The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. That moved their winning streak to nine straight games, and gave them an 11-2 record, best in the AFC and tied for best in the NFL (San Francisco 49ers are also 11-2).
Baltimore has a new test in front of them in Week 15, in the form of the 5-8 New York Jets. It might not seem like the toughest game, but they need to be careful not to slip up. The Ravens are in a great position to get the first seed in the AFC, giving them home-field advantage all the way through to the Super Bowl.
So wins are as important as ever. Here are four reasons the Ravens will take care of business against the Jets in Week 15.
4. Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson is a star. He's been unstoppable all year long. While the quarterback is not at 100%, if he plays it's impossible to think of many scenarios where the Ravens lose.
Jackson has completed 66.3% of his passes this year for 2,677 yards. He's thrown 28 touchdown passes to only six interceptions and has another 1,017 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Seriously, those are his numbers.
So even if the passing game isn't working for Jackson, he can always kill you on the ground. Even worse, he's never really off his passing game that much.
The New York defense has been very solid this year, and they've been fantastic against the run. No one has been able to slow down Jackson this year though, so it just doesn't seem right saying they will be the team to do so.
3. Defense
Baltimore's defense has really turned it up a notch in recent weeks. They are making big plays, stopping the offense from scoring and creating turnovers.
At 314.6 total yards allowed per game, they are allowing the sixth-fewest in the NFL. They are also fifth in the NFL, allowing just 18.2 points per game.
Their 33 sacks are middle-of-the-pack in the NFL, but their 20 takeaways are tied for the sixth-best in the NFL.
Most importantly, they've been playing their best football over the last few weeks. Clearly, this is a unit that is point it all together just in time for the postseason. That makes them extremely dangerous, and a team that can definitely take advantage of a New York offense that looks lost quite often.
Yes, the Jets can get hot. But they are also turnover prone and fall into spells of complete nothing-ness. Those are two things the Ravens should be able to force out of them.
2. Sam Darnold
Speaking of turnover-prone, quarterback Sam Darnold has his issues.
In 10 games this year, Darnold has 2,424 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also has 50 rushing yards and another two touchdowns.
However, the quarterback has 11 interceptions and six fumbles to go with them.
Darnold can absolutely get hot. And he's shown in recent weeks that he is taking a step forward and could definitely be that star quarterback that the Jets were hoping for when they drafted him in 2018.
The turnovers still need to be in the back of everyone's minds though.
Against elite defenses, Darnold has had serious issues. He's looked better lately, but that's against the Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins and New York Giants.
None of those teams are instilling much fear in opposing quarterbacks.
Baltimore is the best defense Darnold has gone up against in quite some time. Could they bring out that turnover happy version of the quarterback again? It's not crazy to think it could happen.
If it doesn't, the Ravens should have absolutely no problem dismantling the Jets and walking out of Week 15 with a 12-2 record, another step closer to that home-field advantage.
1. Balance
To put it simply, this Baltimore team is balanced. The defense is great, and the offense is unstoppable.
On offense, they have a stud quarterback. Jackson has helped legitimize the passing game. They have some nice weapons too, Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown have specifically been great.
Meanwhile, the running game is ridiculous. Mark Ingram is a great running back and proving once again this year that he's extremely underrated.
Jackson is also dangerous in the running game, and that's the understatement of the century. He already has over 1,000 rushing yards. A quarterback. Over 1,000 rushing yards in 13 games, and he also has nearly 3,000 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes.
Jackson's unstoppable and makes it impossible to zero in on anything. Oh, you want to focus on the pass? Jackson and Ingram will light you up on the ground? So now you'll focus on that? Andrews and company will get open and torch you through the air.
Good luck figuring out the offense. That balance makes it impossible to shift your focus on anything in particular. And the Jets will have some major headaches trying to figure everything out in Week 15.
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