John Harbaugh

Harbaugh had been about to enter the final year of the four-year deal he signed in 2019.

The Ravens failed to make the playoffs in the 2021 season, finishing bottom of the AFC North on 8-9, and losing all of their last six games of the regular season.

However, it was only their second losing season since winning the Super Bowl under Harbaugh in 2013, when he beat his brother Jim and the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans.

Harbaugh arrived in 2008 to replace Brian Billick, with the 59-year-old boasting an overall regular-season record of 137-88.

It was also acknowledged by many that the Ravens' poor end to 2021 – having been 8-3 after Week 12 – was heavily influenced by bad luck with injuries.

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti revealed the news at the annual league meeting on Tuesday, 

"I think John's grown and grown and grown," he said. "It's kind of interesting. I don't feel like I'm just signing up the same guy. I think that's really a compliment to him.

"I really feel like there's a rebirth in John as the years go on. Things that mattered to him don't matter as much anymore.

"I'm just thrilled as an owner to have a guy that's going to be going into his 15th year. So, I'm pretty pleased with it."

Harbaugh is now under contract through the 2025 NFL season.

The Ravens were eliminated from the postseason 24-17 by the Cincinnati Bengals, with Hubbard's touchdown marking a 14-point swing with Baltimore pressing for a go-ahead score at the time.

The Bengals' defense held on, before Huntley tried a QB sneak on a third-and-goal, leaping into the air with both hands on the ball, but it was knocked out by Logan Wilson allowing defensive end Hubbard to recover it and race away for a 98-yard touchdown, which was the longest fumble return TD in NFL playoff history.

"We felt we had a good call," Harbaugh told reporters. "It's a push sneak play.

"It wasn’t executed. Tyler went over the top. It's a burrow play, he needs to go low on that. That's the way the play is designed. We felt like that was the best call, we just didn’t execute it right."

Huntley, starting in the absence of injured former MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, kept the Ravens in the contest with a strong performance that was praised by Harbaugh. The Ravens lost four of six games this season that Jackson did not start.

The Ravens QB threw 17-of-29 passes for 226 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, along with 54 rushing yards having had injury concerns coming into the game. Huntley's career-best 35-yard run had got the Ravens within the goal line before Hubbard's TD.

"Tyler Huntley coming in and playing the way he played coming off the shoulder and wrist injuries and fighting his way back on to the field," Harbaugh said. "Just giving it everything he had, that kind of performance.

"We didn’t win the game, we're disappointed in that, but I've got nothing but admiration for our guys."

Cincinnati's win means Zac Taylor is 4-1 in playoff games as Bengals head coach. The Bengals scored 14 points off two Ravens' turnovers, with QB Joe Burrow held to 209 yards on 23-of-32 passing.

"That's why you just never give up on a drive," Taylor said. "Even when it's down there, inside the two, that's what our defense, the whole redzone really over the last couple of years has been awesome from our defense. Today was no different.

"For Logan to knock that ball out, Sam to finish that off 98 yards, it really changed the momentum of the game. You're looking at a 14-point swing there, going down seven, going up seven.

"It was a challenge on offense. It's one of the better defenses we faced all year. We knew that going in and our defense really carried us in the fourth quarter. We needed that."

With the scores tied at 20-20 in the fourth quarter, the Ravens put together a 14-play, 93-yard drive from their own five-yard line to give themselves the opportunity to gain a precious late lead.

However, the drive stalled at the crucial moment and the Ravens faced a fourth-and-goal from the Bills' two-yard line with just over four minutes left in the game.

While a short field goal would have given the Ravens the lead, Harbaugh opted to go for the touchdown. The decision did not pay off as quarterback Lamar Jackson threw an interception, before Bills quarterback Josh Allen led a 77-yard drive to set up Tyler Bass for the game-winning field goal as time expired.

After the match, Harbaugh defended his late-game strategy, telling reporters: "[If] you kick a field goal there, now it's not a three-down game anymore, it's a four-down game.

"You're putting them out there, you're putting your defense at a disadvantage because they've got four downs to convert all the way down the field and a chance to again score seven, and then you lose the game on a touchdown.

"It didn't turn out that way, unfortunately, and we lost the game. So, hindsight, you could take the points, but if you look at it analytically, understand why we did it."

