The China Mail - Ravens face 'special' Patriots clash as playoffs come into focus

Among many pundits' pre-season favorites, the Ravens have suffered a disappointing and injury-ravaged campaign, and sit second in the AFC North with three games to play.

Needing to catch their divisional rival Pittsburgh, a desperate Baltimore come up against a Patriots team still in the hunt for the conference's crucial number-one seed spot.

"I have to worry about the Patriots. I can't think ahead (to the playoffs). I have to focus on these guys, because it's an explosive defense, an explosive offense. So we have to lock in," said Jackson.

The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player has had a trying season with injuries, and missed training this week with illness, but brushed off concerns it would affect his play.

"No matter where we're at... this game is special," said the quarterback.

The Patriots suffered a rare hiccup last weekend, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in a 35-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

New England quarterback Drake Maye admitted the defeat after leading 21-0 "stings", and insisted his team had learnt "some things we've got to improve on" against the Ravens.

A win Sunday would keep the Patriots within striking distance of the NFL-leading Denver Broncos.

Meanwhile, on a weekend in which eight different NFL teams could guarantee themselves post-season football, the Steelers host the Detroit Lions in another high-stakes game.

A win for Pittsburgh would leave their destiny in their own hands, regardless of Baltimore's result, while the Lions currently sit just outside the post-season berths.

In a battle of two of the NFL's most in-form teams, the league-leading Broncos (12-2), on an astonishing 11-game win streak and undefeated at home, will aim to convince a few more skeptics that they are true Super Bowl contenders against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Broncos could clinch the AFC number-one seed spot, handing them a playoff bye and home advantage, if they win on home turf this weekend and other results go favorably.

Jacksonville, who have themselves won five games in a row, can seal their own playoff hunt, again depending on scores elsewhere in a high-stakes weekend.

And the joint-leaders of the NFC South -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers -- go head-to-head, with the winner strongly placed to extend their season into January.

The Los Angeles Chargers, in their own playoff hunt, face a faltering Dallas Cowboys team who may have already been eliminated by the time the two sides line up on Sunday.

That will depend on the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles, who can wrap up their division with a win over the lowly Washington Commanders on Saturday.

F.Brown--ThChM