Rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the Jacksonville Jaguars host the 4-1 Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football tonight in a game that has the potential to get ugly for the 1-5 Jags. And it may come down to how well Gabbert can step up in the game.
The Jaguars bring the NFL’s lowest ranked passing attack into the game, averaging only 137 passing yards per game. They have been much more effective running the ball behind Maurice Jones Drew, who has 572 yards rushing on the season and is averaging 4.8 yards per carry. And Jones Drew doesn’t care if it’s Monday Night Football, he’s just focused on breaking their five game losing streak.
“It’s going to be a big stage, but we can’t see it as that,” Jones-Drew said. “We have to continue to get better ourselves. I’d take a Wednesday day game to jumpstart something.”
But Jones Drew faces a Ravens defense that is 3rd in the league at stopping the run, so if LB Ray Lewis and the Ravens tenacious D can slow down Jones Drew, Gabbert is going to have to step up to keep the Jags in this game.
Gabbert has shown promise, and has done a good job of protecting the ball with only 2 INTs in four starts and throwing 1 TD in each game. But if the Jags are going to stay in this game, he’s going to have to do more than just not lose the game for them. He’s going to have to make plays.
The Ravens are perhaps the top team in the AFC, and have put up some memorable games already this season. They crushed the Jets 34-17, scoring 3 defensive TDs along the way. They embarrassed the Steelers 35-7 back in Week One. And they are going to look to keep Gabbert off balance all night.
“We’re built in such a way that it’s hard to recognize what we are doing,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “I also think we have players who understand the system. So, guys like Ed Reed, he’s a master of disguise. It helps.”
Ray Lewis said, “Our package is disguising the swarm and then giving them something once the ball is snapped.”
Linebacker Jarret Johnson commented on playing against Gabbert, a rookie QB with first round talent, “If you let him build his confidence, if he knows where he’s going with the football, he can make you look bad in a hurry. You want to keep them as rookies and don’t want to let them go back to the talent and the confidence they have.”
Ultimately, the Ravens look to cruise through this game, as they appear to be too good on both sides of the football for the Jags to handle. But the game will be a good test for Gabbert to see how he handles the pressure and shifting fronts that the Ravens defense throws at him.
Facing the Steelers and Ravens back-to-back is a tough learning experience for Gabbert, but the schedule gets easier after this game. It would have to.
