BALTIMORE (vs San Francisco)
The 49ers are allowing a league-low 248 yards per game; only the Patriots have allowed fewer points. In that regard, it makes sense to rank the Ravens lower than usual. But ...

... this is a red-hot offense, and one that's unconventional -- opponents don't know how to defend it right now. Baltimore has scored at least 4 TDs in four straight games, and three of those were against defenses of some regard. New England leads the league in scoring defense. The Texans and Rams both entered their games against Baltimore with top-5 run defenses, then both gave up over 260 rushing yards. Baltimore lost center Matt Skura to a season-ending injury early in the Los Angeles game, and it didn't slow them down at all. So while we'll project the Ravens a little lower than usual this week, we're thinking ...

This report is taken from today's Week 13 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 23 pages of matchup previews, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.

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... they'll probably still put up top-5 numbers. This looks like a Super Bowl team right now. ... The Ravens are on pace to break the all-time rushing records. They're averaging 211 rushing yards per game, and there really hasn't been a defense all year that's been able to slow that down. In three of their last four games, they've played against top-10 run defenses, and they've run for over 210 yards against all of them -- Patriots, Texans, Rams. The running game looks particularly important this week. The 49ers have a great pass defense, with a scary pass rush, but it will be hard to get that going if the Ravens are consistently running for yards. And most likely they will. While San Francisco's defense is very good, it's been only average against the run -- 19th, allowing 111 yards per game. Prior to the Packers game, San Francisco had allowed over 130 rushing yards in four straight games. When the Seahawks won in Santa Clara, it was fueled by 147 rushing yards. So most likely in this game, we'll see more of what we've been seeing for the bulk of the season, with the Ravens running for over 200 yards. They've run for 17 touchdowns, with scores in all but two games. Lamar Jackson leads them in rushing, averaging 80 yards per game, and there's been no attempt to limit his carries. He's run for at least 60 yards eight games in a row. He's scored 6 TDs on his own -- about a third of the team's total. Mark Ingram is averaging 71 rushing and 15 receiving yards; he's run for 9 TDs (about half of their total), and with an additional 3 TDs on receptions. They'll work in Gus Edwards more than you might realize; he's on pace to finish the season with 648 rushing yards, and he's scored their other 2 rushing touchdowns. Edwards averages 41 rushing yards but isn't used as a pass catcher. They're even starting to work in Justice Hill more; he had a season-high 8 carries against the Rams but hasn't been as effective (averaging only 3.8 per attempt -- Edwards and Ingram are both at 5.2). While the 49ers are good defensively, this looks like a typical kind of matchup for the runners. ... Lamar Jackson isn't passing a ton. He's finished with under 240 passing yards seven games in a row. Since lighting up Miami in Week 1, he's averaged only 210 yards per game. But he's putting the ball in the end zone, with 25 TD passes. In a four-game span ending with the Patriots game, he threw only 2 TDs, but he's now thrown at least 3 in three straight games. Here he's running into maybe the league's best pass defense. The 49ers are allowing a league-low 169 passing yards per game, and they've allowed only 11 TD passes all year. But this is a different offense. Against this running game, it will be hard for the 49ers to generate their usual pass rush. We'll project Jackson a little lower than usual, but with his pass-run ability (and as well as he's been playing) he's still a contender to finish with the best overall quarterbacking numbers of the week. ... Mark Andrews didn't get in much on the fireworks on Monday night. That can be attributed to the Rams putting Jalen Ramsey on him for a lot of plays. But there aren't a lot of Ramsey-like cover guys around the league. Andrews is the top receiving option on this team; he's caught 50 passes -- 15 more than anyone else on the roster -- and he's caught almost a quarter of their touchdown passes. He's averaging 59 yards and just half a half touchdown per week, so best to just keep putting him out there, regardless of opponent. Another tight end (Jacob Hollister) caught 8 passes and a touchdown against this defense a few weeks back. ... Marquise Brown has been plagued by various injuries for most of the season, but he seems to be healthy now. He didn't miss any practice time last week, then went out and scored the first 2 TDs against the Rams. Now that he's healthy, he should have a larger role in this offense. With the Ravens bludgeoning teams on the ground, that will probably bait some defenses in trying different schemes (bringing more guys to the line of scrimmage, perhaps) and when that occurs, it will create additional opportunities for long passes downfield. If and when that occurs, Brown will be the receiver most likely to be scoring those long touchdowns. He showed that potential in the opener at Miami. Brown has caught 3 TDs in his last three games, and he might just be getting started. ... The Ravens have a host of other pass catchers, but they're all nominal guys. Willie Snead caught 2 TDs Monday night (just like Brown, it can be argued) but he's finished with fewer than 20 yards six games in a row. Miles Boykin is averaging only 19 yards per game, and with just 2 TDs all year. Nick Boyle and Hayden Hurst are averaging only 25 and 17 yards per game, and they've each caught only 1 TD all year. ... With the 49ers having a quality defense, that might actually help Justin Tucker. It could result in more field goal opportunities. The Ravens have scored 40-plus points three times this year, and Tucker in those games has kicked 21 extra points versus only 2 field goals. The probability of multiple field goals goes way up this week. ... We're ranking the Ravens Defense a little higher than usual. It's been trending upward recently, and it plays better at home. In its last two big home games, it got 8 sacks and 2 interceptions against Deshaun Watson and Tom Brady. Marcus Peters has intercepted 3 passes in his five games with the team, including a pair he returned for touchdowns. The 49ers, meanwhile, are having a great year, but Jimmy Garoppolo is taking some sacks and turning the ball over. In their just-completed three-game homestand, he took 10 sacks, with 3 interceptions and 3 fumbles (2 lost).