All the Baltimore Ravens have to do, in their week 3 NFL wagering date with the Jacksonville Jaguars, to guarantee victory, is what the Titans did on Sunday. As ESPN Staff Writer Michael DiRocco put it, “stack the box to stop Leonard Fournette and Chris Ivory and force [Blake] Bortles to beat them by making him throw.” It may sound like a contradiction that a quarterback’s weakness is his passing, when by definition, it should be his forté, but, in the case of Blake Bortles, it’s not even his Will Forté. Eh, at least Jags fans will always have their mayonnaise belly flop contests.
MAYONNAISE BELLY FLOP CONTEST AT THE JAGS TAILGATE pic.twitter.com/ACb57Nrbuq
— med ? (@medBCB) September 17, 2017
- Date: Sunday, 24th September
- Time: 9:35 AM
- Venue: Wembley Stadium – London, England
Sportsbook Online NFL Betting Odds:
Ravens -4 (-105) 40½ (-110)
Jaguars +4 (-115) 40½ (-110)
If you keep picking it it’ll never heal
Bortles threw to picks to one TD against the Titans, and finished 20 of 34 passes for 223 yards, which is, of course, par for the course for him. Once again, the Jags’ highpoint was rookie running back Leonard Fournette, who, his 40 yards in 14 attempts and one TD aside, displayed the intangibles that will make him a star. But with running game in shackles and no passing game to speak of (Jaguars.com Senior writer John Oehser says that the Jags miss Allen Robinson, but even if the receiver were healthy and out on the field, we think Bortles would miss him even more, if you know what we mean and we think you do) Jacksonville was easy pickings for the Titans. once the Jags give up the lead they struggle coming from behind or even staying close, which doesn’t bode well for them staying within the four-point NFL wagering spread, which they have failed to cover in five of their last six games at home, though they are, on the other hand, 4-1 ATS in their last five games, and 5-1 ATS in their last six games when playing the Ravens.
The Ravens defense gives QBs migraines
Oehser also wrote that the Jags “can’t commit turnovers and win.” as it turns out, the Ravens have posted five TOs in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. They intercepted rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer thrice and Kevin Hogan once while Kizer was on the sideline with a migraine. And they’re not done yet. “We still have not played our best football,” outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, who, for the second game in a row, recorded a sack/strip, said. “We can be better. We did some things that we don’t do. We are mad at ourselves. A win is a win, but we expect more out of ourselves.”
Given the Ravens’ flair for defense and the Jags’ crippled offense, one would be tempted to put one’s money on the NFL wagering total going under, as it has done in the last five meetings between these two teams as well as in six of their last seven encounters with the Jaguars as hosts, although they will only be nominally so this Sunday.