AACCTTIIOONN Action Jackson

Five weeks remain in the NFL regular season and the playoff picture is beginning to take shape. There are a couple of division races and wide-open wild-card chances left to finish. The challenges some of those contenders face this week is the focus of the Week 13 High Five:

Incumbent Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who’s been sidelined with a hip injury, is in jeopardy of losing his starting job to rookie Lamar Jackson.

Jackson, Baltimore’s firstround draft pick out of Louisville, is expected to make his third consecutive start Sunday. If the Ravens win at Atlanta, it’ll be their third consecutive victory.

If that happens, even if Flacco is cleared to play next week, coach John Harbaugh is going to have a difficult time sending Jackson back to the bench — his athletic skill and humble nature has been rapidly gaining supporters in the locker room. Before Jackson’s first start, the Ravens were mired in a threegame losing streak and in danger of missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Now they’re 6-5 and currently the No. 6 seed in the AFC.

The skeptics will point to Jackson being more dangerous running than passing and that his two wins came against the woebegone Bengals and Raiders.

But with Jackson starting, the Ravens have rushed for 509 yards over the past two games — the most in the NFL and a franchise record. If Jackson can continue his magic, it could mean Flacco has played his last down with the Ravens.