Ravens vs. Jaguars: Loss Shows Why Baltimore Ravens Will Not Win Super Bowl

Teams that win their division, conference and Super Bowl go into games against teams that are well under-matched against them and come out with a victory. However, the Baltimore Ravens went against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road and could not muster any offense against a mediocre defense.  

The loss moves the Ravens into a tie with the two-loss Cincinnati Bengals and a half game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

So, is this a case of a team that is playing up or down to their level of talent?  

Or is it a typical Ravens team that has a great defense led by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and a horrible offense.  

The offense, led by quarterback Joe Flacco, has led this Ravens team to its two losses on the season. For the season, the Ravens defense ranks in the top five of both passing and rushing yards per game. The offense though, ranks 19th in rushing yards and, in a surprising twist, ranks higher in passing offense at 17th. 

Against the Jaguars, the Ravens defense was able to hold the Jacksonville offense to just 205 yards of total offense. The Jacksonville passing attack only mustered up 73 yards, going 9-for-20.  

What was not surprising in last night’s game was that the Jaguars won this game because of the running game led by Maurice Jones-Drew who had 105 yards on 30 carries.  

So how does a team, after their victory against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, expect to hold onto the division lead and make a serious run at the Super Bowl?

They will not hold onto that division lead for very long when they only run the ball eight times against a Jacksonville team that, before this game, gave up 185 yards rushing to the Steelers.  

A Jacksonville team that gave Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall his only 100-yard rushing game, allowing a game of 146 yards on 23 carries.  

This Ravens team got away from what made them a great team and put the game into their mediocre quarterback in Joe Flacco.  

The Ravens have one glaring weakness that was shown against the Jaguars. If you shut down this team’s ability to run the ball, thus putting the game in the hands of Joe Flacco, you take away their best chance of winning.  

It will be the thing that keeps this team from not winning the AFC North Division and not making it deep in the playoffs. 

Thanks for the read, follow me on Twitter: @tjmcaloon