Jaguars vs. Ravens: Previewing Baltimore's Week 10 Matchup

After a much-needed bye week, the Baltimore Ravens will be back in action this week as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Though both teams are 2-6, the franchises are miles apart in terms of what they've accomplished recently. Since the 2008 season, the Jaguars have no winning seasons or playoff berths.

Baltimore, on the other hand, has six playoff trips and a Super Bowl championship. It also has no losing seasons over that span, but that streak is in jeopardy after going 2-6 over the first half of this season. 

Amazingly, the Ravens are just 3.5 games out of one of the final two playoff spots, according to ESPN's playoff standings. While that's still a big margin, it's certainly not an insurmountable one.

But the Ravens must win this week if they're going to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. This is part of a stretch of favorable matchups for the Ravens that could very well get them back to a .500 record.

After facing Jacksonville, Baltimore faces 4-4 St. Louis, 2-7 Cleveland, 3-5 Miami, 4-4 Seattle and 3-5 Kansas City. As much as the Ravens have struggled, most—if not all—of those games are going to be winnable for Baltimore.

For now, though, the focus is on Jacksonville. Here is our full preview of the game for Baltimore.

Game Time: 1 p.m. ET

Location: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore

Date: Sunday, Nov. 15

TV: CBS

News and Notes

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Ravens Are Placing Dennis Pitta on I.R.

The Ravens have struggled mightily at times on offense without enough capable pass-catchers on the roster. Tight end Dennis Pitta was potentially someone who could have helped that, but sadly, his season and potentially career are over.

According to Ryan Mink of BaltimoreRavens.com, Baltimore will not activate Pitta from the PUP list and will instead place him on season-ending injured reserve. Pitta was initially placed on PUP in training camp because of a major hip injury suffered during the 2014 season.

That was Pitta's second major hip injury in just over a year, and the threat of chronic hip problems has now put his NFL career in jeopardy. Pitta was once a rising star in the NFL after his breakout 2012 season helped propel Baltimore to a Super Bowl title.

That year, Pitta caught 61 passes for 669 yards (11.0 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns. Since then, he has missed 25 combined games during the 2013 and 2014 seasons because of major hip injuries.

He'll now miss all 16 games this season and may end up calling it a career, though he still wants to keep playing. As of now, it looks like that will be a long shot.

Whatever happens, hopefully Pitta goes on to live a happy and productive post-football life. 

Terrance West Signed to Practice Squad

The Ravens made a nice addition to their practice squad this week in the form of running back Terrance West, according to Garrett Downing of BaltimoreRavens.com. West was previously drafted in the third round out of Towson by the Cleveland Browns and showed a lot of promise his first year in the league.

He led the Browns with 673 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns in his rookie season. However, the Browns gave up on him after one year and shipped him to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a conditional seventh-round draft pick. 

In two games with the Titans this season, West ran for just 51 yards on 16 carries before being cut last week. He's now a member of Baltimore's practice squad, where he can hopefully develop and become a capable NFL back. 

John Harbaugh Plans on Ravens Making Playoffs

A 2-6 record would keep many coaches and players from even whispering the word "playoffs." However, John Harbaugh has made the postseason in six of his first seven years as Ravens head coach, and he doesn't plan on missing them this season.

As Harbaugh told ESPN's Jamison Hensley, the Ravens are still working and playing as though they'll be in the playoffs when the regular season is over.

“Of course we can. We’re planning on it," Harbaugh said. "We’re very optimistic about what’s in front of us, our future. [We] love our players, love the way they work, love the enthusiasm that they had today coming back and getting ready for Jacksonville. We’ll take it one day at a time, one game at a time.”

Cornerback Jimmy Smith is also not letting Baltimore's 2-6 start cloud his thinking that his team will be in the postseason. 

"That's why it's going to feel so much greater when we finally make it, coming back from this record and the first eight games of this season," Smith said. "Let's make some history."

It's great to hear the Ravens believe they'll be in the playoffs. Now, let's see it play out on the field this Sunday against a Jaguars team they should beat to get to 3-6 before we really start thinking this is possible. 

