• Welcome to PurpleFlock! Be sure to sign up here so that you can chat with your fellow Ravens fans.

Article London Game; Week 3 Preview: Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville Jaguars

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
Cheerio, Queen Elizabeth; the Ravens are here to treat you to some quality football for arguably the first time since the NFL began its London campaign… hopefully. With the way the Ravens have played lately, they should put up a quality game for the London, but there is just one issue that may throw a wrinkle into the mix…

Marshall Yanda was lost for the season with a broken ankle against the Browns and Brandon Williams may not be good to go this week as he ails from a foot injury. Arguably the two anchors of the offense and the defense respectively and the Ravens could be missing both. Talk about bad luck and unfortunate timing as the team had little time to prepare before leaving for London on Thursday. However, there may be a silver lining.

If there were a positive to this entire situation, it is that the Jacksonville Jaguars are just a…. bad team. The Jags are not a quality opponent and the Ravens should have a relatively easy week. I heavily emphasize the word should because the Ravens have shown in the past that they are more than happy to play down the level of their competition and fall victim to a trap game.

Without further ado, let us take a look at this weeks key match ups for a Ravens victory.

Key Match Ups

Joe Flacco vs the Jaguars Secondary: This will likely continue to be a match up that I put out in each weekly preview until Joe Flacco can prove that he is able to consistently find and hit his wide receivers down the field.

Despite playing an incredibly efficient game against the Cleveland Browns, Flacco only found his receivers for a total of five receptions with four going to the newly acquired Jeremy Maclin. In week one, receivers only made up four receptions for the Ravens. On the season, receivers make up just nine of Flacco’s 34 completions. Due to his lack of involvement, Mike Wallace recently jokingly(?) made comments that he needs the ball thrown his way more and that he wants to make more plays.

Unfortunately for Wallace and the rest of the Ravens receivers, this week will probably not be the week for Ravens receivers. The Jaguars feature one of the top trio of corners in the NFL in Jalen Ramsey (oh, how he would look good in a Ravens uniform), AJ Bouye, and Aaron Colvin. With safety Tashaun Gipson and the player who can play every position in Barry Church, we have a recipe for a heavy dose of involvement from the running backs.

Blake Bortles vs the Ravens Secondary: The Ravens defense as a whole is something to be marveled at, but more than anything, it is the secondary that truly appears special. They have recorded 10 turnovers as a defense with eight of those turnovers coming via interception, six of those from the secondary.

In week one, the Jaguars built up a fairly sizable lead above the Houston Texans and limited to Bortles to just 21 pass attempts and kept him from making a crucial mistake. In week 2, the Tennessee Titans garnered a significant lead and the Jaguars were forced to put Bortles in higher-pressure situations with more difficult throws. This led to two interceptions for the Titans defense. Given that neither the Houston secondary nor the Titans secondary can hold a candle to the Ravens, this may be a long game for Bortles.

With an average of 17 interceptions over the past three seasons, Bortles will be feasted on by the Ravens secondary in an attempt to make it three straight games with at least four interceptions.

The Ravens Yanda-less Offensive Line vs the Jaguars Front Four: Every week I single out a match up that I feel will go the furthest in determining how the game will go and this week, I feel like it is how the offensive line responds now that there is no Marshall Yanda out there. Any time an offensive line loses the best player in the league at his position, there is an expected drop off, but the timing could not be any worse because the Jaguars have an absolutely dominant pass rushing front four.

The Bengals game week one presented one of the toughest match ups of the season for the Ravens in terms of pass rushers, but I think this might be the toughest match up of the entire season. With newly signed Calais Campbell added to an already talented front, the Jaguars feature a threat at every single position across the line. Yannick Ngakoue is continuing where he left off from his rookie season, Malik Jackson is a continual dominant presence inside, and Dante Fowler is finally getting healthy and getting his legs under him after tearing his ACL in training camp during his rookie season.

This would be a match up that would leave me feeling a little uneasy even with Yanda in the starting line up, but with Tony Bergstrom starting, I really feel uneasy and worry for Joe Flacco’s back and knees. This is the match up that will likely keep the game vastly closer than it should be.

