Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Short week presents challenge for Ravens

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The Baltimore Ravens overcame the odds to hand the New Orleans Saints their first prime-time loss at home in five seasons. But recovering from a road "Monday Night Football" game presents a new set of challenges.

Flying 2 1/2 hours back from New Orleans immediately after the game, the Ravens landed in Baltimore at 4 a.m. Tuesday. The coaches slept an hour at the team facility before starting their all-day preparation for the Chargers, so they could get the game plan to the players on Wednesday morning.

How difficult is it to win after a road Monday night game? This season, teams are 2-5 the following week after playing in a different time zone Monday.

"A lot of times in a short week, when you're playing on Thursday, both teams are in the same boat. They're not [in this situation]," coach John Harbaugh said. "[The Chargers] have a full week. So, we have to make up for a lot of ground."

The Chargers last played Sunday afternoon at home, which means their game ended 25 hours before the Ravens' Monday night game began.

"By the time you get around the end of the week, you feel pretty good," quarterback Joe Flacco said about the shortened week. "It probably has some kind of effect that you don't necessarily feel."

Last year, the Ravens lost to the New England Patriots, 41-7, after playing a Monday night game in Detroit. They are 2-4 after Monday night road games under Harbaugh.

"You've got to be professional and take care of your body," linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "What we're trying to do is bigger than how we feel right now."

The Chargers have their own set of travel issues. They're flying cross country for a 1 p.m. ET Sunday kickoff, which will feel like 10 a.m. for the West Coast players.

San Diego is 1-1 this season when playing at 1 p.m. in the Eastern time zone. The Chargers won at Buffalo, 22-10, in Week 3, and they were shut out 37-0 in Miami in Week 9.

"I think more is made of it than it really is," Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said of the start time. "Shoot, when they kick it off, no one cares what time it is."

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