Ravens, Chargers are familiar foes AFC wild-card playoffs
Teams met 2 weeks ago with Baltimore’s defense limiting L.A . QB Rivers
It’s been six years since the Ravens hosted a playoff game, so forgive Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda for forgetting protocol regarding the distribution of tickets.
“Somebody was asking me if we got tickets during the playoff games, and I couldn’t really remember,” he said. “I was like, ‘Uh, it’s been a little while.’ ”
The most recent time Baltimore was at home in the playoffs was in 2012, when linebacker Ray Lewis and QB Joe Flacco engineered a 24-8 win over Indianapolis to launch a Super Bowl run.
Lewis is now in the Hall of Fame, and Flacco will be on the bench when rookie Lamar Jackson and the Ravens (10-6) face the Los Angeles Chargers (12-4) in a wild-card game Sunday.
It’s a rematch of a pivotal contest two weeks ago, when Baltimore took control of the AFC North with a 22-10 win that dropped L.A. to the No. 6 seed. The Ravens’ top-ranked defense limited QB Philip Rivers to 181 yards passing with two picks.
“You know they’re going to come back with changes, with wrinkles, and they’re going to play that much harder, because they know what happened the first game,” said Ravens safety Eric Weddle, who played nine years with the Chargers before signing with the Ravens in 2016.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a big secret as to what everyone is doing,” L.A. coach Anthony Lynn said. “It’s just whoever executes the best is going to win this game.”
Jackson, a junior at Louisville just a year ago, has been a starter for just less than two months. The 21-year-old will be the youngest QB ever to start in the playoffs.
The Ravens are 6-1 with Jackson as a starter, and his ability to run has turned Baltimore’s offense into a very efficient unit.
“There’s no substitute for experience,” Ravens offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said, before adding, “Man alive, look at all the things he’s done
— a very mature young man for that age in many, many ways.”