Jaguars 28, Ravens 27: Trevor Lawrence Leads a Game-Winning Drive in Career Performance
With the Jaguars down 27-20 and with 2:00 remaining, the Jaguars saw Trevor Lawrence grow up right in front of their eyes.
There were sacks. Fumbles. Missed throws. All on the final drive. But the Jaguars didn't flench.
First, the franchise passer completed a fourth-down pass to Marvin Jones. Then a field-changing deep completion to Zay Jones. Finally, a 10-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones with 18 seconds left and a two-point conversion to Zay Jones gave the Jaguars a 28-27 win to propel them to 4-7.
Jacksonville's big break came in the fourth-quarter, with backup safety Andrew Wingard forcing a Gus Edwards fumble that was recovered by Tyson Campbell and set up a 29-yard Riley Patterson field goal.
On the following drive, the Ravens completed an explosive pass to get near midfield, but a holding penalty pushed them back and gave the Jaguars a chance to push the Ravens back ... until a 62-yard bomb to DeSean Jackson put the Ravens right at the Jaguars' doorstep, setting up a 12-yard touchdown from former Jaguars tight end Josh Oliver.
Jacksonville's offense was stagnant for much of the second half but finally put together a drive with their backs on the wall in the final quarter. A 14-play, 75-yard drive from the Jaguars that saw Lawrence complete a 4th-and-8 pass to Zay Jones for 27 yards ended with Lawrence throwing a one-yard touchdown to Jamal Agnew.
Jacksonville then pinned the Ravens down at the six-yard line on the kickoff, with Wingard's big forced fumble taking place just moments later.
Lawrence finished the game 29-of-37 (78.4%) for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Ravens quickly broke into Jaguars' territory to start the game with some explosive passes in the opening-drive, including a 26-yard gain to Mark Andrews on the first snap of the game.
The Jaguars seemingly found some luck once the Ravens got near their 30, though. On a short pass to Andrews, Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun flew in and jarred the ball loose while forcing a tackle for no yards. Rayshawn Jenkins scooped up the fumble to inject some life into the Jaguars' sideline, but the call was overturned after it was revealed a Jaguars defender had stepped out of bounds before touching the ball.
Jacksonville instead held the Ravens to a 27-yard field goal on the opening drive, but it took just one drive for Lamar Jackson to hit 50 yards passing, with the Jaguars allowing 7.0 yards per play on the first drive.
Jacksonville got off to a so-so start on their first drive. Despite a 24-yard throw to Zay Jones helping erase poor field position after a sack on the first play, the Jaguars' offense completely stalled near midfield on two plays where just a yard was needed.
On 3rd-and-1, the Jaguars opted to hand it off to backup running back JaMycal Hasty behind an unbalanced line, with Hasty not gaining a yard. A Trevor Lawrence quarterback sneak failed to get the first-down on the next play, resulting in a turnover on downs and an eventual second field goal from Tucker to make it a 6-0 game.
Jacksonville was able to avenge the lost fumble later in the half, though. With the Ravens going for their own 4th-down sneak near midfield, the Jaguars stuffed Jackson near the line and Oluokun, again, forced the fumble. This one was stopped up by DaVon Hamilton, giving the Jaguars fantastic field positioning.
Lawrence and the Jaguars took advantage of this, taking just four plays to march 50 yards and score thanks to a 13-yard run from Hasty and a 28-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Hasty. It wasn't Hasty's only big catch of the half, either, with a 24-yard catch on the next drive setting up a 22-yard field goal from Riley Patterson to give the Jaguars an unlikely 10-9 halftime lead.
Hasty had to step up big on Sunday after Etienne's early foot injury, catching five passes for 67 yards and rushing 12 times.
Also stepping up for the Jaguars was veteran wide receiver Zay Jones, who caught all six of his first-half targets for 66 yards to lead the team. Jones finished the game with 11 catches for 145 yards.
The Jaguars had a chance to widen the score, getting the final possession of the first-half and the first possession of the second-half. They mustered just the aforementioned field goal from this, though, with their first drive of the half ending in a three-and-out after a pair of failed receiver screens.
The Ravens, meanwhile, were able to use their first drive of the half to march 10 plays and 74 yards to extend their lead to 12-10 on another Tucker field goal. Most of their yards came on a 40-yard pass-and-catch to Josh Oliver, though a DaVon Hamilton sack on third-down forced the Ravens to settle for three points.
After the Jaguars turned their second possession into another three-and-out due to Evan Engram coming up a yard short on third-down, the Jaguars finally managed to pin the Ravens deep with a 68-yard punt from Logan Cooke, placing the Ravens at their own two-yard line.
While the Jaguars were able to force a Ravens punt, their third-down issues crept up again in a big way when the offense got the ball back.
After starting the game 1-of-6 on third-down, the Jaguars had a number of follies to end the third quarter. First, left tackle Cam Robinson was flagged for a false start on 3rd-and-5. On the next play, Lawrence attempted to scramble but was crushed by a Ravens defender from behind, losing the football on a fumble at Jacksonville's own 25-yard line.
The Ravens made sure to make the most of the turnover, quickly picking up yards in the short field before a Gus Edwards score from the one-yard line made it a 19-10 game. The third-quarter was disastrous for the Jaguars, with Jacksonville picking up 21 net yards on three drives, with their lone first down coming via penalty.
The Jaguars (4-7) will next travel to Detroit to play the Lions.
Stats of the Game (11/27/22 vs. the Ravens) Via: @theryanmichael
Trevor Lawrence finished the game 29 of 37 (78.4%) for 321 yards, 3 touchdown passes, 1 two-point conversion completion, 0 interceptions and a career-high 129.8 passer rating.
If you include the two-point conversion (game-winning) completion and subtract the 3 dropped passes, Lawrence was 30 of 35 (85.7%).
Lawrence notched his 7th career win—with 6 of those wins coming against opposing quarterbacks drafted in the first round (11/27/22 vs. Lamar Jackson, 9/25/22 vs. Justin Herbert, 9/18/22 vs. Matt Ryan, 1/9/22 vs. Carson Wentz, 11/7/21 vs. Josh Allen and 10/17/21 vs. Tua Tagovailoa).
Lawrence produced his 6th game of the season with a passer rating of 105.0+ (min. 20 attempts)—setting a new Jaguars franchise record.
With 321 passing yards (6,296), Lawrence eclipsed 6,000 for his NFL career.
With 3 touchdown passes (28), Lawrence surpassed Chad Henne (27) to move into 6th place in Jaguars franchise history.
With 0 interceptions, Lawrence recorded the 16th game of his NFL career with 0 interceptions.
With 46 receiving yards, Christian Kirk now has 725 for the season for the 2022 season, the second highest mark of his career—with 6 games left to play.
Foyesade Oluokun led the team with 18 total tackles, bringing his total to 113 for the season, marking the 3rd season of his NFL career with 100+ total tackles.
Photo: Via Alex Shepherd