The decision sparked a furious touchline altercation between Harbaugh and cornerback Marcus Peters, with the former Kansas City Chief having to be pulled away from his coach.

But Harbaugh was not fazed by the interaction after the game, adding: "Emotions run high.

"We're on the same page, he and I. We have a great relationship, we have an honest relationship. I love him, I hope he still loves me. We'll see. I'm a Marcus Peters guy."

It’s not uncommon for established players to skip their team’s OTAs, and although Jackson won the league’s MVP Award in 2019, he is coming off an injury-marred 2021 season and is entering the final year of his rookie contract. The fact that he hasn’t engaged in discussions with the Ravens over a contract extension is also somewhat concerning.

But Harbaugh is certain his star quarterback is training hard on his own, and will be present when the Ravens open mandatory minicamp on June 14.

"I expect him to be here at mandatory minicamp," Harbaugh said Wednesday. "I know he's working hard. Lamar Jackson's a hard worker, so I'm not worried about how hard he's working.

"I fully expect him to come back in great shape, that's what he talks about. I'm sure he's throwing, I'm sure he's doing a good job, and when he gets back here, we’ll roll with Lamar."

Jackson was criticized by Chris Simms on Pro Football Talk Live on May 27, with the former NFL QB saying: "(Tom) Brady wouldn't be missing OTAs in year four of his career... Brady didn't miss an OTA until he had played in four Super Bowls."

Responding to those comments quoting a tweet featuring a clip of Simms' remarks, Jackson wrote: "Lamar wants to be Lamar Chris.

"This part of OTAs is voluntary my guy I will be there, just not on your watch. It's probably other QBs not attending voluntary OTAs either but since it's Lamar it's a huge deal. Find something else to talk about."

Jackson, who is set to make just over $23 million guaranteed on his fifth-year option in 2022, averaged 240.2 passing yards and 63.9 yards rushing in 12 games last season. He finished with 16 passing touchdowns, a career-high 13 interceptions and an 87.0 QB rating – eighth lowest among the 30 quarterbacks with at least 350 passing attempts last season.

The Ravens lost four of the five games Jackson missed last season and finished 8-9 to miss the playoffs for the first time in his career.

In February, at 27, Jackson became the youngest-ever two-time NFL MVP since the AFL merger.

Since he joined in 2018, he has led the Ravens to their best records in the league, going 14-2 in 2019 and 13-4 last year. In the regular-season, Jackson has the second-best record at 58-19 (.753).

However, he has been known to struggle in the postseason, losing four of his six playoff games, including the AFC Championship game against eventual Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs last season.

When asked about Jackson's failure to reach the showpiece game, Harbaugh passionately defended the quarterback, reiterating the team's faith in him.

"There's a lot of great things said about Lamar, but there's a lot of stuff that's said that you just got to scratch your head about and kind of wonder, 'What's that person even thinking?'" Harbaugh said on Sunday. "But we take it personally.

"All his life, Lamar Jackson has been a guy who's been answering those same questions.

"I'm talking about since he was a kid. Junior high, high school, college, the draft. The success he's had in the [NFL], again, it still comes up.

"OK, now he's still growing. He's got a growth mindset. He's going to get better and better, no doubt. But what does he have to do to prove himself to some people? Right?"

"The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League.

"It's going to happen by Lamar, his work ethic and his brilliant talent, by all of us pouring into that effort together as a team and by the grace of God and God's goodwill."

Since being picked by Baltimore in the 2018 NFL draft, Jackson has run more yards than any other quarterback (5,258) and has thrown 125 touchdown passes in 77 starts.

The Ravens will kick off the new season against the Chiefs on September 6.

The All-Pro quarterback, who does not turn 25 until January 7, accounted for all but 19 of Baltimore's 523 yards of total offence, completing 37 of 43 passes for a franchise-record 442 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for 62 more.

In doing so, Jackson became the first player in NFL history to post at least 400 yards passing, 50 yards rushing and four TD passes with no interceptions in a single game.

Jackson led four straight touchdown drives to erase a 19-point deficit against the Colts as he overtook Drew Bledsoe (33) to join Marino on 34 wins before turning 25.

