My Take on Ravens/Jaguars

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DOWN TO BUSINESS! It’s very simple, Ravens fans: we win, we’re in! This Sunday, the Ravens will be facing off against their old AFC Central rival, and overall pain-in-the-ass in the 90s, the 5-10 Jacksonville Jaguars.  The Ravens will look to use this game as the stepping stone to complete their improbable run to the playoffs.

Before we get to the keys to victory, here is what needs to happen in order for the Ravens to make the post season:

The Baltimore Ravens clinch a wild-card berth with a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars
OR
A New England Patriots loss against the Buffalo Bills

In order for the Ravens to win this game against Jacksonville, here are my keys to victory:

Jags Got Nothing to Lose: The Jaguars have nothing to lose in this game, and that makes them very dangerous and puts them in the role of spoiler.  Jacksonville has had a very disappointing season despite high expectations coming off an 11-5 regular season in 2007 and an impressive playoff victory against Pittsburgh a year ago. The Ravens must not underestimate the Jaguars in this game, as they did play the red hot Colts to the final gun last Thursday night.

An Offensive Explosion:  The Jaguars defense has declined since the 2007 season, while the Ravens offense has vastly improved thanks to the play calling of Cam Cameron, the impressive play of Joe Flacco, the offensive line, the Three Headed Monster, and the receiving core.

The Ravens can really expose the somewhat dismal run defense of the Jaguars with a heavy dose of the now TWO headed monster, thanks to the recent injury of rookie running back Ray Rice. The Ravens now have the second best running game in the NFL coming off the impressive performance against the Cowboys last Saturday running for 249 yards against a very good Dallas run defense.  The running game of Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee will look to pick apart the Jaguars 14th ranked run defense.

Bazooka Joe and the rest of the Ravens offense will take to the air against the Jaguars 19th ranked pass defense.

Baltimore’s Dominating Defense: The Ravens defense has had some legendary performances this year.  Baltimore’s 2nd ranked defense leads the NFL with 30 turnovers, five of those turnovers returned for touchdowns.  This is in large part to their 3rd ranked pass defense led by pro bowl safety Ed Reed, who is in a three way tie for the most interceptions with 7 picks, and the Ravens 3rd ranked run defense who has 33 sacks and allows an average of 78.9 yards per game.

They will facing a very mediocre Jaguars offense, who is ranked 13th in passing offense and ranks 18th in run offense.

Just looking at the numbers and comparing these two teams, the Ravens are the far superior team in this contest.

Look for Joe Flacco to have an outstanding day throwing for 250+ yards and three touchdowns to Derrick Mason, Willis McGahee, and Todd Heap.  The running game of Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee will be in legendary form, as they will rush for over 250+ yards and score three times, two from McClain and one from McGahee.

The defense will smother and fluster the Jaguars offense and pressure Jaguars quarterback David Garrard, who will throw two touchdown passes, but also throw three interceptions one returned for a touchdown by Jim Leonhard,  and the somewhat good running game of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, which will do…NOTHING and get stuffed all game!

Tack on some Matt Stover field goals, and the Ravens will soar into the playoffs for the 5th time since 2000.

I now pose three questions to you, Ravens fans:

Does anyone know where the Super Bowl is this year?
Does anyone know who the number one seed in the NFC is now?
Can you say de-ja-vu, Ravens fans?

Ravens 38        Jaguars 17

Fun Fact: This photo was taken during the Ravens/Jaguars game in 2000 at Ravens Stadium. In this game, the Ravens defense was getting picked apart by the Mark Brunell and Jimmy Smith led Jaguars offense. The Ravens were down a significant margin at half time, until the offense woke up and finally, with seconds to spare, Ravens quarterback Tony Banks threw a touchdown strike to Shannon Sharpe in the corner of the endzone to claim victory in this constest to complete one of the greatest comebacks in Ravens history. The Ravens would win that game 39-36.