The Ravens are officially a playoff team and have kept the inside track to securing the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
With quarterback Lamar Jackson playing a strong game, Baltimore defeated Jacksonville 23-7 on Sunday Night Football to improve their record to 11-3 and clinch a postseason berth.
While Jackson’s passing numbers don’t appear outstanding at first glance — 14-of-24 for 171 yards, one touchdown, one interception — Jackson also rushed for 97 yards on 12 carries. But time and time again, Jackson made the critical throws and critical plays when Baltimore needed them.
Jackson’s best throw of the night came late in the third quarter when he escaped a sack, stood in to take a hit, and fired a pass deep down the left side to Isaiah Likely for a 26-yard gain. That set up Gus Edwards’ 1-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter that put the Ravens up 17-7.
That was all the Ravens would need, but Justin Tucker hit two more field goals in the fourth quarter to get Baltimore to 23 points.
Likely also had a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Tucker had opened the scoring with a 43-yard field goal in the first period.
The Ravens finished with 251 yards rushing, led by Jackson. Undrafted rookie Keaton Mitchell had 73 yards on nine carries. Gus Edwards had 16 carries for 58 yards. Justice Hill had five carries for 23 yards.
But Mitchell may have suffered a significant knee injury. He was carted to the locker room in the fourth quarter and was quickly ruled out.
The Jaguars had plenty of chances to score but seemingly couldn’t get out of their own way — particularly in the first half. Brandon McManus missed field goals of 50 and 55 yards. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence fumbled when trying to gain some extra yards when already in field goal range, dropping the ball as he was transferring it between his hands.
But the worst missed chance came at the end of the first half. With 30 seconds on the clock, Lawrence completed a 36-yard pass to Zay Jones that got the Jags down to the 5-yard line. But with no timeouts and the clock running, Lawrence inexplicably threw to Parker Washington in the flat for a 1-yard gain. Washington wasn’t close to getting out of bounds and time ran out before Jacksonville could run another play.
The Jaguars got inside the Ravens’ 40-yard line on four consecutive drives but didn’t score a point — just the second time in franchise history that had happened.
Lawrence connected with Jamal Agnew for a 65-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter. But that was the only time Jacksonville would get on the scoreboard.
Lawrence finished 25-of-43 for 264 yards with a touchdown and two lost fumbles.
With the win, the Ravens became the first AFC team to clinch a playoff berth. They’ll play the 49ers on Christmas night before facing the Dolphins and Steelers at home to end the season.
The Jaguars are now 2-4 since their Week 9 bye and have lost each of their last three games — all to AFC North opponents. The club is now in a three-way tie for the best record in the AFC South with 8-6 Houston and 8-6 Indianapolis, though Jacksonville has the tiebreaker over both divisional opponents.
Jacksonville will be on the road to play Tampa Bay in Week 16.