"I'm up there with the guys – those legends," Jackson said. "I appreciate that. It's an honour to be up there with those guys, but I'm focused on winning."

Jackson's effort was described as "one of the greatest performances I have ever seen" by head coach John Harbaugh, the 2019 MVP hitting six straight passes on the drive in overtime.

Despite his side falling 22-3 behind with 3:11 left in the third quarter, Jackson insists he was always confident of fighting back to make it 4-1 for the season.

"To be honest, it wasn't a doubt in my mind," he said. "Our team, we hit that peak that we needed at the right time in the second half. We just knew it was one play at a time – that's all we kept saying in the huddle.

"I was just locked in. I was just calm, everything was moving slow. I was just taking it a play at a time."

Jackson is now fifth in the NFL in passing yards this season with 1,519 through five games, while his 241 rushing yards ranks him eighth.

But Monday's performance was not quite flawless, as he threw his helmet so far into the air after the overtime win that somebody else had to help retrieve it.

"I shouldn't have done that – for real," Jackson said. "I've got to have more restraint, but I was just excited. We had an overtime win in the league and stuff like that. It was pretty cool."

The Ravens entered the game 6-2 with their struggling opponents 2-7, but Baltimore have been run close in a number of their wins this season.

Four times they have trailed in the fourth quarter but come back to win, tying the Los Angeles Chargers for the most fightbacks in the NFL. The Ravens had only four such wins across the previous five years.

But a fifth turnaround proved beyond Jackson and Baltimore in a 22-10 defeat.

They had won each of their previous three meetings with the Dolphins by more than 30 points – tying a league record for one team against another – but this time paid the price for a sloppy start.

The Ravens punted on four of their first six drives – including a pair of three-and-outs – and made and missed a field goal from the other two to head in 6-3 down at halftime.

Crucially, there was precious little improvement in the second half this time, with three more punts in the third quarter and then a fumble that Xavien Howard recovered for a Miami touchdown at the start of the fourth.

Jackson, who had 238 yards passing and just 39 yards rushing, finally led Baltimore back down the field to cut the Dolphins' lead to 15-10, only for Tua Tagovailoa – returning from injury in relief of Jacoby Brissett – to run in another TD.

An interception on third and goal capped a dismal night for Jackson and his team, with the tone set right from the start.

"We've been slow, slow every week. It's ridiculous," the quarterback said. "I don't understand it.

"We've just got to do a better job of hitting the ground running like we're supposed to. That starts by staying calm, just doing us, not putting anything else on our mind."

Miami had success in blitzing the 2019 NFL MVP, who had tossed an accurate, well-thrown pass on just 67.9 per cent of his previous attempts when blitzed this year, the ninth-worst rate in the league.

Jackson believes he and the Ravens are capable of dealing with similar defenses, though.

"Play our game, do us. We don't change for anybody, we'll be good," he said. "There were some plays we left on the field, little mishaps."

Indeed, coach John Harbaugh said he was to blame for the offense being exploited.

"This falls squarely on me as head coach," he said. "We were not prepared as we needed to be prepared, our schemes were not up to snuff. We weren't prepared to execute the way we needed to.

"That's it – not on one player. The players played their hearts out, worked hard all week, they did everything they could to be prepared, and we just weren't ready. That's on me."

Former MVP Jackson became the fourth quarterback in the past 25 seasons to throw four interceptions targeting a single player – in this case, Mark Andrews – in a game after Eli Manning-Hakeem Nicks, Luke McCown-Mike Thomas and Mark Sanchez-Braylon Edwards.

He was also sacked twice on Sunday as he finished with 20-of-32 passing for 165 yards.

However, Jackson's throw for Andrews' touchdown gave the Ravens a 13-3 advantage and they saw out a 16-10 victory to go top of the AFC standings.

The win also ended a run of 41 consecutive games in which a quarterback to throw four interceptions lost the game. The last man to win after such a performance was Andy Dalton for the Cincinnati Bengals against the Ravens in 2013.

The Ravens became the only team in the Super Bowl era to score fewer than 17 points, have fewer than 325 yards in total and throw at least four more interceptions than their opponents and still win the game.

Harbaugh was full of admiration for the way Jackson did not allow himself to be overawed by his mistakes.

