The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to 8-6 on Sunday night when the Baltimore Ravens handed them a third consecutive loss.
It was an all too familiar formula that doomed the Jaguars in the 23-7 loss. Despite finding 333 yards of offense, Jacksonville’s only points came on one 65-yard touchdown.
The Jaguars drove inside the Ravens’ 40-yard line five times and the red zone three times, but somehow finished with zero points to show for it. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence fumbled away one of those possessions, made a crucial error that ran out the clock on another, and turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter. The other two were missed field goals.
Jacksonville had its opportunities and simply didn’t come nearly close enough to capitalizing on them. Here are the players who struggled most Sunday as well as those who stood out in the losing effort:
Dud: QB Trevor Lawrence
The stat line doesn’t really do justice to the inaccurate, mistake-filled night Lawrence had Sunday. He finished with 264 passing yards, 41 rushing yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions. He also fumbled away two possessions, threw short of the goal line in the final seconds of the first half, and missed wildly on a few plays.
Dud: K Brandon McManus
Officials may have missed a roughing call on the first field goal attempt of the night from McManus, but that wasn’t why his 50-yarder bounced off the right upright. About five minutes of game clock later, McManus got his chance at redemption from 55 yards … and missed again.
Stud: OLB Travon Walker
Travon Walker sack no. 6
Straight arm inside, Keeps his outside arm free. Love to see his growth pic.twitter.com/2iQuBI2hEa— Fitz (@LaurieFitzptrck) December 18, 2023
Walker played one of his best games as a pro Sunday night, even if he only finished with four tackles. One of them was a 15-yard, drive-killing sack early in the game that showed off the length, strength, and ability that made him the No. 1 pick in 2022.
Stud: S Rayshawn Jenkins
Gotta be quicker than that!#ProBowlVote + Rayshawn Jenkins | #BALvsJAX on NBC pic.twitter.com/e9wJiAG8Du
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) December 18, 2023
After a week of talking about the defensive communication errors, the Jaguars secondary looked to be on the same page and limited explosive plays from the Ravens. It’s a credit to Jenkins that they did it without Andre Cisco and Tyson Campbell in the lineup. The veteran safety finished with an interception and a sack in the loss.
Dud: Jaguars run game
Jacksonville’s anemic run game showed brief signs of life Sunday. Travis Etienne’s first four carries went for 22 yards, then *poof* it was gone. His next six carries went for just nine yards and the Jaguars essentially gave up on trying to get it going.
Stud: WR/RS Jamal Agnew
The speedy Jamal Agnew goes 65 yards for a TD!
📺: #BALvsJAX on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/8fWNSGquwb pic.twitter.com/VJuiqy60Db— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2023
The only points of the night for the Jaguars came when Agnew streaked down the left sideline and caught a bomb from Lawrence for a 65-yard touchdown. Agnew was also dynamic on returns, taking a punt back 17 yards and three kickoffs back for an average of 30.8 yards.
Stud: CBs Montaric Brown & Darious Williams
Despite buying himself a ton of time on several plays, there really wasn’t much available downfield for Lamar Jackson, who finished with only 171 passing yards. Rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers had just one reception for seven yards and Odell Beckham Jr. also had only one for 14 yards.
Stud: ST Daniel Thomas
Double teamed the gunner but Daniel Thomas was not fazed
📺: #BALvsJAX on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/8fWNSGquwb pic.twitter.com/MGvOp61SIT— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2023
Thomas has been a core special teamer for the Jaguars and one of the NFL’s best gunners for a few seasons now. On Sunday, he came up huge on one play when he split a double team to take down Tylan Wallace after a 2-yard return. The result was a 58-yard net punt for Logan Cooke.
Dud: Homefield advantage
It’s not Jaguars fans’ fault. They’ve showed up in a major way all season and did so again for Sunday Night Football. But instead of capitalizing on what should be a clear advantage, the Jaguars lost in front of their home fans for the fifth time in seven tries.
