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Jaguars Cruise to Easy Victory Over Anemic Baltimore Ravens
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- Jaguars Cruise to Easy Victory Over Anemic Baltimore Ravens
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Everyone expected the Jacksonville Jaguars to take advantage of a Baltimore Ravens team that was without superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson and his backup, Tyler Huntley.
They sure did.
The Jaguars barely had to break a sweat Thursday night as they cruised to a 33-10 victory over the anemic Ravens, nearly identical to my prediction of 34-10.
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It is Jacksonville's second straight dominant win after stomping the Indianapolis Colts 42-7 last week. The Jaguars improved to 6-2 and continue to look like one of the NFL's best teams.
The scariest thing about Jacksonville's victory?
The Jaguars didn't even come close to bringing their A-game.
Domination In The Rain
When the NFL schedule was released, this game looked like a matchup between two top AFC contenders. It was expected to be a hard-fought battle to establish conference supremacy.
It was anything but.
Without Jackson, the Ravens' offense, led by undrafted rookie QB Joe Fagnano, couldn't get anything going on Thursday night.
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With rain pouring down for much of the game, the Jaguars held Fagnano, who was making his first NFL start, to only 60 passing yards. The rookie was 10-for-18 and threw two interceptions.
The Jaguars held superstar running back Derrick Henry to 57 rushing yards on 17 carries, an average of only 3.4 yards per carry.
Unfortunately, Jacksonville's streak of not allowing a 75-yard rusher ended at 24 games. Justice Hill, Henry's backup, rushed for 85 yards on only nine carries, aided by a 65-yard touchdown run in garbage time.
The Jaguars held Baltimore to only 227 yards of offense, many of which came with the outcome already decided, and 10 first downs the entire game.
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Trevor Lawrence started hot, but cooled off once the skies opened up. He finished 16-for-26 for 242 yards and a gorgeous 50-yard TD strike to Parker Washington.
Running back Bhayshul Tuten, who played despite not practicing all week, was held to 29 rushing yards on 12 carries, but his one-yard TD opened the scoring after a surgical opening drive from the offense.
The Jaguars forced three more turnovers Thursday night, raising their total to 15 for the season. Cornerback Montaric Brown nabbed the Jaguars' first interception of the night, and Jourdan Lewis got the other. The defense also recovered a fumble. Jacksonville brought its turnover differential to a league-best plus-9.
The win was Jacksonville's fourth of at least 20 points this season.
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WR Jakobi Meyers was a beast early, helping the Jaguars' offense get off to a fast start. He finished with a team-leading four catches and 65 receiving yards.
Rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher made another splash play, catching a huge 52-yard pass.
Foye Oluokun notched the team's only sack and surpassed 400 solo tackles since joining the Jaguars in 2022, the most in the NFL in that span. He is the eighth player in franchise history to reach that mark.
The Jaguars stay on the road next week with a divisional matchup against the 1-7 Tennessee Titans.
