Sunday’s Packers-Ravens game in Baltimore features two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in differing states of pain.
One of them, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, is almost certain to play in the game despite an injured pinky toe, and the other, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, has been a question mark all week with a sprained right ankle suffered last Sunday.
The Packers (10-3 and the top seed in the NFC) can clinch the NFC North title with a win.
Somehow, the Ravens (8-5) are still in first place in the rough-and-tumble AFC North. At this time of year, teams on two-game losing streaks are not usually leading their division — particularly when the two losses came against division opponents.
But the Ravens, losers 24-22 last week at Cleveland and 20-19 at Pittsburgh in Week 13, enter the game with a one-game lead over the Bengals and Browns and a 1 ½-game lead over the Steelers.
That division lead is even more tenuous with Jackson being knocked out of last week’s game with the sprained ankle.
“We’ll see where it goes this week,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh told reporters Monday when asked about Jackson’s availability for the Packers game. Jackson didn’t practice in full all week.
“I think it could go down to the wire,” offensive coordinator Greg Roman told reporters Thursday.
If Jackson is unable to play, it will continue a theme to this season for the Ravens, who have spent months overcoming injury after injury — having placed 23 players on injured reserve. The Ravens have lost top two running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley, Pro Bowl cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, starting safety DeShon Elliott and starting defensive end Derek Wolfe for the season.
Jackson has already missed one game this season, replaced by Tyler Huntley, who helped Baltimore beat the Bears in Week 11.
As much as the Ravens have been survivors this season, they are not without some significant flaws — such as pass protection, having allowed an NFL-high 47 sacks. They’ve committed 37 penalties in the past four games. And they’ve been hurt by turnovers — 14 interceptions and 16 fumbles.
Jackson threw 26 touchdowns and just nine interceptions last season, and he threw a league-high 36 TDs and just six INTs in 2019. He has 16 TDs and 13 INTs this year.
If he is unable to play or gets knocked out again, the Ravens have confidence in Huntley, who performed well in the loss to Cleveland — completing 27 of 38 for 270 yards and a TD and rushing for another 45 yards after Jackson was injured. He helped engineer a rally from a 24-3 deficit to nearly steal the game. In his one start, Huntley led a fourth-quarter, game-winning drive in Chicago.
“I think right now, we’re just used to the next guy stepping in,” Ravens safety Chuck Clark told reporters. “Whoever is out there, we expect the standard out of everybody that’s on this team.”
That “standard’’ at quarterback was upheld if you listen to Browns defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who told reporters after last week’s game that Huntley is “a little quicker” than Jackson, adding, “He made the whole defense miss. He juked us all. I said on the sideline that I think we need Lamar back out here.”
Be careful what you wish for.
The Ravens have won 13 consecutive games against NFC teams, including all three games against the NFC North this season.
Despite his toe issues, Rodgers has thrown 10 TD passes and no INTs in his past three games and leads the NFL in passer rating. He’s barely practiced because of the toe.
“Because of the situation with my toe, obviously I’ve had to come up with a different routine that’s worked for me to get me in the right headspace to play well on game day,” Rodgers told reporters this week.
The Ravens, while not as prolific on offense this season, have been kept in games with their defense, which has held opposing offenses to fewer than 20 points in the past five games.
Baltimore likely will win the division with wins in two of its final four games — which come against the Packers, Bengals, Rams and Steelers.
“Each one of those four games represents an opportunity for us to get where we want to go,” Harbaugh said. “I’m excited for that opportunity. We have tough, high-character people. It’s the NFL, we’re in a fight. We’re in a fight to get what we want, and we’ll be fighting.’’