The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off a comeback for the ages Sunday, scoring 18 points in the final six minutes of a 28-27 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
It was the first time in franchise history that the Jaguars overcome a deficit of seven or more points in the final minute of a game, snapping a 183-game losing streak in that situation.
The dramatic victory kept the Jaguars’ slim postseason hopes alive, and showed that the team is capable of closing out a tight game — something that certainly wasn’t true in the month of October.
It remains to be seen if the Jaguars exorcised some demons with the win, but the showing impressed experts, regardless. A win over the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens, unsurprisingly propelled Jacksonville up power rankings with six weeks left in the 2022 season:
USA Today (Nate Davis)
Jaguars ranking: 18 (last week 22)
Sunday’s win over Baltimore made Jacksonville 1-183 when trailing by at least seven points with a minute left in regulation. Easier to buck such a trend when WR Zay Jones unexpectedly explodes for career highs in catches (11) and yards (145).
NFL.com (Dan Hanzus)
Jaguars ranking: 23 (last week 29)
Jaguars fans will one day look back on Nov. 28, 2022, as the day Trevor Lawrence officially arrived as their franchise savior. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft had been making strides in recent weeks, but the QB took his game to another level in Sunday’s dramatic 28-27 win over the Ravens. Lawrence threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns, capped by a scoring toss to Marvin Jones with 14 seconds to play and a gutsy two-point conversion strike to Zay Jones that stole a win from Baltimore and sent the crowd at TIAA Bank Field into hysterics. “We’ve been on the wrong side of these a lot,” Lawrence said. “To win games like this, it’s awesome. Nothing like it.”
ESPN (Michael DiRocco)
Jaguars ranking: 22 (last week 26)
Realistic expectation: Getting to six victories. It doesn’t sound like a lofty goal, but that would be the most games the franchise has won in a season since 2019. Since then, the Jaguars have won a total of eight. They have won two of their past three, including an upset of Baltimore this past Sunday, and if they somehow go on a roll — and that’s asking a lot, since they play four playoff contenders — they could even have a chance to finish 8-9 — which would mark only the second time in the past 12 seasons that they didn’t finish with double-digit losses.
Pro Football Talk (Mike Florio)
Jaguars ranking: 24 (last week 30)
They’re the kid who brings home straight A’s once per year, while otherwise struggling to pass all his classes.
CBS Sports (Pete Prisco)
Jaguars ranking: 20 (last week 28)
That was a big-boy moment for Trevor Lawrence to beat the Ravens with a late-game drive for a touchdown. This team will be a playoff team in 2023.
Yahoo Sports (Frank Schwab)
Jaguars ranking: 22 (last week 26)
The 129.8 passer rating Trevor Lawrence posted on Sunday was the best of his career. It’s the first time he has posted a rating of 100 or better and also threw for more than 262 yards. It was the first time Lawrence has led a game-winning fourth-quarter touchdown drive in his NFL career. (He gets credit for one other against the Raiders, but the Jaguars scored the go-ahead TD four seconds into the fourth quarter.) It’s quite possible the Jaguars’ win Sunday was a landmark day for Lawrence and the entire franchise. But he has to build on that great performance.
