The Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins each scored much-needed victories on Sunday.
But when the Ravens visit the Dolphins on Thursday night in Miami Gardens, Fla., likely only the winner will retain a slim chance of salvaging its season.
Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, only four teams have made the playoffs following 1-5 starts to the season.
The good news for Baltimore (2-5), which snapped a four-game losing streak with a 30-16 home win against the Chicago Bears, is that starting quarterback Lamar Jackson is expected to return from injury against the Dolphins (2-6).
A South Florida native, Jackson would play and start for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury on Sept. 28 against Kansas City. The Ravens have started two different quarterbacks in his three-game absence — Cooper Rush in two losses and Tyler Huntley in the victory on Sunday.
But a preseason Super Bowl favorite of many has struggled for the most part without him.
“I feel very confident about it,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said this week. “We’ll expect him to be out there Thursday night.”
Jackson, who practiced fully on Tuesday, had a career-high 71.6% completion percentage during his four starts this season. The two-time NFL MVP has thrown for 869 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 166 yards and a touchdown.
The Ravens were averaging 37 points per game during Jackson’s first three starts this season. In Rush’s two starts against Houston and the L.A. Rams, Baltimore mustered 13 combined points.
Last week, Baltimore found some rhythm with Huntley at helm as he completed 17 of 22 passes for 186 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, and also ran for 53 yards on eight attempts.
“You know, we haven’t won a championship or anything else. We won a game. We won one game,” Harbaugh said.
The Dolphins were in an even bigger hole after a 1-6 start but delivered a remarkably better performance last week during a 34-10 road victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Their quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t returning from injury, but he delivered a return to form that Miami has been hoping to see. He threw a season-high four touchdown passes, as well as for 205 yards on 20 of 26 attempts. And all this while dealing with a swollen left eye, which Tagovailoa said has improved in the couple of days since that game.
“It’s good. I can see a lot better than I could in terms of how open my eyelid is,” Tagovailoa said this week, and said he will continue to wear a visor as he did in Sunday’s win. “The guys liked the visor.”
Miami’s defense also had its best game of the season against the run, limiting the Falcons to 45 rushing yards and standout Bijan Robinson to only 25.
“I hope the success they had breeds success,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said.
The Dolphins suffered another key injury on defense in the win and placed cornerback Storm Duck on injured reserve on Tuesday. Miami signed Ethan Robinson to the practice squad and placed fellow defensive back Kendall Sheffield on their practice squad/injured list.
For Miami, safety Ashtyn Davis (quadriceps) and tight end Julian Hill (ankle) did not practice on Tuesday. Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb (foot, shoulder) and wide receiver Dee Eskridge (shoulder) were limited but are expected to play. Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu (thumb) was also limited.
For Baltimore, every player on the 53-man roster practiced Tuesday and tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle) was the only player with limited participation.
