Know Your Enemy: Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens began their season by defeating last year's AFC champion Steelers 35-7. They followed that with a loss to the Titans 26-13. Last week, they defeated the Rams by a score of 37-7.

Offensively, the Ravens rank 13th in passing yardage and 7th in rushing. Ray Rice has rushed for 231 yards and is averaging 5.6 yards per carry. His best game was Week 1 when he rushed for 107 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. He also had four catches for 42 yards and a receiving touchdown. Against the Rams, Rice ran for 81 yards on nine carries.

The team had 553 yards of total offense last week, a franchise record. Joe Flacco threw for a career high 389 yards. On the season, Flacco has thrown for 810 yards and completed 54.5 percent of his passes. His quarterback rating of 91.9 is good for 12th in the league. The team's leading receiver is Anquan Boldin with 14 catches for 194 yards. Last year, Boldin burned the Jets for seven catches and 110 yards in Baltimore's 10-9 season opening win.

The strength of the Ravens is their defense, anchored by middle linebacker Ray Lewis, and featuring defensive lineman Haloti Ngata and safety Ed Reed. This season, the Ravens are fifth in rushing defense, allowing 84 yards of rushing offense per game. That's an impressive statistic when you consider that the Ravens have faced Rashard Mendenhall, Chris Johnson and Steven Jackson, three talented runningbacks.

Know Your Enemy: Oakland Raiders

A 4^th and 1 touchdown pass by Ryan Fitzpatrick in the fourth quarter of last week’s game against Buffalo is all that stands between the Raiders and a 2-0 start.

Oakland led 21-3 at halftime. The Bills would then score a touchdown on all of their second half possessions.  The Raiders surrendered 481 yards of total offense as well as 34 first downs. Buffalo’s Fred Jackson rushed for 117 yards against the Raiders, a week after holding Denver to only 38 yards of rushing offense en route to a 23-20 win.

Hue Jackson is in his first season as head coach. He joined the Raiders coaching staff in 2010 as offensive coordinator after serving in Baltimore as quarterbacks coach. The Raiders finished 10^th in the league in total offense and 2^nd in rushing offense. Darren McFadden rushed for 1,157 yards and an impressive 5.2 yards per carry. Tight End Zach Miller was the leading receiver with 60 receptions for 685 yards.

The defense finished 11^th in total yards allowed and 2^nd in passing defense. A big part of that was cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha who left Oakland to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Raiders defensive line is led by Richard Seymour and Tommy Kelly.

The Jets last faced the Raiders in 2009. The Jets won that game 38-0. What’s most remembered about that day was the sight of Mark Sanchez eating a hot dog on the sideline.

In Injury News, Raiders tight end Kevin Boss will be making his season debut. He had missed the previous two games because of injury to his left knee.

Know Your Enemy: Jacksonville Jaguars

2010 was the season that slipped away for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Heading into Week 15, the Jaguars were 8-5, winners of five of their last six, and in position to win a division title for the first time since 1999. The Jaguars needed to defeat the Indianapolis Colts to clinch their division. A win would have given them a season sweep of the Colts, a team they had defeated only five times in 17 previous matchups.

Indianapolis would win 34-24. The following week against the Washington Redskins, the team was without star running back Maurice Jones-Drew who was sidelined with a knee injury. Quarterback David Garrard threw an interception in overtime which led to a 20-17 Redskins victory. In the final game of the season against the Houston Texans, Arian Foster shredded the Jacksonville defense for 180 yards in a 34-17 Houston victory. The Jaguars missed the postseason for the third straight year, and speculation abounded as to whether Jack Del Rio would continue as head coach.

Del Rio would keep his job but Garrard would not. The Jaguars would draft Blaine Gabbert out of Missouri in the first round and Luke McCown was named the starter. Garrard was cut five days before the start of the season.  One area in need of an overhaul was on defense. Jacksonville finished 22^nd in rushing defense and 28^th in pass defense. To that end, the Jaguars signed defensive end Matt Roth, linebackers Paul Posluszny and Clint Session, safety Dawan Landry and former Jets cornerback Drew Coleman.

The Jaguars are coming off a 16-14 victory against the Tennessee Titans.  McCown completed 17 of 24 passes for 175 yards. Jones-Drew carried 24 times for 97 yards and a touchdown. Tennessee running back Chris Johnson only carried the ball nine times for 24 yards. Despite the win, the Jaguars are troubled by injuries, most notably tight end Marcedes Lewis who missed the second half with calf trouble and is out for the game against the Jets. Defensive end Aaron Kampman (knee) and cornerback Derek Cox (chest) are also out.

Wide receiver Jason Hill is also listed as doubtful. The receiver with 55 career catches is in the news after making comments that suggested that the Jets, especially Darrelle Revis, were overhyped.

Recent history has shown the Jaguars to be a tough opponent for the Jets. Their last matchup was on November 15, 2009. Jones-Drew rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown. He would have had a second, but stopped short of the end zone to convert a first down and allow the clock to run down, setting up a last second field goal by Josh Scobee from 21 yards out to defeat New York 24-22. It was Jacksonville’s third consecutive win against New York.

Know Your Enemy

When the Texans played the Jets in Week 11, they were ranked 31^st in total defense and 32^nd in pass defense. These were two statistics that would prove fateful as Mark Sanchez drove the Jets down the field in the final minute, culminating in a Santonio Holmes touchdown with 10 seconds left to give New York a 30-27 victory.

Houston finished 6-10 and went into the offseason looking to make changes to the defense.  They would go across state lines by signing former Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips as coordinator. They also signed talented cornerback Jonathan Joseph from Cincinnati and brought in safety Daneal Manning from Chicago and All-Pro defensive end Mario Williams was moved from to outside linebacker in Houston’s new 3-4 alignment.

Houston’s strength lies in their offense which finished third in total yards. Signed as an undrafted free agent, running back Arian Foster would go from the practice squad to the Pro Bowl leading the NFL in rushing yards. In addition to a great running game, the Texans boasted the fourth best passing offense in football. Matt Schaub threw for over 4000 yards, 1200 of which went to Andre Johnson.

For the game tonight, head coach Gary Kubiak said the starters on defense would play only 10-12 plays. Also, look for running backs Derrick Ward and Chris Ogbonnaya to get the carries on offense as the rest of Houston’s running backs are battling injuries.

Two years ago, Houston finished 9-7 and was seen by many to be a team on the rise. They regressed last season and are looking to bounce back this year but their schedule presents a tough challenge. Three of their first four games are against teams with prolific passing attacks: Indianapolis, New Orleans and Pittsburgh. These games will be a barometer as to how improved the defense, especially the pass defense, really is.