Since 2012 the Jaguars have the NFL’s worst record at 18-64. But this team has been a constant thorn in the Ravens’ side.
WHAT: Week Three at Jacksonville Jaguars
NOTE – WHEN: 9:30 a.m. (ET); Sunday, September 24
NOTE – WHERE: Wembley Stadium; London (90,000)
RECORDS: Ravens, 2-0; Jaguars, 1-1
LIFETIME SERIES: Jaguars lead, 11-9
TV: WJZ-TV (Channel 13) (Andrew Catalon, James Lofton, booth; Alex Flanagan, sidelines)
RADIO: WIYY-FM, 97.9 (Gerry Sandusky, Stan White, Dennis Pitta)
REFEREE: Pete Morelli
About the Jaguars
—Jacksonville, FL was granted the second of two NFL expansion franchises during a 1993 owners’ meeting in Chicago. Charlotte, NC (Panthers) got the other. The two cities were chosen over other contenders, including St. Louis, Memphis, and Baltimore.
—The Jaguars are one of four franchises that have never appeared in a Super Bowl. Houston, Cleveland, and Detroit are the others. The Jags came closest in 1999 when they were the top AFC playoff seed and hosted the conference championship game.
—Jacksonville has made only six playoff appearances — second-fewest among current franchises (Houston has four) — with two division titles and four wild-card berths, the most recent in 2007.
—Upon inception, the Jaguars were placed in the now-defunct AFC Central Division, alongside the Ravens and four other teams. Then, in 2002, the league realigned and placed the Jaguars in the new AFC South Division, shuttling the Ravens off to the AFC North.
—Jacksonville won its first eight meetings with Baltimore, then lost six straight. The two teams have alternated wins in their last six meetings, with the Ravens winning last year in Jacksonville, 19-17.
—Head coach Doug Marrone took over late last season after the firing of Gus Bradley. He is 2-2 in his four games at the helm. Marrone is a former player, having played on six different NFL rosters and also with the London Monarchs of the now-defunct World League. As a coach, he served on the staffs of both the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets before becoming a head coach at Syracuse University and, later, with the Buffalo Bills.
—The Jaguars have a signed contract to play one home game per season in London through the 2020 season. The upcoming game against the Ravens will mark the fifth straight year they will have played there. The team is 2-2 in previous visits.
—The annual London trip is a particular favorite of majority owner Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American businessman who also owns the Fulham Soccer Club in West London. Khan used to own a portion of the St. Louis Rams.
—Last season, the Jaguars posted a 3-13 record, but a mid-season, nine-game losing streak featured only one double-digit loss. The streak ended with a blowout win over the Tennessee Titans, the same team that–just last week– beat the Jaguars to defeat in their home opener. That’s the sixth straight year that the team has lost on that occasion.
—Through two weeks, Jacksonville has been a mixed bag in a statistical sense. It is ranked 23rd in total offense (9th rushing, 26th passing, 12th scoring) and ninth in total defense (29th vs. rush, fourth vs. pass, tied for 20th scoring). The Jaguars have allowed a total of 48 second-half points in two games.
—The Jaguars had a minus-16 turnover ratio last year, the second-worst behind the Jets and Bears (-20 each). That total featured 13 lost fumbles, the league’s third-highest total. But through two weeks this year, they are at plus-2–tied with three other teams for the league’s third-best total. The Jags have five total takeaways, which is tied with Detroit for the second-most behind Baltimore’s ten.
—Last year, Jacksonville was second in both penalties (129) and penalty yardage (1178), trailing Oakland in both categories. They haven’t cleaned up their act very well, either. They have 20 penalties through two weeks, which is tied with Kansas City for the league’s second-most behind Pittsburgh (23). The Jaguars have been flagged three times for defensive pass interference, which is tied with Cincinnati for the league high.
—Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles, the franchise’s 2014 first-round pick, will face the Ravens for the fourth time in his career. He’s 12-35 as a starter and has played to a less-than-mediocre 62.9 passer rating against Baltimore with four touchdown passes, five interceptions and 15 sacks. However, he has thrown two touchdown passes in each of his last two games against the Ravens, and he has been sacked only twice this season.
—Rookie running back Leonard Fournette, the fourth overall draft pick, has 140 rushing yards, third among NFL rookies. Fournette and Kareem Hunt are the only rookies with TDs in each of their team’s first two games. Veteran Chris Ivory complements Fournette. Ivory has the single-game rushing record for games played in London, having run for 166 yards as a New York Jet against Miami in 2015.
—Starting wide receiver Allen Robinson is out for the season with a knee ligament tear sustained in Week One. But Allen Hurns leads the team with nine catches and a 13-yards per-catch average. H has 15 catches and a touchdown in his last three games against the Ravens. Marquise Lee has seven receptions and an 11-yard average, while Fournette and Ivory have combined for nine catches. The Jags added ex-Houston wideout Jaelen Strong off waivers this week. In total, the wideouts have caught 18 of Bortles’ 31 completions–a better ratio than the Ravens can claim (nine of 34).
—The Jaguars’ offensive line features only two starters with five or more years’ worth of league experience, fifth-year left guard Patrick Omameh (Michigan) and seventh-year right tackle Jeremy Parnell (Mississippi). Rookie left tackle Cam Robinson is an Alabama product who was the 34th overall pick. He’s a high school All-America and an Outland Trophy winner with a national-championship college team.
—Along the defensive front, the Jaguars have a good mix of veterans and young players. The ends include former Arizona Cardinals standout Calais Campbell, who has a league-high four sacks (three tackles for losses against the Ravens in 2015), and ex-Maryland standout Yannick Ngakoue. The pocket-pushers in the middle are fifth-year tackle Abry Jones and six-year vet Malik Jackson. The Jaguars have 11 sacks in two games, but ten of them came in the Week One win at Houston.
—Middle linebacker Paul Posluszny (Penn State) is in his seventh season with the Jaguars and his 11th in the league. He has surpassed the 100-tackle mark four times in his career. Posluszny is flanked by second-year player Myles Jack, the only player in the NFL to have at least 20 tackles and one sack through two weeks; and ex-Florida State star Telvin Smith, who is one of only two players to have recorded an interception in four straight seasons (Carolina’s Luke Kuechly is the other).
—The Jaguars have a pair of young corners in the athletic Jalen Ramsey and fifth-year man AJ Bouye. At safety, ex-Cleveland Browns starter Tashaun Gipson has one of the team’s two interceptions. Former Dallas Cowboy strong safety Barry Church partners with him;.Church was a teammate of current Ravens cornerback Brandon Carr.
—Third-year kicker Jason Myers could be soon looking for a new job. Myers missed three extra points and seven field goals last year and has already missed one of each kick this season. On the right side of the ledger, his 60 touchbacks last year were the league’s fifth-most. Punting is another soft spot for this team. Poor punt coverage doomed Brad Nortman to a subpar season. He had the eighth-highest gross average, but only the 22nd-best net rate. The punt coverage team is allowing over 25 yards per return. The kick-coverage unit is yielding just 15 per runback.
Game Prediction
Since 2012 the Jaguars have the league’s worst record at 18-64. But this team has been a constant thorn in the Ravens’ side. They also have plenty of experience in London, while Baltimore will be playing there for the first time.
It will be the Ravens’ first game without stalwart right guard Marshal Yanda (ankle), who is done for the year, and Baltimore players have admitted to making plenty of defensive mistakes over the first two weeks.
When you add it up, this seems like the kind of game when it could all come back to bite the Ravens. I see it Jaguars 16, Ravens 12.