"Nobody gets flustered, and it starts with Lamar," he said. "Lamar wants those plays back and he's a massive competitor. Yet he doesn't let it take control of him. He's able to push it aside and he's able to go play the next series and give you great football.

"It's really a rare trait. To me, that's one of the things that makes him the quarterback that he is."

Jackson himself said: "I feel like those drives, when the interceptions came, we could've done something on those drives. We could've put points on the board.

"I just told my team, 'That's me. I owe y'all.'

"I mean, it's one game that it happened. They just made great plays on those interceptions. It wasn't like I was throwing it right to them."

The 8-3 Ravens are at the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.

The Ravens improved to 2-1 with a 37-26 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday, in which Jackson threw four touchdown passes and rushed for 107 yards and a further score.

The fifth-year QB became only the second player in NFL history with at least four TD passes, 100 rushing yards and a rushing TD in a game after the Philadelphia Eagles' Randall Cunningham – also against the Patriots – in Week 9 of the 1990 season.

But Jackson also had three TD passes and 100 rushing yards in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins.

Only seven other QBs (including Cunningham) have previously enjoyed such a performance, and none of them have done so more than once. Jackson has achieved that feat in consecutive games and four times across his career.

Surely a contender again this year, Jackson was the MVP in 2019 when he led the league in passing TDs (36), as he does now (10).

The failure to agree a new Ravens contract in the offseason would likely have made Jackson more determined to bounce back from an injury-hit 2021, but Harbaugh has never doubted his star man.

"No one has to tell me about Lamar Jackson," the Baltimore coach said.

"I believe in him. I love him. I just believed him the first day we drafted him, the first day we talked about drafting him. I felt like he could be everything he is.

"I just think it's a natural next step in terms of like finding his rhythm during the week, what he's looking at, how he studies defenses, how he breaks defenses down.

"It's not a lightbulb thing; it's an evolution of studying the game that you see quarterbacks go through."

Jackson offered his own take on his development, adding: "I'd just say [it is down to] maturity, just because of my age, just knowing the game of football just basically inside out.

"You've just got to stay locked in. That's probably the thing, just being locked in no matter what's going on during the game."

Just as they had against the Pittsburgh Steelers a fortnight earlier, the Ravens failed to convert Sunday and fell in heart-breaking fashion, 31-30 to the Green Bay Packers. 

Green Bay led 31-17 before Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley, starting in place of the injured Lamar Jackson, ran for a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes. 

After the second of those, with 45 seconds remaining, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh opted to go for a two-point conversion that would have put the Ravens (8-6) on top, but Huntley could not connect on his pass attempt to Mark Andrews. 

Harbaugh had told Huntley before the first of those touchdown drives that he planned to go for the win in regulation again if the Ravens found themselves in a similar position to the one they were in against the Steelers, and the coach did not second-guess himself afterward. 

"We were just trying to get the win right there," Harbaugh told reporters. "I think our chances of winning right there were a little bit higher than in overtime, maybe, if you calculate it out. I felt good about it. I thought we had a good play. Again, they made a really good play."

Had the Ravens decided to kick the extra point and tie the game at 31-31, there were no guarantees they would even have made it to overtime, considering Aaron Rodgers would have had some time to work his magic before time ran out. 

That made it a slightly different call than the one Harbaugh made against the Steelers, when the Ravens scored with just 12 seconds to play in the game. 

Either way, Harbaugh said those two failures in quick succession – not to mention a failed two-point try earlier in the fourth quarter in a two-point loss to the Cleveland Browns last week – would not affect his process going forward. 

"It’s situation to situation," Harbaugh said. "To me, in both of those cases, that gave us the best chance to win. Because we didn’t win doesn’t make it not true. It’s still true now, just as true as it was then. So, it doesn’t always work out."

Harbaugh's players backed his decision, with Andrews saying the move fit Baltimore's persona. 

"I think people that second-guessed that are wrong," he said. "I think that was the right thing to do. We’re an aggressive team.”

Jackson's future with the Ravens remains uncertain ahead of Tuesday's franchise tag deadline, with the quarterback yet to sign a long-term contract.

The Baltimore signal-caller, who represents himself rather than employing an agent, reportedly wants a fully guaranteed deal, but the Ravens are reluctant to offer that, meaning talks have been deadlocked.

