The New England Patriots were able to pull of a victory against the New York Jets in Week 9, allowing them if all for a brief moment to restore some decency in Massachusetts. Even so, their work won't stop there given the difficult opponent they have ahead of them in Week 10. The Baltimore Ravens are coming off a smooth 24-10 win against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9, and will be looking to make short work of a Patriots club still trying to find their footing more than halfway through the season.
There's plenty that could go wrong for both squads, seeing as how they've had some struggles recently in their offensive adjustments, which could work out well for the Patriots. Cam Newton was able to find some vintage in his game against the Jets, which hopefully can be carried over into his next performance. Even so, it came against the Jets, which could suggest that those same efforts could prove futile against a steamrolling defense from the Ravens.
With that, here are four daring predictions that could take place when the Patriots face off against the Ravens in Week 10.
1. Newton goes for four rushing TDs
With all that's gone wrong for Newton this season, his rushing skills haven't failed him. Even on some of his poorest performances, Newton has been able to capitalize in the running game, which helped keep the Patriots' hopes alive more times than not. His last performance is a prime example of that.
While he was able to throw for 274 yards, none of it resulted in touchdown passes, which has been the disappointing tale of his season so far. Where he was able to make up for that however was in getting loose in the backfield.He finished the game totaling two rushing touchdowns off 16 yards, which helped push the Patriots to being able to have a fighting chance against the Jets down the line.
The most touchdowns he's scored off rushes in any contest this season has been two. Against the Ravens, he'll go for four touchdowns off rushes, seeing as how his passing game will likely be limited once more.
2. Patriots' defense limits Jackson
After his first game this season, Jackson has failed to throw more than two touchdowns in any contest. In fact, whenever he's thrown at least two touchdown passes, it comes with at least one interception in each scenario. That case won't change against the Patriots. Jackson was also adamant that his past few opponents have been calling out their plays, which could suggest that the offense has become complacent and needs to revisit the drawing boards.
The Patriots rank first in the league in passing attempts allowed, while ranking ninth in yards gained from passing. If Jackson is planning to make any traction happen early on, it'll have to be from the running game. The Patriots have been more than lenient to be modest to opposing halfbacks, which is basically what Jackson could be classified as at this point.
When the final whistle is blown, Jackson will have completed only 50 percent of his passes for 175 yards, resulting in no touchdowns.
3. Meyers steps up downfield
The Patriots are in dangerous need for some much-needed production from their wideouts with a severely depleted depth chart at the moment. Jakobi Meyers may very well end up being one of the few options they have available on Sunday. He's third on the team behind Damiere Byrd and Julian Edelman in receiving yards, and the Patriots are dealing with quite a few absences on Sunday, especially with Edelman out of the fold as he recovers from knee surgery.
Meyers has had a few breakout performances lately, one being against the Jets. He caught 12 of his 14 targets for 169 yards, averaging 14.08 yards per reception. The 24-year-old wideout has credited much of his success so far to fellow wideout Edelman and Newton, who've helped make things a lot easier on him. He's caught at least 60 percent of his targets in the past three games, while only recording one catch prior to that in Week 2. While he'll be going up against a No. 1 defense, they've struggled in limiting passing attempts this season, which could open up the lane for Meyers.
In such a case, Meyers will go for 175 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
4. Repeat ending for Patriots
The Patriots weren't supposed to let their Week 9 bout against the Jets ensue the way it did, but they were to still able to pull off a last-minute field goal to seal their victory against the winless Jets. That same scenario may very well present itself on Sunday.
The Ravens will still put up a fight in limiting the Patriots' advances downfield with Newton still trying to shake off some rust that's hindered him in prior weeks, and that'll likely spell trouble early on, but if their defense is able to step up, they could definitely put up quite a fight going late into the fourth quarter.
If that's the case, the Patriots could be leaning on Nick Folk to put an ending to the game if they plan to continue winning past the Ravens.
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