After a massively disappointing performance at home last week, the Baltimore Ravens will be back on the road in Week 8 for their third straight game against an AFC opponent with a winning record when they take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.

Coming off an embarrassing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7, in which they blew another double-digit lead after a first-half shutout, the Ravens currently have the worst record in the AFC North at 4-3 and are deservedly alone in last place.

There are several intriguing storylines surrounding this matchup between these two teams with first-year head coaches and Super Bowl aspirations. Here are the top four.

Lamar Jackson is finally back in action

Following his first full week of practice in a month since he suffered a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss the last three games, the two-time MVP will be making his long-awaited return to the starting lineup just in time for arguably the Ravens' toughest test to date. He was a full participant all three days and was removed from the final injury report without a game designation.

"I'm always excited when I'm able to be back on the field with my guys, man," Jackson said. "[I want to] put us in the win column [and] help us get another dub. That's what I'm ready to do."

In Jackson's absence, the offense fell into a godawful rut, failing to score a single point in the second half of three of the team's last four games. The deep passing game was essentially nonexistent without him, and the ground game suffered as well, since opposing defenses didn't respect their ability to push the ball downfield and consistently loaded the box as a result.

"The sense of urgency is extremely high," Jackson said. "The divisional game didn't go the way we wanted to last week, [but] guys [have] just been hitting the ground running. [We are] just trying to get back to where we should be [in] all phases; special teams, defense and offense."

Will Ravens shake momentum dependency?

Having Jackson back, who is unquestionably the heart and soul of the team, will give them a much-needed jolt and a sorely missed confidence boost that their odds of winning are high because he's available. Nevertheless, they can't continue to be a team that only plays well in all three phases when things are going their way and can't pick themselves back up or find a way to stop the bleeding when adversity strikes.

After their other highly compensated core leaders on both sides of the ball failed miserably in their duties when it came to uplifting the team with their words and play on the field last week as the Bengals stormed back, they'll be under a microscope in this game. They need to show that they can bring their own energy and retake momentum if they get punched in the mouth instead of laying back and getting pummeled into submission over and over again, as was the case a week ago.

"We can't let the things dictate how we're going to play," left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. "We can't let things that we can't control affect us and not being a momentum-based team. We have to be able to rise above all that and play to our own standards and as if we just do this because this is what we believe, more than because people are watching or worried about the perception."

Can rushing attack get back on track?

The Ravens have been held to under 100 rushing yards in back-to-back games for the first time in two seasons. Having their star dual-threat signal caller back under center will help lighten the box because of his ability to attack opposing defenses through the air with his arm and present another dangerous running element with his legs.

However, just not having their No. 1 quarterback wasn't the only reason they've struggled mightily to move the ball on the ground with any consistency or explosiveness over the past two weeks. If they want to get five-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry rolling again going up against a Bills run defense that he has averaged 146.3 yards and scored four touchdowns against since joining the Ravens, they'll need to block better along the offensive line and on the perimeter for him to get to the second and third levels.

Henry has been getting contacted in the backfield and at the line of scrimmage for negative plays and minimal gains far too often. With first-round starting right guard Vega Ioane out with a knee injury in this game, they'll need their struggling remaining guards to stop up and stop blowing so many blocks, as well as better blocking execution from their tight ends.

"There are too many times where we have unblocked players that are unaccounted for that should be accounted for in the scheme," offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. "We have to clean that up as a staff, as players, to be able to go out and execute really what looks good on paper, but we don't play the game on paper. So, as things change, pressures show up and things like that, we have to be able to echo the calls that handle those problems."

How will defense hold up against another elite QB?

Last week, the Ravens went from making Cincinnati's Joe Burrow look rattled and playing at a less-than-pedestrian level in the first half to having a near-flawless performance over the final two quarters. He led five straight touchdown-scoring drives and threw for more touchdowns than he had incompletions, with a 4-2 ratio. Keeping Buffalo's bulldozing behemoth, that is, Josh Allen, will be an even taller task this week because of how dangerous a threat he presents with his strong arm as well as his legs on scrambles and designed runs.

The Bills don't have an advantage when it comes to talent at the skill positions, and if the Ravens' interior defensive line plays up to its potential, the two teams are pretty much equally matched in the trenches. This means this game may ultimately come down to how well they can limit Allen as a runner and improvisational passer on extended and broken plays because he's especially lethal on plays where he buys time for his running backs to leak out of the backfield and pass catchers to uncover deep downfield.

"[It] takes all 11," defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said. "We've got to stop the run, first and foremost, [and] try not to give them [any] 50/50 run [or] pass situations. We know any time it is a pass that can turn into a run too with Josh [Allen]. [It's a] tremendous challenge [with a] tremendous quarterback. We know he's an elite [player], so it's going to take all of us."