"You can't win in this league without a strong quarterback. I mean, that's been proven," Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said.

"We want Lamar here. We think he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He's certainly one of our best players, and we want him back.

"We understand that living in a world without a quarterback is a bad world to live in."

DeCosta voluntarily said that few teams have made more trades than the Ravens since he became GM four years ago but had no plans to offload Jackson.

"I covet great players. I covet quarterbacks. And I love Lamar," DeCosta said. "That has not factored in one time with me. We want to do what's best for the club. We try to do what we can for Lamar. We want to make everybody happy."

The Ravens can place the franchise tag on Jackson before Tuesday's deadline, but would have to create more room in their salary cap to fit the QB's tag under the cap.

The exclusive tag is projected to cost Baltimore $45.2million, while a non-exclusive tag would be around $32m, but the latter opens him up to offer sheets from rival clubs.

"Both understand the urgency of the situation," added DeCosta, before reiterating he remains "positive" on agreeing a new deal.

"I've seen a lot of deals happen when things look bleak, or I haven't seen deals when I would've thought it was a slam dunk," he said. "It takes two people to do it. I remain positive. I have no reason not to remain positive."

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he was "200 per cent" that 2019 MVP Jackson wanted to remain with Baltimore.

"He's my quarterback, he's my guy," Harbaugh said. "I love him. As a coach, I'm looking forward to seeing it get done but it's not easy. It's the business part of it but I'm fervently hopeful and excited.

"We've been texting back and forth here and there ever since the season was over. I feel like 'Mar is doing really well. It's just part of the business, it's what you expect when you have a great quarterback."

Jackson threw 17 touchdown passes with a 62.3 per cent completion rate across 12 starts in the 2022 regular season, which was cut short due to a knee injury. His 2021 campaign was also impacted by an ankle injury, Jackson again making only 12 starts.

Jackson, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, had previously indicated that he hoped to come to an agreement on an extension with the Ravens by a Week 1 deadline.

But the Ravens' season opener is fast approaching, with Baltimore up against the New York Jets on Sunday.

Harbaugh rejected any suggestion that Jackson would hold out on a new deal and insisted he was focused on playing for the Ravens after Monday's practice.

"Lamar has said he's focused on the season, he's under contract and he's going to have the best season he can have," Harbaugh told reporters.

"He's hopeful to get a new contract and we're hopeful to get him a new contract. All the rest of it is business. There is nothing other than coming to something that is mutually agreeable.

"That's the way that all of these deals are done. So, obviously, I'm very hopeful, and I know everyone is really hopeful to get it done."

The Ravens QB, who is representing himself without an agent, is set to make just over $23million guaranteed on his fifth-year option in 2022.

"I don't have any updates," Harbaugh said.

"My interactions with Lamar have been all football. He's been focused and locked in on that, 100 per cent, from a football standpoint."

The 32nd overall pick of the 2018 draft, Jackson is coming off an injury-marred 2021 season, averaging 240.2 passing yards and 63.9 yards rushing in 12 games.

He finished with 16 passing touchdowns, a career-high 13 interceptions and an 87.0 QB rating – eighth lowest among the 30 quarterbacks with at least 350 passing attempts last season.

The Ravens lost four of the five games Jackson missed last season and finished 8-9 to miss the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Jackson was doubtful pre-game with an ankle sprain and managed only four of four passes for 17 yards before taking a hit and making way for Tyler Huntley.

The former MVP left Baltimore's locker room in a protective boot.

Baltimore lead the AFC North with an 8-5 record, narrowly ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals (7-6) and Browns (7-6) with four regular season games remaining.

"Lamar has an ankle sprain. We'll look at it more [Monday] and we'll see where we're at," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said at the post-game news conference.

"We'll see how he responds [Monday], we'll see how it responds."

Jackson is enjoying a strong season for the Ravens, completing 242 of 378 passes for 2,865 yards with a 64 percent completion rate for 16 touchdowns.

He also allowed 13 interceptions, having only committed 18 across his previous three seasons.

In Jackson's absence, backup Huntley almost pulled off a comeback victory for the Ravens against the Browns, offering hope they can still fire without their star quarterback.

