The Baltimore Ravens come home from the land of wings and snow with a hard-earned win against the Buffalo Bills — their ninth consecutive win. They’ll look to make it 10 this week around, against the New York Jets.
The most difficult part about this week isn’t the studying of tape but the quick turnaround of hosting a Thursday Night Football game. The Jets make the pilgrimage a little south to test themselves against the best team in the league.
Before turning on the television, here’s a few key storylines at play this week:
Bustin’ out the brooms
Never in their 23-year history have the Ravens swept two other divisions in the same season. And it’s worth noting that if they are victorious against the Jets this week, they would’ve successfully swept the AFC East and the NFC West this season.
It’s certainly not an easy task to accomplish but in a year of firsts, it doesn’t seem like much of a shock.
Lamar can break Michael Vick’s record
Jackson looked like he’d break Vick’s record last week but an offensive gameplan that actually stayed away from the run in spite of high winds helped limit things. After gaining just 40 rushing yards last week, fans are still waiting for him to surpass Vick’s single-season record of 1,039 rushing yards.
Jackson needs just 23 more rushing yards to claim the record as his own and it would be quite the surprise if he didn’t break it at some point, potentially on the first drive. Though New York has a fearsome run defense, they could be without two of their best defenders in Quinnen Williams and Jamal Adams, giving Jackson a pretty wide-open shot.
Can Jackson finally take the record? How far does he push it with two more weeks remaining after this one? That’s what fans are waiting to see.
Time to clinch
If they defeat the Jets, the Ravens automatically win the AFC North title for the second straight year. This would be the sixth time the team has won the division since divisions were reshuffled back in 2002 and only the second time in its history that it would win its division in back-to-back years.
Though a win isn’t the only way Baltimore can lock up the AFC North in Week 15, it’s certainly the easiest. But with a win and a little help from around the league, the Ravens can go as far as locking up the No. 1 seed. But it all starts on Thursday with Baltimore taking care of their own business.
Return of familiar faces
You might just want to call the Jets, the Ravens-light. This offseason, they went ham for former Baltimore players and executives in their rebuild.
New York hired former Ravens scout Joe Douglas, bringing him on as their new general manager. A trade for guard Alex Lewis and signing linebacker C.J. Mosley were the highlights of the Jets’ offseason but just a drop in the bucket in grabbing former Baltimore players. Maurice Canady, Bennett Jackson, Ty Montgomery, Bronson Kaufusi and Albert McClellan are names Ravens fans likely remember as well.
While several of those players are either injured or on the practice squad for this game, it’ll be a chance for Baltimore to remind all of them they’re missing out on something special.
