Report Card: Ravens 23 Jaguars 7

The Ravens picked up their 11th win of the season and a ticket to the postseason — while giving viewers a genuine what-in-the-name-of-all-things-Edgar-Allen-Poe-did-I-just-see play, courtesy of one Lamar Jackson.

Big picture, it was a good night. Little picture, well… let’s look at the grades.

Offense

Overall: B

The Ravens scored 23 points and had 396 yards of total offense on a windy, wet evening in Jacksonville, but they truly impressed with their run game, particularly in the second half. The Ravens rushed for 251 yards, with three different ball-carriers exceeding 50 yards. It wasn’t a spectacular game with the pass offense, but there was that aforementioned play that truly was spectacular. Clutch possessions in the second half, and a bruising close to the game elevate the overall grade.

Quarterback: A-

The passing numbers weren’t great — 14-24 for 171 yards with a touchdown and an interception, good for a less-than-mediocre rating of 76.9. And he got tricked on that interception in the second quarter. But he was under relentless assault from the edges all game, created passing pockets and run lanes with his creativity and athleticism and made a spectacular play to escape the pass rush and put a ball where Isaiah Likely could make a play to set up a huge touchdown. He also rushed for 97 yards, including a big run of 15 early in the fourth quarter when the Ravens held a 10-point lead, and a 21-yarder at the end of the game that sealed it. He played better than his numbers would suggest. He was a star.

Running Backs: B+

Keaton Mitchell was beginning to take over the game in the second half before going down with a scary-looking injury. He had rushed for 73 yards on nine carries, and had a 15-yard catch-and-run. Gus Edwards had another short touchdown run, but also looked a little quicker than he had the past couple weeks. Justice Hill looked fast, and had some nice blocks in pass sets. Patrick Ricard helped settle down the tackles in the second half with some hard-nosed blocking.

Receivers: C

Likely was very good, with 70 yards and a touchdown on five catches. Jackson will have a lot of the headlines on that miraculous play, but Likely was every bit as impressive, out-muscling, out-leaping and out-wanting two defenders to make a gigantic play in a close game. He is seizing his opportunity. Rashod Bateman also looked good, with 39 yards on three catches, with two of them coming on the Ravens’ opening scoring drive. Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers were quiet on the evening, combining for two catches on five targets. Charlie Kolar had a really big 15-yard catch to close the third quarter.

Offensive Line: C-

The tackles were beat repeatedly throughout the night. It was a better performance in the second half, particularly in the run game. Tyler Linderbaum and Kevin Zeitler appeared to put in nice performances, and John Simpson had an awful penalty for a head butt inside the Jacksonville two-yard line. Likely’s touchdown catch saved the day on that drive. Ronnie Stanley had a rough night, coming off one of his better performances, and Morgan Moses got beat cleanly for a sack late in the first quarter to kill a drive. This was a much-lower grade before they turned into absolute bullies to end the game.

Defense

Overall: B

The Ravens held the Jaguars to 333 yards of offense, 65 of which came on a busted coverage that was also the only score of the game for Jacksonville. And the run defense, outside of Trevor Lawrence’s 41 yards on the ground, held the Jags to 34 yards on 13 carries. The pass rush only finished with one sack, but they held Jacksonville to less than six yards per pass play, and recovered two fumbles.

Defensive Line: B+

Justin Madubuike was one of the best players on the field, and finally got rewarded for his efforts with a late sack that came his way via a relentless motor and Patrick Queen chasing Lawrence his way. Madubuike also forced a big intentional grounding call, and had four quarterback hits — all of the quarterback hits the Ravens had on the night. Brent Urban had a big tackle for loss and also dropped into coverage to force an incompletion. Jadeveon Clowney and Odafe Oweh did a really nice job on the edges, and each had three tackles. Michael Pierce moves the line of scrimmage a couple times a game.

Linebackers: B-

Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen were both a little quiet, though Queen did figure in that Madubuike strip sack and Smith had a great open-field tackle on Travis Etienne late in the third quarter. Kyle Van Noy flashed by sniffing out a screen in the second quarter. It wasn’t a bad game by the unit, by any means, just a bit quieter than normal.

Defensive Backs: B+

Kyle Hamilton managed to not only avoid a catastrophic injury last week, but also stood out as possibly the top dog on the field on the defensive side. Hamilton had a team-leading seven tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass defensed on that weird play in the end zone when Calvin Ridley was ruled to not catch the ball after Hamilton’s diving deflection (Ridley caught that ball, by the way. It was awesome.). Marcus Williams was hurt on a terrific play he made at the end of the first half to keep the receiver in bounds. Arthur Maulet continues to find his way into the action. He had good coverage on an incompletion to Ridley in the second quarter, and recovered Lawrence’s first fumble, but he was also involved in that busted coverage that allowed a 65-yard touchdown. Brandon Stephens, another apparent participant in the play, was strong outside of that one, with four tackles, a tackle for loss and good coverage on a third-and-10 incompletion late in the fourth quarter. Marlon Humphrey was in tight coverage on several incompletions, including a big third-and-10 late in the fourth quarter. He had four tackles and d a pass defensed after a difficult game last week.

Special Teams: C

Justin Tucker was Justin Tucker, making all three of his field goals and both extra points on a night that looked difficult for the kickers. Jordan Stout was also good, pinning two kicks inside the Jacksonville 15. But the coverage teams were not good, allowing 91 yards on three kickoff returns by Jamal Agnew, and a punt return by the returner for 17 yards. Tylan Wallace did not repeat his heroics from last week, having a three-yard return on his only try.

Coaching: B

The Ravens were relentless, overcoming injuries throughout the game and playing good situational football in the second half. The breakdown that allowed Jacksonville’s touchdown was disappointing, but that probably fell on the players. The Ravens adjusted with a physical approach on both sides of the ball in the second half. The Ravens did appear to have no answers for the tackles getting dominated in the first half, but having the linemen move forward with run-blocking appeared to help. I didn’t hate the decision to not have Tucker try that 55-yarder in the same direction Brandon McManus was struggling.