Lamar Jackson of the Ravens throws a touchdown to Isaiah Likely.
The Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson scored the first touchdown of the game just before halftime, after throwing an interception on Sunday night.
Jackson hit tight end Isaiah Likely to score a 16-yard touchdown on Baltimore’s last drive of the first half.
This gave the Ravens a 10-0 lead in the Jacksonville Jaguars. After getting picked off on the previous play, Jackson made 6 of 8 passes to 63 yards as the Ravens successfully converted all three third downs.
In the second half, Jackson showed off his unique ability to avoid sacks to set up the Raven’ second score.
He threw a 26-yard pass to Likely that led to a Jacksonville touchdown. After that, Gus Edwards knocked it in, giving the Ravens a 17–7 lead early during the fourth.
The first half was different from the second because Jackson was better at making long passes compared to short ones. It took him five out of six passes for at least 10 yards to score. It’s six out of ten strikes under 10 yards that he can’t catch.
Jackson led Baltimore’s offense in the first half. He bought time with his presence in the pocket during passes and made most of the runs. He has run for 30 yards and thrown for 134 yards, for a total of 164 yards of scoring.
Trevor Lawrence, QB for the Jaguars, lost a fumble to the Baltimore 23-yard line and couldn’t spike the ball during the Ravens’ 5-yard line with just one second left in the half. Lawrence made a short pass, but there were no timeouts left, so the game was over.
Jackson stayed out of bounds and took a hit, but he still threw a perfect deep pass to tight ending Isaiah Likely that went for 26 yards and set up a score. But he probably held on, even though two players hit him as he tried to catch the ball.
Jackson kept making plays all night that make Jacksonville’s defense mad, but that play might have proved to be the worst one for him. The Jaguars were down three points and needed to stop the game on second-and-6.
After a few plays, running back Leroy Edwards scored a touchdown from 1 yard out, giving the Ravens a 17–7 lead with 14:58 left in the game.
ESPN Stats & Information says that Jackson had 11 yards in separation on the touchdown pass, which is the most on any touchdown pass the has made in his six-year NFL career. Likely was open at the time of the play.
This was Likely’s first score of the season. He was picked in the fourth round of the 2022 draft.
He is taking over for Mark Andrews at tight end, who hurt his ankle and will miss the rest of the season. Jackson threw another deep pass over a touchdown on the next play, this time to Odell Beckham Jr. over a 46-yard score.
Beckham used a double move upon safety Jordan Fuller to get past the Rams’ defense. Jackson has had three touchdowns in his career, but this is the only third time he has had two that went at least 25 yards.
A few more times, the lead changed hands. With 1:16 left in the game, Jackson found WR Zay Flowers within the end zone. After making the two-point conversion, the Ravens were ahead 31–28.
The Baltimore Ravens beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 23–7 on Sunday night to win a playoff spot. Lamar Jackson passed a touchdown pass as well as the play of the night as he avoided a sack or threw to Isaiah Certainly near the goal line.
The Ravens (11-3) scored a touchdown, making it four wins in a row. They are now one win away from clinching the No. 1 seed or home-field advantage all through the AFC playoffs.
The Jaguars (8-6) lost three games in a row, all of them against teams from the AFC North. They are now tied for first place in the AFC South. A lot of Jacksonville’s problems were caused by mistakes they made themselves.
Trevor Lawrence lost the ball twice in the most recent loss, including one during the final period that pretty much sealed Baltimore’s eighth win in its final nine games.