Jaguars face injury-hit Ravens on Thursday night with rookie quarterback starting for Baltimore

The Jacksonville Jaguars will try to keep one of the NFL's hottest stretches going when they visit the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night to open Week 9. Kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.

Jacksonville enters at 5-2 and has won four of its past five games, most recently a 42-7 rout of the Indianapolis Colts. Baltimore sits at 4-4 and is coming off a lopsided defeat of its own, a 36-10 loss at Buffalo on Sunday.

The Ravens' biggest concern is under center. Lamar Jackson is out with a thumb injury and backup Tyler Huntley is sidelined by a toe injury, so rookie third-stringer Joe Fagnano is in line to start at quarterback against a Jacksonville team playing with real confidence.

Bookmakers have installed the Jaguars as a 10-point favorite, and the over/under for total points scored is 40.

The projections for the game come from SportsLine's model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times. The model is up more than $5,000 for $100 players on its top-rated NFL picks since its inception and entered Week 9 of the 2026 season on a 60-51 run on top-rated selections dating back to 2024.

For this matchup, the model is leaning toward the Over on 40 points. The Over has hit in three of the last four meetings between these teams, in each of Jacksonville's last two games and in six of Baltimore's last 10. It is also 2-1 in Jaguars games when the betting line sits below 45 points.

Trevor Lawrence directs the Jacksonville offense. Through seven starts, the quarterback has completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 1,690 yards with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. Bhayshul Tuten has led the ground attack with 110 carries for 492 yards and three touchdowns.

Baltimore's offense runs through Derrick Henry. Over eight games, the veteran running back has piled up 158 carries for 632 yards and eight touchdowns, and his workload could grow further with the Ravens down to their third quarterback.

All told, the model projects 48 combined points, with the Over hitting in 60 percent of its simulations. It also identifies one side of the 10-point spread as the stronger value play for Thursday's contest.