FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

Prediction: BAL 13, NYJ 20

This game smacks of a low scoring affair though both have attempted to upgrade their offense and have young quarterbacks on the rise. This should end up as the lowest total score game this weekend. But at home, it has to favor the Jets who have just kissed and made up with Darrelle Revis. This is the other Monday night game. Both the Ravens and Jets were 9-7 wildcard teams last year.

I like the Jets to have a defensive score in this game.

QUARTERBACKS: The former first round pick in 2008 had been on a very nice development track, turning in 2971 yards and 14 scores as a rookie and then jumping up to 3613 yards and 21 touchdowns last year. And now Joe Flacco has better receivers? The Ravens not only have vastly upgraded the wideouts, they also drafted two promising tight ends and Ray Rice is a great weapon as a receiver as well. Flacco may or may not have another significant increase in production but it won't come from a lack of targets.

That all said - these are the Jets who ranked #1 against both quarterbacks and wide receivers. This is as bad as it gets to start out a season.

RUNNING BACKS: The Ravens ranked #1 with both 151 targets and 115 receptions to the running backs. They tied for #1 with the Chargers with 952 receiving yards by the tailbacks as well. The Ravens also ranked #1 with 21 rushing scores by the running backs. Ray Rice had a monster breakout season in 2009 when he ended with 2041 total yards and eight scores. Had the Ravens not used Willis McGahee for short yardage touchdowns, Rice would have been more valuable than Chris Johnson last year. Plus RIce saw his workload increase as the season progressed.

The run is where the Ravens have to attempt to compete and Rice's role as as receiver will come into play this week as well. Look for RIce to be the only decent start but even that is a risk.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Big changes that maybe won't be as apparent this week. Anquan Boldin comes over to give Flacco a #1 target while Derrick Mason remains in his possession role. T. J. Houshmandzadeh is expected to play this week according to HC John Harbaugh but the expectations are even lower on him. This will be a good unit and make Flacco look good, it's just not going to happen in week one. It simply does not get any worse than on the road to face the Jets for a wideout.

TIGHT ENDS:Todd Heap remains the primary tight end but there has never been less call for one for the Ravens now flush with wideouts and the 30 year-old Heap watched his team draft two promising tight ends in the draft. Heap is a non-start this week.

Pregame Notes: The Jets come off a very successful season and while the passing game lagged with a rookie at the helm, it wasn't even necessary in most games thanks to the rushing and defense. The Jets have retooled the offense a bit with the additions of LaDainian Tomlinson and Santonio Holmes and Sanchez was looking sharper as the season progressed. Now that Darrelle Revis has signed and is back, the team looks poised for another playoff run and they are not surprising anyone this time.

QUARTERBACKS: Mark Sanchez had a rather bland rookie season with only 2444 passing yards and 12 touchdowns but he wasn't asked to do much anyway. Sanchez also displayed some growing comfort when he had one of his best efforts of the season in Indianapolis in the AFC championship game when he passed for 257 yards and two scores. He is developing well and will have more targets this season.

The Ravens have a very good secondary though it will be missing S Ed Reed this week. Sanchez isn't going to pass much if he doesn't need and the addition of Holmes has to wait for his suspension to lift. First game out at home - back to the basics of defense and rushing.

RUNNING BACKS: Thomas Jones was released and Shonn Greene given the reins after an impressive playoff run when he records two efforts over 125 rushing yards on the road. Greene is a bruiser with some speed but he has a tendency to get nicked up - he had torn rib cartilage in the playoffs last year. He's joined by LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield and the ratio of carries remains unknown. Last year Jones had the most but he was a veteran and successful. Now Greene has the confidence of the coaches so Tomlinson will play a secondary role. He can supply a third down threat but no team threw as few passes to their running backs as the Jets who only managed 28 receptions for 199 yards last year. Their rushing accounted for the second best mark of 2321 yards and they were #1 with 518 carries. But they do not throw to running backs.

The expectation is that Greene shoulders the lion's share of carries but all passes - however many that may be - will pretty much end up with Tomlinson who can also offer relief to Greene and even potentially be a goal line runner to save the wear and tear on the physical Greene. The Ravens were #2 at stopping the running backs last year but on the road with some defensive elements already missing should allow some success by Greene.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Jerricho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards return but new addition Santonio Holmes has to sit out four weeks before he can join the team. He'll make a difference in this offense that needs more from the passing game. Cotchery led the team with only 57 catches for 821 yards and three scores while Edwards turned in 35 receptions for 541 yards and four scores. There is plenty of room for improvement here but even in the best case scenario - the Jets are never going to be a pass heavy team.

Neither wideout is a safe play this week against the Ravens.

TIGHT ENDS: Dustin Keller is a great blocker and an average receiver with only 45 catches for 522 yards last year. The addition of Tomlinson and Holmes are likely to dig into Keller's meager stats. No reason to start him this week either.