Final Score Prediction

If Brandon Williams cannot go on top of the injury to Marshall Yanda, I will be severely worried about this game. The Ravens had a very short week to prepare for the injuries of Williams and Yanda and it may all very well lead to a trap game. However, as long as the Jaguars offense is led by Blake Bortles, the Ravens should win.

Baltimore Ravens: 17, Jacksonville Jaguars: 6

What? No “Lost in Translation who are you taking?” Side note: I totally forgot to put this in the original, but… Lost_in_Translation, who are you taking?

Well pour me a Guinness (well aware that it’s Irish but whatever. It’s my favorite)and give me an English breakfast for waking up so early in the morning. Preferably with traditional afternoon tea. If we win the game we should go for beef wellington and whatnot.

This is going to be a very ugly, low scoring, defensive game. However, even with our best player being injured, I have this penciled in as a win.

Pertaining to your matchups however.

Joe Flacco vs. The Jacksonville Secondary:

AJ Bouye was a great addition to a solid secondary. Jalen Ramsey looked very good last season and looks like a future star. Aaron Colvin is as good as any slot corner in the league. And of course, Barry Church is the greatest player of all time, being capable of playing all of the positions at the same time. Flacco is likely in for a tough week, because of this, plus Jacksonville can also cover the middle very well. Overall, Flacco might have one or two good drives, but I see this game as a tough one for everyone.

Blake Bortles vs. The Ravens Secondary

Blake Bortles, the human turnover, is probably going to be benched after this game. He doesn’t just have to deal with our secondary, who has proven to be able to force turnovers in crucial moments. But he’s also going to have to deal with our front 7 as well. As critical as I am of our offensive line, Jacksonville has arguably the worst offensive line in the entire league. I am going to make this clear: Blake Bortles might be the reason we win this game. He’s usually due one or two crucial turnovers in the red zone per game, and we just might force more. He’s likely to have the pass rush in his face all day as well, making things worse for him. Overall: He’s likely screwed.

The Ravens Offensive Line vs. The Jacksonville Front 7.

Make no mistake: last week was a fluke for Jacksonville. The Titans likely have the second best offensive line in all of football. They can handle just about anyone. Our offensive line without Yanda, is going to have a really hard time. Calias Campbell is a monster and putting him next to Jackson is going to cause problems. However, I feel as if this is the game where Stanley and Howard both step up big time in Yanda’s absence and help contain Fowler and Ngakoue. Pousluzny is also a great ILB himself and had a bounce back season last year. Him and Telvin Smith are going to make things difficult on the run game. Even without Yanda, our offensive line isn’t as pourous as Houston’s looked thus far. “Sacksonville”(god that’s a terrible name) may return. But I don’t think they’ll be as dominant as they were vs. the Texans.

I’m gonna add my own matchup.

The Jacksonville Offensive Line vs. The Ravens Front 7.

I loved Fournette coming out of school. Sure, we haven’t looked amazing against the run the past two weeks, but I have a feeling this game will be different. Fournette is literally their only option on offense at the moment, and Jacksonville has to have one of the sorriest offensive lines in the entire league. Outside of Linder, who is a very good player, they have Cam Robinson: a LT that should be at guard. Two guards that are worse than ours(which is saying something), and Parnell who’s a below average RT. Since our front 7 actually played pretty well against the Browns(and yes they did. Defense has been nothing short of dominant the past two weeks) who have a very good offensive line, I expect nothing short of a repeat performance from the Bengals game.

Final Score: 10-3. Yup. An ugly one. I said in my predictions article that this might be a shutout given how limited Jacksonville’s offense is. Given how dominant our defense has looked, I’d be disappointed if we didn’t win this game. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be a trap game. Will we bench Blake Bortles this game? For the sake of Jacksonville’s overall future: I hope so. I kind of feel bad for them.
 

RavensMania

Staff Member
Administrator
Very well done you two. Keep it coming. Having Yanda out was bad enough, but BWill and Yanda is going to be rough.
 

