Baltimore Ravens vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: prediction, preview, pick to win

Baltimore Ravens (2-0) at Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2)

KICKOFF: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET at EverBank Field. TV: CBS, Tom McCarthy, Adam Archuleta, Chris Fischer.

SERIES HISTORY: 20th meeting, all in the regular season. Jaguars lead the series 11-8. Jacksonville won last year 22-20 when LB Elvis Dumervil was called for a facemask penalty as time expired. That gave the Jaguars an untimed down on which Jason Myers kicked a 51-yard field goal for the win. Jaguars have won six of the eight meetings on its field, though four of the wins were by five points or less. The teams met twice in each of the first six years that the Jaguars joined the NFL when they were in the same division, but have met just seven times in the last 14 years.

GAMEDATE: 9/25/16

KEYS TO THE GAME: After facing two of the NFL's elite quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers) and with Andrew Luck on the docket next week, the Jaguars get a little relief this week in going against Joe Flacco. Rivers threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns against what was deemed to be an improved Jaguars secondary.

Flacco has numerous weapons on offense and he has thrown to seven or more receivers for the past two games. Mike Wallace has already caught three touchdown passes and he will be a challenge for Jacksonville's secondary. However, the Ravens will look to set the tone on the road with an effective running attack, which has struggled so far, and take an occasional shot downfield.

Offensively, the Jaguars should get Chris Ivory back this week and that will greatly enhance a running game that has been among the league's worst the first two weeks.

Over their two victories to start the season, the Ravens have managed to limit big plays by their opponents. They will look to keep that going against Blake Bortles, who has thrown for 649 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

--Ravens RB Justin Forsett vs. Jaguars linebackers. Forsett was with the Jaguars in 2013 but saw little action (6 carries, 31 yards) that season due to several injuries. He was let go by the team and signed with the Ravens where he's been the starter the last two seasons. Surprisingly he was cut by the Ravens in their final roster cuts, only to be resigned by the team two days later. He's now reclaimed the starting position and will look to improve on his 53 rushing yards last year against his former team. Jaguars MLB Paul Posluszny ranks among the league's best in stopping the run and gets good support from outside 'backer Telvin Smith. They'll have the most responsibility in shutting down Forsett.

--Ravens LB Elvis Dumervil vs. Jaguars RBs Chris Ivory and T.J. Yeldon. This normally wouldn't be that significant of a matchup except for a couple of extenuating circumstances. The Jaguars' running game has been among the league's worst, ranking 30th in the NFL after the first two weeks. That can partially be attributed to the absence of Ivory, who first dealt with a calf injury and then missed last week's game in San Diego due to an undisclosed medical issue that neither he nor the team have discussed publicly. Ivory should return to action this week and he'll be looking to make up for the two missed games. Dumervil will be playing with a chip on his shoulder after last year's blunder of grabbing a Jaguars facemask on the final play. The Jaguars got an untimed down and kicked a winning field goal from 51 yards.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: TE Dennis Pitta is fully recovered from a pair of hip injuries that almost ended his career. Over the first two games, Pitta has caught 12 passes for 141 yards and is a favorite target of quarterback Joe Flacco. He will look to keep the momentum going against a stout Jaguars team that has the eighth-ranked pass defense in the NFL.

FAST FACTS: Baltimore QB Joe Flacco passed for 316 yards and three TDs in the last meeting. He threw for 302 yards last week, his 27th 300-yard game. ... Baltimore WR Steve Smith has 14,015 receiving yards -- 10th in NFL history. Smith and Tim Brown are the only two in NFL history with 900 catches and touchdowns via run, catch, punt return and kick return. ... QB Blake Bortles passed for two TDs in last year's win vs. Baltimore. He has 43 completions of at least 25 yards since 2015, the most in the NFL.

PREDICTION: The team that gets its running game in gear figures to get the win. With Chris Ivory back and the Jaguars in a 0-2 hole at home, they probably will run a little harder.

OUR PICK: Jaguars, 24-20.

--Chris Cluff