites
The Ravens are touchdown favorites over the host Eagles ahead of their matchup Sunday, according to Las Vegas sportsbooks.
The Ravens opened as seven-point favorites, and the line has since grown to 7 1⁄2. If the betting spread doesn’t shrink much before kickoff, this Eagles team would be the first in over 15 seasons to be at least touchdown underdogs at home. (Historical betting information on Covers.com dates only to 2006.)
Philadelphia has been a significant underdog in recent seasons, just not at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Ravens (4-1) and Eagles (1-3-1) both enter Sunday’s game as the second-place team in their respective division, but the similarities end there. After Sunday’s 27-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Ravens lead the NFL in point differential (plus-73). The Eagles, meanwhile, are minus-32, with a tie against the Bengals and losses to the Washington Football Team, Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Ravens have done well as sevenpoint favorites or better recently, going 6-1 against the spread and 7-0 straight up, according to CBS Sports. In their past four games against AFC teams, the Eagles are 0-4 against the spread.
The all-time series is tied 2-2-1, with the Ravens winning their last meeting 27-26 in 2016. The Ravens survived a comeback bid by the Eagles after stopping an attempted two-point conversion with four seconds left in Baltimore.
The over-under for Sunday’s game is 46 1⁄ points.
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Extra points
■ The Seattle Seahawks released former Ravens outside linebacker Tim Williams from their practice squad.
Williams, 26, was a third-round pick by the Ravens in the 2017 draft. He appeared in four games for the Ravens and one for the Green Bay Packers last season, recording two tackles.
■ The Ravens protected practice squad long snapper Nick Moore, defensive backs Terrell Bonds and Nigel Warrior and offensive lineman Will Holden this week from being signed by another team.