OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Meeting at midfield after Baltimore’s 47-42 win over Cleveland on Monday night, Ravens coach John Harbaugh shook hands with Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and told him, “That’s one of the greatest games in history right there.”
In a six-day turnaround, the Ravens must go from playing in the NFL’s best game of the year to playing one of the worst teams this season. On Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), Baltimore (8-5) plays host to the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars (1-12), losers of a dozen straight games.
History says Baltimore is the one NFL team you don’t have to worry about suffering an emotional letdown. The Ravens, who are currently 13-point favorites over the Jaguars, are 39-0 all time in the regular season when favored by double digits. Baltimore is the only franchise in the Super Bowl era without a regular-season loss when favored by at least 10 points.
“We can’t just be sitting back like we just won the Super Bowl, because we didn’t,” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said. “We just won a tough game in the NFL. We’ve just got to keep going, keep stacking and staying focused.”
Jackson is 7-0 against teams that are at least three games below .500, according to ESPN Stats & Information. In those games, Baltimore has been dominant, winning by a total of 115 points, an average margin of 16.4 points per game.
Harbaugh doesn’t feel his players will overlook Jacksonville, because they have little margin of error to reach the playoffs. Baltimore is tied with the Miami Dolphins for the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC, although the Dolphins have the edge right now based on a better conference record. The Ravens’ mindset is they need to win their final three games to secure a third consecutive trip to the postseason.
“These are professional players, and they understand that to make the last win matter, you have to win the next one,” Harbaugh said. “Otherwise, you just negate the last win. And that’s how it works, even with a big win like that. No matter what the circumstances are, you have to win the next one to make it advantageous for you in the win-loss column. So we do know that.”
Even though the Ravens appear to be hitting their stride, they are far from full strength. Three wide receivers (Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Miles Boykin and James Proche) are on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and four cornerbacks (Marcus Peters, Jimmy Smith, Davontae Harris and Tramon Williams) are on the injury report. All of those wide receivers should be available to play Sunday if they test negative Saturday, and many of the cornerbacks are getting healthier.
The Jaguars are limping toward the end of the season. Jacksonville hasn’t won a road game since Dec. 15, 2019.
“For us, this is a game that we see as a must-win,” Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell said. “We have to lock in and play our best football, because this team, like any other team, can beat anybody. They can go out there and put up 30 [points] and dominate any opponent. It’s the NFL. It’s hard to win in the NFL.”