Week 1 Preview: New York Jets vs Baltimore Ravens

Two generations of Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks meet in Week 1 of the NFL regular season. The New York Jets will host the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday, and the Jets will start Joe Flacco against his former team. It won't be easy for Flacco. He'll have to see his former successor and replacement Lamar Jackson enter the building as a 7-point favorite.

Jackson has led the Ravens to tremendous success since taking over starting duties from Flacco, winning 37 of his 49 starts and an MVP award following the 2019 season. But he has yet to achieve the postseason glory that Flacco brought the Ravens, winning only once in his four appearances while tallying 5 interceptions and 19 sacks. Flacco, despite his relatively modest regular season play, was an impressive 10-5 in the playoffs under the Ravens.

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That's won't help Flacco Sunday. The Jets will field an offensive line riddled with injuries and a receiving corps lacking in star power. The team stumbled to a 28th overall ranking in points scored last year, and was even worse on the defensive side of the ball, finishing 32nd in both yards allowed and points allowed. Should the Jets have any chance of competing this week, they'll need Flacco to drastically outperform last year's starting quarterback Zach Wilson, who is missing time early this season due to a knee injury.

Jackson won't have a chance to silence critics of his postseason play this week, but he'll have every opportunity to crush whatever lingering nostalgia Ravens may have for their previous quarterback. Following last year's injury-riddled campaign, the now-healthy Ravens will look to reassert the offensive attack that had led the league in rushing in 2019 and 2020. Jackson is the center of that dominance, personally accounting for 2211 yards on 6.6 yards per rushing attempt in those two years. He'll likely feast on a Jets defense that allowed the 3rd most rushing yards in the league in 2021.

The Baltimore Ravens will meet the New York Jets this Sunday in Week 1 of the NFL regular season.