{"id":78463,"date":"2019-12-27T14:05:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T19:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=78463"},"modified":"2021-05-31T20:50:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T00:50:00","slug":"baltimore-ravens-approach-week-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/12\/27\/baltimore-ravens-approach-week-17\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Baltimore Ravens Should Approach Week 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Baltimore Ravens<\/a> are in an interesting situation in Week 17. They grabbed home-field advantage through the NFL playoffs with a win last Sunday over the Cleveland Browns<\/a>. The win extended their franchise-high winning streak to 11 games and improved their overall record to 13-2.<\/p>\n

Baltimore will play their final game of the season Sunday against their biggest rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/a> But they have very little to play for. Aside from a pure wins perspective, their final game of the regular season means nothing. The Ravens hold the playoff seeding tie-breaker over the second-seeded New England Patriots<\/a> and have secured a first-round bye the first week of the playoffs. New England is essentially a full two games back of Baltimore with just one game remaining.<\/p>\n

However, this doesn’t mean Sunday’s game should be a write-off for Baltimore. The Ravens-Steelers rivalry is maybe the best in the current-day NFL and means a lot to both teams no matter the circumstance. With several players resting, the Ravens reserves will have a large task ahead of them. The Steelers are playing for far more than the Ravens. But the Baltimore players would likely love to end their playoff dreams rather than just sit back and wait for January.<\/p>\n

How The Baltimore Ravens Should Approach Week 17<\/h2>\n

Sit The Irreplaceable Starters<\/h3>\n

With the division title and home-field throughout the playoffs secured, it was expected that several key starters would sit out the game. Most notably, the soon to be 2019 MVP<\/a>, Lamar Jackson<\/a><\/strong>. Jackson has shown elite form in almost every game he’s played this season. And keeping a player who plays such a fast-paced game healthy for the future is only logical. Watching each Mark Ingram<\/a><\/strong>, Mark Andrews<\/a><\/strong> and Jimmy Smith<\/a><\/strong> all go down at various points against the Browns should only further the Ravens caution.<\/p>\n

Along with Jackson, Adam Schefter reported several other players that will not see the field in Sunday’s matchup.<\/p>\n

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Ravens will not play Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram, Earl Thomas, Marshal Yanda and Brandon Williams against the Steelers on Sunday. Time to get ready for Divisional Round.<\/p>\n

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 23, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n