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The Baltimore Ravens easily took care of business against the New York Jets. Lamar Jackson threw 5 touchdowns, and the Ravens won 42-21. As a result, they remained atop every power ranking this week.
ESPN gave a quick preview of the team's upcoming offseason, which will include Marcus Peters and Matthew Judon hitting the open market.
After the Ravens devoted much of their resources to the offense over the past couple of offseasons, it’s time to help the onetime top-ranked defense. The priority has to be addressing the pass rush, which means bringing in an edge rusher as well as possibly re-signing Matthew Judon. Baltimore also has to figure out the plan at cornerback, where Marcus Peters and Jimmy Smith are scheduled to become free agents. With Lamar Jackson and his supporting cast intact, the Ravens can focus on a defense that lost C.J. Mosley, Terrell Suggs, Eric Weddle and Za’Darius Smith this past offseason. -- Jamison Hensley
Yahoo took time to commend Mark Andrews.
If it wasn’t for Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews would have a good argument as the AFC’s best tight end. He has 58 catches, 759 yards and eight touchdowns. His 13.1-yard average is very good for a tight end. He and Lamar Jackson will be a potent combination for a long time.
CBS Sports shouted out Baltimore's improving defense.
They have their eye on the top seed in the playoffs and the defense is improving and should get them there.
All 7 of Sports Illustrated's voters placed the Ravens 1st overall.
Easy-peasy win for the Ravens after four weeks of beating teams with winning records. Lamar was surgical once again (15-of-23, 212 yards, 5 TDs, 134.4 rating), doling out touchdowns to five different receivers while the defense turned the Jets over twice.
NFL.com called the Ravens the “clear Super Bowl favorite”.
More dominance by the Ravens. The victims this time were the Jets, a flawed and injury-depleted team that had no shot at containing Lamar Jackson, who probably locked up the MVP award with a five-touchdown night. Jackson added 86 more yards on the ground, breaking the NFL single-season rushing record for a quarterback in the process. Before you judge Jets players for going full fanboy on Jackson after the game, keep in mind the guy handing out autographed jerseys is on pace to throw 38 touchdowns and rush for 1,200 yards. It’s been as historic an individual season as we’ve seen this century, so let’s excuse his vanquished opponents for soaking in the moment. Jackson’s dominance makes it easy to miss how great the Ravens have been as a whole during their 10-game winning streak. That includes the defense, which has allowed just 14.6 points per game since Week 7. This is the clear Super Bowl favorite.
After a 10-17 loss to the Bills, the Steelers had an average ranking of 13th. The Browns slid down after losing to the 4-9-1 Cardinals. NFL.com and Yahoo had them as high as 19th, while CBS Sports placed them back at 24th. The Bengals were the unanimous 32nd team.
The Ravens will seek their 11th straight win against the Browns on Sunday.