Injury Report

Nick Wass/Associated Press

NAME	POSITION	INJURY		GAME STATUS
Gillmore, Crockett	TE	Shoulder	LP	-
Monroe, Eugene	T	Shoulder	FP	-
Perriman, Breshad	WR	Knee	DNP	-
Walker, Tray	CB	Concussion	FP	-
Zuttah, Jeremy	G/C	Shoulder	DNP

The Ravens are still hurting on the offensive line, but it looks like left tackle Eugene Monroe will return this week. 

Monroe suffered a shoulder injury in the Week 7 loss at Arizona and missed the following week's win over San Diego. Baltimore then got a bye week in Week 9, and it looks like that was enough time for Monroe to heal up.

He was able to fully practice Wednesday, but that wasn't the case with Jeremy Zuttah. He suffered a shoulder injury in Week 8 against San Diego and could not finish the game. If he can't play this week, it looks like John Urschel will start after he replaced Zuttah against San Diego. 

Rookie wide receiver Breshad Perriman is still missing practice because of his knee injury. Until he can get at least a full week of practice in, don't expect Perriman to play in games.

Injury report courtesy of BaltimoreRavens.com. 

Matchups and X-Factor to Watch

John Grieshop/Getty Images

Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb vs. Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns

The Ravens pass defense will get a good test this week going against an emerging Jaguars pass attack. 

Jacksonville features one of the better wide receiver combos in the NFL. That comes in a pair of second-year players in Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson, both of whom are on pace for 1,000-yard seasons.

Hurns has caught 36 passes for 635 yards (17.6 yards per catch) and six touchdowns. Robinson has 40 catches for 707 yards (17.7 avg) and six more scores.

Hurns and Robinson have also combined for 29 catches of 29-plus yards this season. Those two can do damage at all levels of the field and burn Baltimore's corners if they aren't on their A-game. 

This will be a tough matchup for corners Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb, who have been erratic to say the least this season. If they can win this battle, it will go a long way in stopping Jacksonville's offense, which doesn't do much outside of Hurns and Robinson. 

Elvis Dumervil vs. Luke Joeckel

The Ravens defense will get a favorable matchup with its best pass-rusher going against one of the Jaguars' worst linemen.

Left tackle Luke Joeckel has yet to live up to his billing as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft. According to Pro Football Focus, Joeckel has the second-worst pass-blocking grade of any Jaguars player. 

While he's allowed just one sack this year, Joeckel has given up six QB hits and 17 QB hurries. Those hits and hurries will disrupt the offense and keep quarterback Blake Bortles from finding his rhythm. 

That's been the case with Elvis Dumervil this season. He has just three sacks but does have a team-high eight QB hits and 22 QB hurries. 

Dumervil is also PFF's third-highest-ranked Ravens player, and a big reason why are all those disruptions he makes. He may not get a bunch of sacks in this game, but all of those times he's pressuring Bortles and keeping him off his game can be just as impactful.

X-Factor: Kamar Aiken

This will be the first post-Steve Smith game after the veteran receiver suffered a torn Achilles in the team's Week 7 win over the Chargers.

With Smith now gone, so too are his 46 catches for 670 yards, both being team highs by a wide margin. The next highest is Kamar Aiken with 25 grabs for 333 yards. 

It's now up to Aiken to assume the No. 1 receiver role in this offense and help offset the loss of Smith. How well Aiken is able to do that will go a long way in this passing game being effective or struggling mightily and hindering this team.

Prediction

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Baltimore finally got some momentum going thanks to its Week 8 win over San Diego. 

Then came the bye week and a chance for the Ravens to get rested up and recharge their batteries for a second-half run this season. That starts this week against a Jaguars team that is very beatable.

Making this even better for the Ravens is they'll be hosting the Jags, who have to come from warm-weather Jacksonville and play in a chilly November game in Baltimore. In fact, Jacksonville has won just five true road games since 2011, an average of one per season. 

With the Ravens having many of their key injured players back, they should play well on offense while doing just enough on defense to come out of this with a one-score win.

Final Score: Ravens 27, Jaguars 24