For the fourth year in a row, the Baltimore Ravens will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, this encounter will take place in London at Wembley Stadium. That means both teams have to travel over to the UK, get acclimated to the time change and prepare to play some football. Will either team come out sluggish during this one? Kickoff is at 9:30 A.M. ET.
The Baltimore Ravens (2-0) have dominated their first two opponents Cleveland and Cincinnati by a combined score of 44-10. The Ravens defense is smothering offenses and only allowing an average of 5 points per game. Offensively, the Ravens are unimpressive and lacking any real weapon. This week, they play a Jaguars team that was just gashed for 37 points in Week 2. Can the Ravens be able to put up that many points?
Will the real Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1) please stand up? In Week 1, the Jaguars looked like the best team in the AFC South as they crushed Houston 29-7. With a chance to go up 2 games in their division, they came out flat and lost to Tennessee 37-16. Facing the Ravens defense this week, one would have to think that the Jaguars will struggle again and possibly lose.
The spread opened with Baltimore favored by 3 points and the Over/Under at 40.5 points. Since then, the spread went up to 3.5 points and the Over/Under went down to 40.5 total points.
Until a team can score on the Ravens defense, you have to like their chances against just about anyone. This week, they get a Jacksonville team that’s mostly one-dimensional as they’re only averaging 174 passing yards per game, which is near last in the league. The Ravens will key in on the Jaguars rushing attack, led by Fournette, and force Jacksonville to throw the ball. The Ravens are allowing only 85 rushing yards per game.
Offensively, the Ravens are almost as bad as Jacksonville. Flacco and the passing game is averaging 169 yards per game. Additionally, they’re only putting up 22 points per game. And, the Ravens seem to lose a running back each week due to injuries, so their running game can’t be trusted either.
Bottom line, neither team has an offense that puts up a lot of points or is a threat to move the ball up and down the field. That’s why the Under is so appealing in this one.
The Under is 5-0 in the last 5 games between these two teams. It’s also 5-1 in the last 6 games Baltimore has played on the road against the Jaguars.
As mentioned, Baltimore is averaging 22 ppg and the Jaguars are averaging 22.5 ppg with a few of those scores coming from the defense in Week 1. Over the last 10 meetings, Baltimore has averaged 17.9 ppg and Jacksonville has averaged 16.5 ppg. During that span, the total points has gone Under 8 of 10 times.
With two offenses struggling to put points on the board, this game should be a low scoring affair. The Ravens defense is the better of the two teams and will definitely hold Jacksonville to a low score. The Jaguars defense has been hit-or-miss this season, so there is a chance that Baltimore could get to the 20 point mark.
I expect this game to be all about the Ravens defense with Jacksonville struggling to move the ball. They will get a garbage time score that will help fantasy owners, but will be irrelevant for this game. Look for the score to be 16-6 or 23-10 with the Ravens winning. In fact, the Ravens at -3.5 is a good bet too.