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
Very well done you two. Keep it coming. Having Yanda out was bad enough, but BWill and Yanda is going to be rough.
Yeah, the only reason I don't see a loss is Bortles. Any competent quarterback back there and I think it's a loss. Overseas with two injuries? No bueno.
 

RavensPunkXVX

Pro Bowler
No mention of Fournette?! I'm most anxious to see how our defensive front looks without Brandon Williams, defending the run. Bortles is Borrles. I believe we'll get to him and force some turnovers, but how quickly can the defense contain Lenny. The Jags probably have a similar game plan. Pound the ball, keep bortles limited.

Bernard - 5.7 ypc
Hill - 4.3 ypc
Duke - 5.2 ypc
Crowell - 3.7

A small sample size based on carries, but both teams fell behind. If these defenses keep it close, will Fournette get 80 yards on the ground, maybe score a TD? That's what I'm most looking forward to. This run defense vs Fournette, especially if the game stays close.

I think defensive turnovers and whether or not the team can score off ofnturnovers is going to determine the outcome. Have to make them abandon the run.
 

redrum52

Hall of Famer
As I'm reading just saw Bowser won Rookie of the Week... Congrats, young man.

The OL match up is something that worries me. If the run game gets no steam we now rely on the passing game. OC will have a big job this week because the Jags are talented at every level defensively. As long as there aren't any stupid turnovers, we should be able to outlast the Jags.

Our front 7 versus their OL will be interesting since Williams is most likely not playing. Curious if they keep Davis or go another direction. I don't see anyway we don't get a TO, but if that happens I'm assuming we lose, unless it's cause they're constantly punting and never pass misfield.

See the game basically being a wait until the other team makes a mistake type of affair, where whichever defense makes a big play or offense manages a big play is the winner.
 
Last edited:

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
No mention of Fournette?! I'm most anxious to see how our defensive front looks without Brandon Williams, defending the run. Bortles is Borrles. I believe we'll get to him and force some turnovers, but how quickly can the defense contain Lenny. The Jags probably have a similar game plan. Pound the ball, keep bortles limited.

Bernard - 5.7 ypc
Hill - 4.3 ypc
Duke - 5.2 ypc
Crowell - 3.7

A small sample size based on carries, but both teams fell behind. If these defenses keep it close, will Fournette get 80 yards on the ground, maybe score a TD? That's what I'm most looking forward to. This run defense vs Fournette, especially if the game stays close.

I think defensive turnovers and whether or not the team can score off ofnturnovers is going to determine the outcome. Have to make them abandon the run.
I'd be much more worried about Fournette if that offensive line weren't absolute garbage.
 

RavensPunkXVX

Pro Bowler
I think he'll score a touchdown with no BWill, but I don't think he'll go crazy like Kareem Hunt on the Patriots.

Oh no. Definitely not. Plus we have several players that like to play close to the line in the middle and in the secondary. I think the game plan is stop Fournette. Can't wait to see our depth up front.
 

RavensMania

Staff Member
Administrator
Oh no. Definitely not. Plus we have several players that like to play close to the line in the middle and in the secondary. I think the game plan is stop Fournette. Can't wait to see our depth up front.
I think Pees keeps Jefferson closer to the line this week.
 

redrum52

Hall of Famer
As I'm reading just saw Bowser won Rookie of the Week... Congrats, young man.

The OL match up is something that worries me. If the run game gets no steam we now rely on the passing game. OC will have a big job this week because the Jags are talented at every level defensively. As long as there aren't any stupid turnovers, we should be able to outlast the Jags.

Our front 7 versus their OL will be interesting since Williams is most likely not playing. Curious if they keep Davis or go another direction. I don't see anyway we don't get a TO, but if that happens I'm assuming we lose, unless it's cause they're constantly punting and never pass misfield.

See the game basically being a wait until the other team makes a mistake type of affair, where whichever defense makes a big play or offense manages a big play is the winner.

This guy knows his stuff... if you ignore what I said right after that part.
 
Top