"Tyler showed a lot of grit, and I felt like the whole team did that," Harbaugh said. "That's who we are and that's why we have a chance to still win the championship in the AFC North and go on from there. That's what we'll be fighting to do in the next four weeks."

Head coach John Harbaugh called Jackson's effort "one of the greatest performances I've ever seen" after Jackson led four straight touchdown drives to erase a 19-point deficit. 

Jackson's career-best 442 passing yards set a franchise record and with 62 additional yards on the ground he accounted for all but 19 of Baltimore's 523 yards of total offence. 

It was a breathtaking effort that left team-mates in awe. 

"He's amazing," said Marquise Brown, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime after hauling in a 43-yard TD to start the comeback.

"I think he's just 24 years old? It's crazy what he can do," said veteran defensive end Calais Campbell. 

A significant part of Jackson's allure stems from his ability to get the team out of jams, as he did once again Monday with Baltimore down 22-3 late in the third quarter and 25-9 with 12 minutes remaining in the fourth. 

"It wasn't easy," Harbaugh told reporters. "I mean, it wasn't like we came out up and down the field. We had to overcome and fight through some things.

"[Jackson] just came alive like all of our guys did. All of the guys made plays, but it starts with Lamar. He deserves the credit."

The quarterback insisted he never doubted the Ravens' ability to come back in the game. It was just a matter of time before they got their offence going. 

"Our team, we hit that peak that we needed at the right time in the second half," Jackson said. "We just knew it was one play at a time – that's all we kept saying in the huddle."

Jackson suffered a sprained right ankle during the Ravens' 24-22 defeat to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

The quarterback had been doubtful for the Week 14 game due to an ankle problem and threw only four passes for 17 yards before taking a hit in the first play of the second quarter and being replaced by Tyler Huntley 

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh on Monday revealed he hopes Jackson can face the Packers, but it is too early to know if he will be available.

He said: "The plans are right now, in my mind, for Lamar to be out there.

"So, we'll see where it goes this week. If he can go, he'll go. If not, Tyler will be the quarterback. That's where we're at."

Harbaugh said Jackson had not sustained a high-ankle sprain and "we'll just have to see what it is from there, and how he feels this week going forward."

Baltimore lead the AFC North with an 8-5 record, narrowly ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals (7-6) and Cleveland Browns (7-6) with four regular season games remaining.

Jackson is enjoying a strong season for the Ravens, completing 242 of 378 passes for 2,865 yards with a 64 percent completion rate for 16 touchdowns.

He has also allowed 13 interceptions, having only committed 18 across his previous three seasons.

Following Jackson's exit, Huntley almost pulled off a comeback victory for the Ravens against the Browns.

The Ravens also confirmed on Monday that safety Tony Jefferson is back after being signed to the practice squad.

Jackson suffered an ankle sprain in Baltimore's 24-22 NFL defeat to the Cleveland Browns last week, having been doubtful heading into the contest.

The former MVP threw only four passes for 17 yards before taking a hit in the first play of the second quarter and being replaced by Tyler Huntley.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has been bullish all week about Jackson's availability to face Aaron Rodgers' high-flying Packers, despite not practicing and offered an update on Wednesday.

"It's day-to-day right now. We've just got to see how it responds," Harbaugh told reporters on Wednesday. "He's not going to practice today, but we'll see going forward how that goes."

Jackson's injury is not a high ankle sprain, offering hope of a quick recovery and Harbaugh had said on Monday that "the plans are right now, in my mind, for Lamar to be out there."

Harbaugh confirmed if Jackson was declared fit, the Ravens would not rest him with a view to their crunch divisional Week 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"I would say that factors zero percent [into the decision]," Harbaugh said. "We're trying to win this game. Every win right now is… you want every win you can get."

Jackson is enjoying a strong season for the Ravens, completing 242 of 378 passes for 2,865 yards with a 64 percent completion rate for 16 touchdowns. He has also allowed 13 interceptions, having only committed 18 across his previous three seasons.

Baltimore lead the AFC North with an 8-5 record, narrowly ahead of the Bengals (7-6) and Browns (7-6) with four regular-season games remaining.

The Ravens have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, losing by one point against the Pittsburgh Steelers and by two points against Cleveland. According to Stats Perform, it is the first time in franchise history Baltimore have lost consecutive games by two points or fewer.

