The Baltimore Ravens look to build on being in the top seed position in the AFC when they face the wilting Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night at Inglewood, Calif.
The Ravens (8-3) have won five of their past six games as they run into a Chargers’ squad that has lost five games by three or fewer points this season.
While Los Angeles (4-6) is two games out of the final wild-card spot, Baltimore is atop the conference but aware there’s more work to be done.
“It’s good,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of the No. 1 seed. “It’s where you want to be at this point, but it doesn’t mean anything until after the last game. We gotta keep winning.”
Baltimore has played one more game than the other four one-loss teams in the AFC. The Ravens’ bye is next week.
That break should come in handy as quarterback Lamar Jackson is dealing with a left ankle injury sustained in a 34-20 home victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 16.
Jackson insists the ankle is fine and won’t be an issue against the Chargers. He was a full-go Wednesday.
Jackson passed for 264 yards and two touchdowns and added 54 on the ground versus the Bengals. He has 535 rushing yards to become the first quarterback to ever exceed 500 in each of his first six NFL seasons.
Jackson won’t have top target Mark Andrews, however. The star tight end injured his left ankle and underwent surgery Tuesday.
That leaves Jackson looking for Zay Flowers (team-high 53 catches) and Odell Beckham Jr. (24). Beckham had 116 receiving yards against Cincinnati for his first 100-yard effort since 2019.
“I believe my chemistry with all the receivers is coming along well,” Jackson said. “We have to keep locking in at practice and keep building more. The playoffs are rolling around, the end of the season is rolling around. We’ve just got to keep stepping in the right direction.”
The Chargers are tied for the 13th-best record in the AFC.
Los Angeles fell 23-20 to the host Green Bay Packers last weekend and dropped a 41-38 home decision to the Detroit Lions the previous week.
“The only thing we can focus on now is the next one,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said Wednesday. “We’re not going to let these past ones affect our next performance.”
Los Angeles coach Brandon Staley has come under fire for the plethora of close setbacks.
“You’ve seen us play at a high level in spurts and stretches, but we haven’t had that complete performance consistently enough,” Staley said. “When every game that we’ve lost is so tight, you’re going to go back to a few plays, in all three phases of your team, and you’re going to magnify all of those little mistakes.”
Herbert has a solid touchdown-to-interceptions ratio of 19 to 5 but has topped 300 yards passing just once in the past seven games.
Keenan Allen leads the NFL with 83 receptions. He has topped 1,000 receiving yards for the sixth time in his career and has seven touchdown catches, one shy of his career-best total set in his rookie season.
Defensively, the Chargers placed Joey Bosa on injured reserve Wednesday due to a right foot sprain. He will miss at least four games.
Fellow pass rusher Khalil Mack had two sacks against Green Bay to raise his season total to 11, fourth in the NFL.
Ravens safety Geno Stone is tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions.
Harbaugh said that Baltimore receiver Rashod Bateman departed Wednesday’s practice with a foot injury and should be fine. Beckham (shoulder) and cornerback Arthur Maulet (illness) sat out the session.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf) and left tackle Ronnie Stanley (knee) returned to practice as limited participants. Both players sat out against Cincinnati.
For the Chargers, tight end Nick Vannett (concussion) sat out practice. Allen (shoulder) was among the limited participants.
Baltimore has won the past three regular-season meetings. The Chargers beat the Ravens 23-17 in an AFC wild-card game in Baltimore on Jan. 6, 2019.
–Field Level Media
