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Jaguars Report Card: Honor roll for Trevor Lawrence-led offense, coaching in Ravens win

Gene Frenette, Florida Times-Union
·5 min read

Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette grades the Jaguars’ performance against the Baltimore Ravens based on execution, effort and game circumstances.

Offense: A-minus

This may well go down as a breakthrough moment in Trevor Lawrence’s career, responding as he did in the final two minutes. He led a 75-yard touchdown drive that included escaping a third-and-21, then won the game on a 2-point conversion pass to Zay Jones (11 catches, 145 yards), who also had a career day with those numbers.

When it looked like the game might be over after a Calais Campbell strip sack, Lawrence followed up by completing 7 of 8 passes for 91 yards, including a phenomenal catch by Marvin Jones on a 10-yard TD preceding the PAT winner. Trevor's numbers were a continuation of a recent trend of his arrow pointing up the last three games: 29 of 37 passes for 321 yards, 3 TDs and a 129.8 rating.

More coverage from the Jaguars' win

The Jaguars’ franchise QB showed textbook traits of poise and precision throwing when his team needed it most. After doing little on their first two possessions, the Jaguars took advantage of ideal field position to march 50 yards for their first touchdown on an exquisitely thrown pass down the right sideline to open backup RB JaMycal Hasty for a 28-yard touchdown.

Hasty, filling in for the injured Travis Etienne (foot), also had a 13-yard run in the first half and several runs where he ran tough and picked up more yards than was really there. The Jaguars also overcame a dreadful third quarter where they ran just 10 plays for 20 yards.

Thanks in large part to Lawrence's heroics, the Jaguars overcame a minimum 7-point deficit in the final minute for the first time in their history. They were previously 0-175.

Defense: C-plus

For the fifth time this season, Mike Caldwell’s unit was given a lead in the fourth quarter and couldn’t hold on to it. They let 35-year-old DeSean Jackson get behind the coverage of safety Rayshawn Jenkins and Chad Muma for a 62-yard catch that set up a 12-yard touchdown pass to wide open TE Josh Oliver, the former Jaguar, with 2:02 left.

Early on, the defense did an effective job of keeping the Ravens out of the end zone in the first half, holding them to three field goals and were aided twice by missed connections to receiver DeMarcus Robinson.

On the first one, QB Lamar Jackson overthrew his wide open target on a deep ball at the Jaguars’ 4-yard-line. The next possession, Jackson hit him in the numbers as Robinson went down to catch the pass in the end zone and dropped it. Those misses kept the Jaguars in striking distance the whole game.

Safety Andrew Wingard forced the day’s biggest turnover, popping the ball loose from Gus Edwards that led to a Tyson Campbell recovery and then a go-ahead field goal with 4:19 left. Before that, the defense's best moment came when they stopped Jackson on a fourth-and-1 QB sneak at midfield, which set up the Jaguars' first touchdown.

Special teams: A-minus

Punter Logan Cooke had a phenomenal day even by his high standards as he nailed three consecutive punts for 70, 68 and 68 yards, all of which could have potentially been downed near the goal line.

The first attempt hit at the Ravens’ 7 and bounced into the end zone for his longest punt of the season. On his third punt from his own 32, Daniel Thomas barely got to the bouncing ball inside the 1, batting it backwards and Chris Claybrooks ended up downing it at the 2.

It was one of the most superbly executed special-teams plays of the year. Caleb Johnson and Tim Jones combined to tackle Ravens’ returner Devin Duvernay at the 6-yard-line, which preceded the fumble recovery by Campbell on the next play.

Ravens kicker Justin Tucker and punter Jordan Stout didn’t give the Jaguars any return opportunities.

Riley Patterson, who made his only field goal attempts from 22 and 29 yards, had a shaky squib kick at the end that ended up giving Tucker a chance to win the game, but his 67-yard field goal try was short. Tucker holds the NFL record by making a 66-yard field goal in 2021.

Coaching: A

This is easily the first big signature win for Doug Pederson, being able to rally in the closing minute when trailing the first-place Baltimore Ravens and converting the gutsy two-point try at the end for an exhilarating victory.

Pederson trusted the red-hot Lawrence to deliver in the clutch moments at the end, getting out of a third-and-21 situation and converting a fourth-down attempt in the process.

Despite the defense seemingly giving up a game-winning touchdown with two minutes remaining, the Jaguars showed their trademark resiliency, a staple of the Pederson regime. This could potentially be a turning point for the franchise.

Pederson had a strange challenge in the first half on a 5-yard pass, throwing the red flag on first down because he thought the tipped pass hit the ground as Robinson caught the ball. He lost the challenge and the timeout.

However, Pederson also made smart use of his timeouts, spending two before the two-minute warning to give the offense extra time on the final drive.

With Etienne hurt and the Ravens being such a good run defense, Pederson did the right thing by putting the game in Lawrence’s hands, which is what gave the Jaguars the best chance to survive one of their wildest games in years.

Pederson deserves the highest mark for trusting his players to go win the game on that two-point PAT. Even if it failed, that's the right call when a team is 3-7 and facing a first-place team.

Gene Frenette Sports columnist at Florida Times-Union, follow him on Twitter @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' offense, Doug Pederson get top grades in win vs. Ravens