***TEA & CRUMPETS IN THE SWAMP - BAL VS JAX***
***BALTIMORE RAVENS VS. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS***
NFL overseas is back baby! The 1-1 Jacksonville Jaguars will look to take their record above .500 when they defend Wembley Stadium in London, a place that has kind of become their home away from home over the past few seasons. The Jags have been a regular since their organization signed a deal that will keep them playing one home game there a year throughout the 2020 season. After an 0-4 start last year, they were able to take out the Colts for their first win of the season, bringing their London record to 2-2 over the last four seasons. They lost the first two times around and now have won back to back and I got to believe are creating a bit of a following out there while being the familiar face for NFL fans every season. This time around they will host the 2-0 Baltimore Ravens in what looks like could be a bit of a wet game with some light rain in the forecast. Both of these squads will surely rely on their defenses which have proven to be their strength thus far, despite the Jags getting knocked around in their home opener last week against the Titans. While young and full of new faces, the Jaguar defense is loaded with talent. As long as Blake Bortles remains their QB, they will have to depend on their defense to get stops and make plays by turning the ball over and setting up their offense with a short field.
This will be easier said than done against a plain but competent offense of the Baltimore Ravens. Veteran QB Joe Flacco is anything but flashy but has some reliable weapons at his disposal and a running game that seems to be finding its identity more each game. The Jags surely have the edge in this one with being the regulars in London, having a number of players that have made this trip and played in this game the past few seasons. The Ravens on the other hand will be new to the process and it will remain to be seen how this effects their play. I am and have always been pretty high on Baltimore Head Coach John Harbaugh and with the amount of veterans that the Ravens have on both sides of the ball, I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that they will probably handle it all just fine. One thing I've always admired about the Ravens is their professionalism and business like approach. They stay flying under the radar and from week to week seem to get the job done in games they are expected to. They aren't the type of team to drop games they should win. They have only faced a Bengals team in disarray week 1 and a young Browns team trying to find their way last week so it is tough to put a ton of stock into those results but their defense looks like it is back to its smash-mouth ways. I love what they are doing on that side of the ball and love the matchup against Bortles in this one. I think these guys will be up for this occasion and relish the opportunity to dominate defensively here. The Jags are down their number 1 target in WR Allen Robinson due to a season ending injury and will most likely be over-feeding the rock to their prized Rookie RB Leonard Fournette. I was just doing some light reading and in my opinion it looks like the young Rookie is backtracking a bit here on his preseason statement of how the NFL will be 'easy' for him or something along those lines by praising every aspect of the Ravens defense and its' players in the media earlier this week. Almost like he is pregame apologizing, knowing that these older vets are going to be looking to hit him in the mouth, over and over again.
I expect a full on defensive battle here as I do think the Jaguar defense will show up and make some plays as well. I don't believe Flacco will have a field day by any means but I do think he will do enough to manage the game and get one of the best FG Kickers in the game in Justin Tucker plenty of opportunities to slowly but surely put some points on the board. Especially in wet conditions if that is indeed the scenario, I could see Baltimore scoring a defensive TD with a pick-six to seal it. That all being said, I am rolling with the Black Birds here to remain undefeated as they head back to host their beloved rival the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 4. RAVENS-3
