Jacksonville Jaguars vs Baltimore Ravens: 3 keys

The Jacksonville Jaguars enter week ten of the regular season with only two wins but despite losing four of their last five games they still have a decent shot of winning the AFC South. The offense is coming off a solid performance against the Jets, a game where Blake Bortles was able to air it out for a career high 381 passing yards. Sadly like a lot of the other Jaguars losses this season, they let another game they should have won slip away because of their own mistakes. Jacksonville had three costly turnovers including two interceptions by Blake Bortles (one off a deflected pass) and one fumbled punt that was a huge swing in the game.

Moving on to this weekend’s contest against the Baltimore Ravens, Baltimore is usually known for their stingy defense but this year has been much different. The Ravens defense is giving up 383.6 yards per game which is the ninth most in the NFL and they are ranked as the 4th worst pass defense in the league. Baltimore comes into this matchup against Jacksonville with only two total wins, however they have still been a very competitive team. Out of their six losses, four of them were only by five points or less.

The Jaguars passing offense has progressed a lot this season and that makes the first key to a victory an easy one.

Nov 8, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) prepares to pass during the NFL game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. The Jets won, 28-23. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

1. Attack the Ravens through the air

Blake Bortles has shown extreme progression this season. He already has 17 touchdowns this year with a quarterback rating of 83.2 compared to only 11 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 69.5 last year. The Jaguars come into this contest ranked as the 11th best passing offense in the league which is a huge improvement from last year. With all that being sad, the Jaguars need to let Blake Bortles air out this week if they want to win their third game of the season.

I fully expect the Jaguars to try to get Julius Thomas more involved in the offense this week. Since coming back from injury, Thomas has only registered 13 receptions for 116 yards and 1 touchdown. I find it hard to believe that the Jaguars won’t want to establish their top paid offensive target especially in a matchup versus one of the worst passing defenses in the league.

This weekend’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens will certainly be a tough one but if the Jaguars want to win their third game of the season then they will need to be highly effective in the passing game.

Next: Get After the Quarterback