Jaguars Rout Ravens 33–10 As Rookie Fagnano’s First Start Meets A Real Defense

The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens 33–10 on Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium, in a game that was a contest for roughly one quarter. Jacksonville scored on its opening drive, led 17–3 at half-time, intercepted Baltimore's rookie quarterback twice in the second half, and closed out a 23-point win in the rain to go to 6–2.

The opening drive set the terms: seven plays, 77 yards, Trevor Lawrence 3-of-4 for 72 yards including a 52-yard completion to rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher, and Bhayshul Tuten in from the 1. Baltimore answered with Jake Moody's 53-yard field goal — 7–3, and as close as the Ravens ever got.

The break came with 58 seconds left in the half. Baltimore blitzed safety Kyle Hamilton; Lawrence found Parker Washington behind it, at the Ravens' 35, and Washington ran the rest of the way for a 50-yard touchdown. 17–3 at the break, with Jacksonville outgaining Baltimore 223 yards to 101. Hamilton's night did not last much longer: the All-Pro safety was ruled out near the end of the third quarter with a hip injury, the Ravens announced.

The Rookie's Night

Joe Fagnano's first NFL start was the story Baltimore could not avoid. The undrafted rookie from UConn, starting because Lamar Jackson is on injured reserve and Tyler Huntley is out — and because the Jacoby Brissett trade could not close in time — went 7-of-11 for 30 yards in the first half, leaning on Derrick Henry (12 carries, 51 yards at the break, including direct-snap wildcat plays) to shorten the game. Henry's quiet milestone was the home crowd's one celebration: those 51 first-half yards carried him past Jerome Bettis (13,662 career rushing yards) and LaDainian Tomlinson (13,684) into seventh place on the NFL's all-time rushing list.

The second half was shorter than the plan. Fagnano's first drive after half-time ended on its third play, an overthrow of Zay Flowers intercepted by Montaric “Buster” Brown. Cam Little's 45-yard field goal made it 20–3. In the fourth quarter Little added a 47-yarder for 23–3, Jourdan Lewis jumped a route to Flowers for Fagnano's second interception, and Little's 33-yarder made it 26–3 — four field goals from four tries for Little on the night: 36, 45, 47 and 33 yards. A fumbled kickoff return, recovered by Jalen McLeod, set up Chris Rodriguez Jr.'s 2-yard wildcat touchdown with 7:26 left for 33–3. Baltimore's only touchdown came on the next play from scrimmage: Justice Hill broke away for a 65-yard run with 7:15 left, cutting it to 33–10. Fagnano finished 10-of-18 for 60 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Lawrence finished his working night at 16-of-26 for 242 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions.

What It Means

Jacksonville, 6–2, leaves Baltimore with its AFC South lead strengthened and a quarterback playing the most controlled football of his career — the Jaguars have won 14 of their last 17 regular-season games on the count kept by the Florida Times-Union's live blog. Baltimore, 4–5, gets an 11-day break before its next game against the Chargers — and, on the reporting, a new starting quarterback arriving by then. The Brissett trade is expected to close in the coming days. Thursday night was the last game of the emergency; the scoreboard showed exactly what the emergency cost.

Sources: USA Today and Jacksonville.com (Florida Times-Union) live blogs; Baltimore Ravens (team site) on the Hamilton injury; NBC Sports; Sportradar live feed (quarter-by-quarter and player lines).