Jaguars Ravens Thursday Night Football Preview

Thursday Night Football has an underwhelming type feel to it as the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2) travel to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD to take on the Ravens (4-4). A few weeks ago this matchup would have been one of the best Thursday night contests of the season but injuries have plagued Baltimore at the most important position on the field. 

Lamar Jackson (thumb) and Tyler Huntley (toe) are both out so that leaves Joe Fagnano to man the helm for the Ravens. The undrafted rookie was forced into action last week against the Bills and it did not look great. Fagnano ended the game with 91 yards passing on 10 completions and two turnovers. 

The Jaguars have been one of the best teams in the league so far this season. At 5-2, head coach Liam Coen has the offense humming after seemingly unlocking Trevor Lawrence’s potential. Coen is 18-6 as a head coach with a 7-3 record on the road. 

In my opinion (a biased Jaguars fan), Lawrence is playing at an MVP level. Through seven games, Lawrence has 1,690 passing yards with 17 passing touchdowns. He is completing 65.7% of his passes and has a 112.6 passer rating. In Lawrence's last 15 games, he has been pulled early in eight of them for a total time of 89:05. Imagine how good the numbers would be if he played full games.

That’s enough glazing for now. The Jaguars defense has been playing well in their wins. They have allowed 11.4 points per game in their victories. I think the Ravens will use a heavy-dose of Derrick Henry for Anthony Campanile’s defense.

Henry has had a bunch of success against Jacksonville going back to his days as a Tennessee Titan. In 15 games, Henry has rushed 289 times for 1,564 yards (5.4 yards per carry) with 17 total touchdowns. That’s about 104.3 rushing yards per game. The Jaguars interior defensive line took a major hit as defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton suffered a torn quad and is out for the season. 

The Ravens plan of attack should be to give Henry a heavy workload and manage the clock to keep the ball out of the Jaguars offense’s hands. Jacksonville may be without their star running back Bhayshul Tuten. The breakout back has been dealing with an ankle injury and has not practiced all week. 

If he is unable to go, the Jaguars would lose out on a do-it-all player out of the backfield. Tuten averages 4.5 yards per carry and 12.1 yards per reception with six total touchdowns. 

At the end of the day, the Ravens are starting a third-string quarterback who is coming off of an injury of his own. The Jaguars are huge favorites for a reason. The odds are stacked against Baltimore and I don’t see a way they can hang around Jacksonville for a sustainable amount of time. 

Prediction: Jaguars roll and improve to 6-2 on the season thanks to another excellent performance from Trevor Lawrence and the offense. 27-7 Jacksonville.