The Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 15 matchup, and Gardner Minshew II is back as the starter. Minshew was injured and then benched, but after Mike Glennon struggled he was inserted last week in the 2nd half. The Ravens are coming off a 47-42 victory over the Browns on Monday Night Football, and are in the thick of the Wildcard Race. The Jaguars will try to play spoiler, but the Ravens are starting to hit their stride.
Minshew is Back
With Minshew back as the starter, he will look to go back to early season form. This year Minshew has 2,033 yards 15 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. In the last few weeks before injury, he was struggling with accuracy and getting the ball to star WR DJ Chark Jr. The Jaguars selected him in the 6th round of the 2019 NFL draft, and he became the starting QB after Nick Foles was injured in Week one. Minshew showed a lot of promise and continued it into 2020 before falling off. Now he’s going to get another chance to prove his value to the Jaguars against a tough Ravens Defense.
How Much More can James Robinson do?
James Robinson has been incredible for the Jaguars this year, already over 1000 yards and 3rd in the league in rushing. He’s been one of the few bright spots on the 1-12 Jaguars team. Robinson seems to always make an impact, but this week he’ll be going up against the fearsome Ravens defense. He will need to help Minshew out on the ground and likely will help set up the Play Action. Robinson will probably get close to 20 carries, and around 90 yards rushing.
Former Jags
Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue both now with Baltimore face off against their former team, the Jaguars. Ngakoue was traded to the Vikings after forcing his way out of Jacksonville, and was traded to the Ravens around the trade deadline. Campbell was traded over the offseason by the now rebuilding Jaguars. Both were part of the incredible 2017-18 Jaguars defense nicknamed “Sacksonville” that helped lead them to the AFC Championship. Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew II said in an interview that “Yannick’s going to be out for blood.” He also said he wouldn’t be talking trash to Campbell because he’s “too nice a guy.”
Ravens Rushing Attack
The Ravens have one of the most deadly rushing attacks in the league. Led by Lamar Jackson, they can shred apart defenses on the ground. They have 4 running backs that all get snaps, JK Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Mark Ingram II, and Justice Hill. Dobbins and Edwards have gotten the bulk of the RB carries over the last few games. Against the Browns last week, Jackson rushed for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns looking brilliant. Dobbins added 53 yards and a score, and Edwards 49 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ingram has fallen out of favor and the 2 younger guys will carry the load from here on out. In addition, Jackson has looked good passing the ball and it will be hard for a bad Jaguars defense to stop Jackson and the Ravens.