The Baltimore Ravens take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this week in a game that will feature the NFL’s third-leading rusher, Justin Forsett (1,080 yards, 8 TDs). Winners of three of their last four, Baltimore (8-5) comes into this game hoping to continue their recent success. Players will take the field Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET and the game will air on CBS.
Baltimore notched a win over Miami 28-13 last week. Elvis Dumervil led the defensive effort for Baltimore in the victory, totaling four tackles and 3.5 sacks. Joe Flacco also had a big game with 269 yards and two TDs through the air. Jacksonville didn’t have the same success as Baltimore, getting beat by Houston 27-13. Demetrius McCray led the way for the Jacksonville defense, totaling six tackles.
Nobody is expecting a close score this week when the Jaguars, a heavy 13-point underdog, take on Baltimore. The matchup currently has a 45-point Over/Under (O/U). The Ravens enter the game with records of 8-5 both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS) this season. In the past five games, Baltimore is 3-2 both SU and ATS. They should be excited to have the Jaguars and their sixth-ranked scoring defense come into town. Their Swiss cheese defense gives up an average of 27.4 points per game. Chances are Baltimore will keep the ball on the ground. They have the league’s fifth-ranked running attack, averaging 135.5 yards per game. Baltimore’s defense isn’t great, but they will probably look like they are when they matchup against the league’s worst-scoring offense (15.3 PPG). Expect the Jaguars to have a difficult time running the ball against the fourth-best run defense in the NFL. The Ravens give up only 84.2 yards per game on the ground. A major part of the game will be if the Jaguars can protect their quarterback from Baltimore’s hungry defense. It averages the fourth-most sacks in the league with 2.9 per game. Jacksonville should put Baltimore away early because the Ravens are one of the top teams at putting points on the board during the fourth quarter. So far this year, they’ve averaged 9.2 fourth-quarter points to close the game out. On the road, Jacksonville’s average time of possession is 28:30 per game. This ranks 26th in the NFL, so expect the Ravens to control the pigskin this week.
On the other side, the Jaguars have 2-11 SU and 3-9-1 ATS records this season. The Jaguars went 1-4 SU and 1-3-1 ATS over the last five games. The Ravens are matching up with Jacksonville’s pass defense at an inopportune time. Over the last five games, opponents only averaged 207.6 yards through the air, lower than Jacksonville’s season average of 244.4 yards. Yellow flags are typically a rare sight when the Jaguars are playing. They average the fewest penalties in the NFL with 4.7 per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – BAL, ATS Winner – BAL, O/U – Under
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Jacksonville’s last 9 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Baltimore’s last 6 games.
Jacksonville is 2-14 SU in its last 16 games.
Baltimore is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games.
Jacksonville is 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games.
Baltimore is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Jacksonville’s last 13 games on the road.
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Baltimore’s last 16 games at home.
Jacksonville is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games on the road.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Baltimore’s last 5 games when playing Jacksonville.
Jacksonville is 1-5-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road.
Baltimore is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing Jacksonville.
Jacksonville is 2-3-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Baltimore.
Baltimore is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Jacksonville.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Jacksonville’s last 5 games when playing Baltimore.
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Baltimore’s last 10 games when playing at home against Jacksonville.
Jacksonville is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games when playing Baltimore.
Jacksonville is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Baltimore.
Jacksonville is 1-3-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Baltimore.
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Jacksonville’s last 10 games when playing on the road against Baltimore.
Jacksonville is 1-2 SU when leading at the half this season. Baltimore is 5-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Jacksonville is 1-1 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. Baltimore is 7-1 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
This season, Jacksonville is 1-3 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, and winless (0-8 SU) when losing the turnover battle.
This season, Baltimore is only 3-2 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
Baltimore is only 1-9 SU this season when allowing at least 3 sacks in a game. The Jacksonville defense is currently averaging 3.0 sacks over the last five games.
The Baltimore passing attack is ranked 16th in the league, while the Jacksonville pass defense is only ranked 18th. The Jaguars’ passing game is ranked 28th, compared to the 31st-ranked pass defense of the Ravens.
Baltimore is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its fifth-ranked rushing attack will face the 28th-ranked run defense of Jacksonville, while its fourth-ranked rush defense will look to contain the 24th-ranked run game of the Jaguars.
Jacksonville has allowed 30.0 points per game on the road, which is ranked only 28th in the league. Baltimore has scored 27.2 points per game at home (ranked ninth overall).
