Don't let the records fool you; a lot is on the line tonight when the 2-5 Baltimore Ravens head to South Beach, Florida to take on the 2-6 Miami Dolphins in a fascinating Thursday Night Football game. The Ravens are battling to remain relevant in the playoff hunt while Miami's Mike McDaniel is fighting for his coaching life.
The good news for everybody tuning in tonight is that it sounds like two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson will be returning to the lineup after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury.
"Yeah. I feel very confident about it," said Baltimore coach John Harbaugh while speaking to reporters on Tuesday about Lamar Jackson's availability. "We expect him to be out there Thursday night."
Unsurprisingly, Lamar Jackson is "extremely excited" to return to the field after a four-week absence. He said that it was difficult to miss so much time.
"It was very challenging, man," Jackson told members of the media on October 28th. "When I found out I had a (hamstring) injury, and when I was told by the training staff how long I was going to be out and stuff like that, I was like, 'We've got to do whatever we can [as] fast as we could to get back out there.' And it's here. Took a little time, but we're here."
It will certainly be a bittersweet moment for Lamar Jackson, who was born and raised in Florida. But he said that he's not going to let his Florida roots distract him from the task at hand.
"It's not about Miami, me going down there to Florida and playing," Jackson explained. "It's about any Sunday, any Thursday, anytime, any Monday, it really don't matter. I just want to play football and have fun, and get a win. That's all I'm focused on."
At the same time, the Miami Dolphins are coming off their best win of the season after they dominated the Atlanta Falcons, 34-10. Unfortunately, the 'Phins knew they didn't have much time to celebrate the victory with their next game coming just four days later.
"Even more so now, this week, we've got to be on the details," explained Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. "There's an emphasis more - when it's walkthrough tempo - of communication with everyone. Knowing the alignments. Knowing reasons as to why we want this play the way we want it... Just getting in the flow again and continuing to get guys in and out of the huddle so we can operate."
The Dolphins will have to emphasize stopping the run if they want to pull off the win over Baltimore. That'll be tough to do against running back Derrick Henry, who has two ground TDs and 193 rushing yards in the Ravens' last two games.
"You, collectively, have to really commit to stop (the run), and that's in groups," said head coach Mike McDaniel. "You convert third downs, you have time of possession, you're running the ball well, those things contribute as well. It takes a team to minimize that guy. You don't stop him, and that's what we'll take on Thursday."
All the Dolphins can do is take things one game at a time and focus on the opponent that is in front of them.
"I feel that our team will be whatever it allows itself to be, and that is 100% based on the opponent that we're playing," McDaniel told ESPN. "If we start thinking about the big picture, you start losing control of what that big picture is. You have to put one foot in front of the other... That has to be a one-week mindset, and that's how we got the outcome of that last game."
Prediction for Baltimore Ravens (-7.5) @ Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins won last week because they were able to fully commit to stopping the run. That will not be the case tonight with Lamar Jackson back in the mix because he can hurt you on the ground and through the air. A heavy dose of passing early by the Ravens will allow them to control the clock on the ground later. They should be able to run the ball effectively against the league's 28th-ranked rushing defense.
Prediction: Ravens 27 - 22 Dolphins
How to watch Baltimore Ravens (-7.5) @ Miami Dolphins
Ravens @ Dolphins starts at 8:15 p.m. EDT at Highmark Stadium. You can watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
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