Jets at Ravens

[tsylvester]

Moving right along, trying to remember that a win is a win even when you play terrible. Yes, the band may be back together but...

Ah no, Benny and the Jets are not coming to a stage near you. The New York Jets are with their own strange leader in tow. Yes, their signal caller is quite the enigma, one play he looks like a quarterback who can carry a team to the Super Bowl. The problem is, the very next play may leave you wondering why he is in the NFL. 
 
So far this season he is completing 63 % of his passes, with six touchdowns and one interception, not great, but there is some space before we get to terrible.  The problem, for the Jets offense, is that he is only completing passes and average 6.3 yards down field.  
 
Fields can run, more like a rabbit rather than a cheetah, averaging 5.3 yards per carry with three touchdowns and 20 first downs. In other words, the Baltimore defense will have to be cognizant of their rush lanes. He will be without his top receiver in Garret Wilson. 
 
However, he is being benched and another former Raven quarterback will start instead, Tyrone Taylor; this should be interesting. 
 
Defensively, Baltimore will face a depleted defense after a Jets fire sale before the trade deadline. They are ranked 19th in the league in total defense, allowing 329 yards per game, 190 yards through the air, 138 on the ground.  
 
Ny is averaging 21 points per game, allowing its opponents to average 26 points, and have a minus 10 turnover ratio, thus their record of 2-7. 
 
They have registered 17 sacks on the season but have yet to interception a pass, the only team in the league with none, while allowing 17  touchdowns. 
 through the air.  
 
To make a long story short, Baltimore cannot play with its food, they must put this team away. There is a tendency for some teams to play down to their opponent, let us hope Baltimore does not, this is another must win game and they need to fine tune this team for the road ahead.

So, who ya got?

[papasmurfbell]

This should be a win.  If they ran fields they had a good chance to win.  

[tsylvester]

Like the Browns, the Jets can rush the passer, good front four, just no depth beyond that. Yes, this should extend the win streak against bad quarterbacks....

[oldno82]

This should be the game where the Ravens get well on offense and defense. Another ugly win will cement them as pretenders not contenders. A loss would be as devastating as the Bills game for the team and fans.

In hindsight, I think the Bills loss really screwed up the heads on this year's Ravens. They were so confident they'd win that they forgot to play a full 60 minute game. It was a psychological blow that coupled with the eventual 9 injuries destroyed the team's swagger. Now they are a mere shell of the team that started the season.

There's a lot to blame here on Harbs for letting his team get away from themselves and not finding a way to get them back on track.

DeCosta has to share the blame for the poor offensive line and the lack of, yet again, a game changing pass rusher on defense.

And of course the players take the blame for not staying motivated enough to play better for those first several games.

All of which is to say, they can only redeem the season by winning out and going on a deep playoff run. The schedule is in their favor. Now they have to act on ir.