Jaguars vs. Ravens bold predictions for Week 9 Thursday Night Football
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It’s a strange injury-marred matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens. It’s especially tough as the Ravens got hit at the QB position. But these teams meet in Week 9 on Thursday Night Football, and here are bold predictions.
Life is better for the Jaguars. They’re in the weaker AFC South division. They have a record of 5-2 and a three-game lead over the second-place Texans. Meanwhile, the Ravens are 4-4. That’s worth last place in the tougher AFC North.
It’s a desperation game for the Ravens. Can they come up with a plan to move the football?
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Jaguars RB Bhayshul Tuten will rush for 100-plus yards
The Ravens have a fairly solid run defense. But there’s a caveat to this prediction. The Jaguars won’t need a lot of points to win this game. The Ravens will struggle to put points on the board as the Jaguars stack the box against Derrick Henry.
That means the Jaguars will be content to pound the ground game once they get a double-digit lead. And that means more carries for Tuten. He’s coming off a 104-yard rushing performance against the Colts. And he should hit the mark again.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said he liked what he saw from Tuten, according to jacksonville.com.
“I thought Tuten played really well (against the Colts),” Coen said. “He was seeing it. I thought he was a little more patient in this game. He was running through contact. He was explosive in the passing game. Tuten had a great week of practice, and it really carried over.”
Tuten said things fell into place, according to ESPN.
“We knew it was going to rain,” Tuten said. “We knew we were going to run the ball, and we just went out and imposed our will.”
Things are set up nicely for Tuten to have another big game.
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence will throw three TD passes
Even if Tuten runs up and down the field, the Ravens will commit to stopping him inside the 10-yard line. That will open up opportunities for Lawrence to complete drives with TD passes. This season, Lawrence has 17 touchdown passes with four interceptions.
And Lawrence is trying to keep the Jaguars in all-business mode, according to news4jax.com.
“Winning your division is really important, but I think for us, it’s really just going week by week,” Lawrence said. “It’s not something we think, ‘Oh, we’re a few games up. We’re in a good spot. We can relax.’ That’s not really at all how we think. We got a lot of football left.”
The Ravens have two choices on defense. They can take chances and try to create splash plays. Or they can sit back and try to keep the game close, where they could steal one in the fourth quarter.
If they take chances against Lawrence, he will simply hit them with longer strikes. It seems like a no-win situation for the Ravens. And a big day for Lawrence and the Jaguars.
Ravens RB Derrick Henry will set season high in carries
Make no doubt about it. The Ravens are going to put a saddle on Henry and try to ride him to a victory.
Henry has 24 carries twice this year. But his season high of 26 came against the Cowboys in overtime. Look for him to eclipse that number. That is, if the Ravens can keep the ball long enough for him to rack up carries while the game is still within reach.
But it’s possible the Ravens will feed Henry even if they fall behind by two scores. That’s all because the only real path to a win is through Henry.
Henry has been the recent subject of trade rumors because of the injury to Jackson. The Giants have been in that conversation, but head coach John Harbaugh said it’s hard to make big trades, according to Giants.com.
“We’re going to do the most we can possibly do to try to get some things done,” Harbaugh said. “It’s hard to get deals done. It’s hard. You can see how hard it is, but we’re going to do our best and what’s for our team. And the best thing we can do, the main thing we’re going to do is focus on our guys and get ready to play the game. But all that other stuff is definitely going on behind the scenes at all times.”
For now, Henry remains with the Ravens. And he has to be their leader on Thursday night.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.