After winning five straight games and looking like the best offense in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens suffered a surprising loss to the division-rival Cleveland Browns, which no one saw coming.
The Browns have been one of the worst teams in the league this year and recently saw star quarterback Deshaun Watson go down for the season with an Achilles injury, forcing the team to turn to veteran journeyman Jameis Winston.
In the aftermath of the loss to Cleveland, the Ravens (5-3) are now in second place in the AFC North division standings behind the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2), which means every game will be crucial from here on out, as they will not be able to run away with the division title to punch their ticket to the NFL playoffs.
As the Ravens prepare to host the Denver Broncos on Sunday, head coach John Harbaugh decided to give superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson a “rest day” on Wednesday, so he didn’t participate in practice via the team’s X account.
“Rest day,” Harbaugh said. “He’s been playing great and we got a lot of football in front of us here.”
As of right now, Jackson is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the league, if not the best, as he’s followed up his NFL MVP season last year with another solid performance so far this season.
Following the matchup with the Broncos, who have a formidable defense, the Ravens will face a tough stretch of games, starting with consecutive divisional games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Steelers.