On a rainy night, the Jaguars stormed into Baltimore and left with a 33-10 win over the Ravens on “Thursday Night Football.” The win moved Jacksonville to 6-2, while Baltimore is now 4-5.
The Jaguars took advantage of a Ravens team that was without quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley. It was an especially dominant performance by a Jaguars defense that tormented Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Fagnano, who was making his first career start.
Fagnano completed 10 of his 18 pass attempts for 60 yards and two interceptions. His counterpart, Trevor Lawrence, threw for 242 yards and a touchdown on an efficient 16-for-26 night.
The Jaguars opened the game with a seven-play, 77-yard drive that was capped off by Bhayshul Tuten’s one-yard touchdown run. The score was set up by Lawrence’s 52-yard completion to Nate Boerkircher on the game’s second play.
The two teams then traded field goals and punts before the Jaguars extended their lead on a 50-yard scoring strike from Lawrence to Parker Washington that gave Jacksonville a 17-3 halftime lead. The Jaguars’ offense got a big first half from Jakobi Meyers, who caught four passes for 65 yards in the game’s first 30 minutes.
Jacksonville’s defense set up the next score when Montaric Brown picked off Fagnano on the third play of the second half. The pick set up a Cam Little field goal that extended the Jaguars’ lead to 20-3.
From there, the Jaguars coasted to their sixth win of the season.
Turning point
It was a one-possession game when the Jaguars took over at their own 20 with 2:04 left until halftime. Had Baltimore’s defense forced a stop, it would have had a chance at consecutive possessions with the ball (the Ravens received the second-half kickoff).
Instead, the Jaguars took control of the game when Lawrence and Washington connected on their 50-yard touchdown just before halftime. On the play, Lawrence stepped up in the pocket before throwing a strike to Washington, who beat his defender before outrunning Baltimore’s secondary to paydirt.
The Jaguars then added to their lead shortly after Brown picked off Fagnano at the start of the second half.
Ravens offense stuck in neutral
Everyone knew that it would be hard for Baltimore to move the ball with a first-time starting quarterback under center. Fagnano did what he could, but Baltimore was ultimately done in by its lack of an intermediate passing game.
The Ravens tried to move the ball with wildcat and runs with Henry and Zay Flowers. And while it occasionally worked, Baltimore couldn’t string together enough positive plays. Baltimore moved the ball on each of its first three drives, but it only reached midfield once.
Baltimore’s offense squandered a chance to get back into the game late in the third quarter after Malaki Starks forced a Travis Hunter fumble. The Ravens’ ensuing drive, however, ended with a botched run attempt on fourth-and-1 from Jacksonville’s 41-yard line.
Jacksonville’s offense took advantage of a short field and added to their lead at the start of the fourth quarter. The Jaguars then made it a 26-3 game after Jourdan Lewis‘ diving interception set up another field goal by Little.
Baltimore’s best play of the night was Justice Hill’s electric, 65-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter. The game was already over by that point, though.
Henry makes history
In a losing effort, Derrick Henry passed two Hall of Fame running backs in the NFL record book. Henry moved past Jerome Bettis and LaDainian Tomlinson for seventh on the NFL’s all-time career rushing list.
Henry entered the game ninth on the all-time list with 13,650 yards. He passed both Bettis and Tomlinson in the first half. Henry rushed for 51 yards on 12 carries in the first half but had just four yards on four carries in the second half. His longest run was just eight yards.