John Harbaugh's men have a positive recent record against the Rams though, and will need to properly utilise the impressive form of Mark Andrews.

The Indianapolis Colts can clinch their playoff spot with a win against the Las Vegas Raiders, while a potentially fascinating encounter in the race for the playoffs between the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos will take place at SoFi Stadium.

Stats Perform takes a look at the standout statistics ahead of the penultimate week of the NFL's regular season.

Los Angeles Rams (11-4) @ Baltimore Ravens (8-7)

The Rams have lost four straight games against the Ravens (outscored 120-29 in those games) and are 2-5 all-time against them - Baltimore the only franchise in the league the Rams have never won a road game against (0-3).

Rams running back Sony Michel ran for 131 yards and a touchdown in last week's win against the Minnesota Vikings, two yards from tying a career-high set in 2018 with the New England Patriots. He has 423 yards in his last four games after a combined 305 in his first 11 games.

The Ravens lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 41-21 last week, allowing 525 passing yards, the most in franchise history. They also finished with just 39 rushing yards of their own, their fewest since a franchise-low 11 in 2016.

Andrews had eight catches for 125 yards and a touchdown last week. He now has three straight games with at least 100 receiving yards and at least one touchdown. He is the only Raven to ever have three such games in a row, and just the second tight end in NFL history (Jimmy Graham in 2013).

Las Vegas Raiders (8-7) @ Indianapolis Colts (9-6)

The Raiders were 7-2 in their first nine games against the Colts but have gone just 2-6 since then (dating back to 2004). They won 31-24 in their last trip to Indianapolis in 2019 but lost at home the following season.

After beating the Broncos last week, the Raiders have won back-to-back games despite scoring 17 points or fewer in each. It is the first time they have done so since 1991 – those victories came against the Broncos and the Colts.

The Colts beat the Arizona Cardinals 22-16 last week, improving to 8-2 in their last 10 games after starting the season 1-4. Their 31.2 points per game since Week 6 leads the NFL.

Jonathan Taylor had 108 rushing yards in his last outing, his ninth display this season with at least 100 yards – the Colts have won all nine of those games. Indianapolis has not won a game in which he has been held under the century mark this season.

Denver Broncos (7-8) @ Los Angeles Chargers (8-7)

The Broncos beat the Chargers 28-13 in Week 12, their largest win over them since a 23-7 triumph in the 2005 season. Fourteen of the last 21 games between these teams have been decided by one possession (eight points or fewer).

Drew Lock is expected to start at quarterback again after starting his first game of the season last time out. Since the start of 2020, Lock has the lowest completion percentage among the 29 quarterbacks with 500 or more pass attempts (57.6 per cent).

The Chargers allowed 189 rushing yards in a 41-29 loss to the Houston Texans, who entered the game ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards per game. The Chargers are allowing 140.3 rushing yards per game, on pace for their worst mark since the 1987 strike season (144.7).

Justin Jackson had a career-high 162 scrimmage yards against the Texans while filling in for Austin Ekeler. He has 261 scrimmage yards in his last two games, which Ekeler has done just once in a two-game span this season (264 yards from Weeks 4-5).

Elsewhere...

Atlanta Falcons (7-8) QB Matt Ryan will look to add to his 3,555 yards thrown overall this season when he faces the Buffalo Bills (9-6). It is his 12th consecutive season with at least 3,500 passing yards. He joins Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady in an exclusive club to achieve the passing milestone in that many straight campaigns.

The Patriots (9-6) have lost at least two December games in each of the last four seasons (3-2 in 2018, 2-3 in 2019, 1-3 in 2020, 1-2 in 2021). New England, who host the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-13), have more December losses over the last four seasons (7-10) than in the previous 15 seasons combined (56-9, 2003-2017).

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-4) star Brady is 30-7 as a starter against the New York Jets (4-11) in his career (including postseason). That is the second-most wins by any QB against a single opponent behind only his own record against the Bills (33). Brady is 7-0 in his last seven against the Jets, winning by an average of 23.3 points. 

The Kansas City Chiefs - who can clinch the AFC's top seed if they avoid defeat against the Bengals and the Tennessee Titans lose in Miami - have lost their last five games in Cincinnati, with their last win there coming in September 1984.