The first goal that the Ravens set each summer has been achieved. Lamar Jackson threw one touchdown pass, Gus Edwards ran for a score and Justin Tucker booted three field goals as the Ravens rolled past the host Jacksonville Jaguars, 23-7, on Dec. 17 and clinched a spot in the postseason.
With the win, coupled with losses by Denver and Pittsburgh this weekend, the Ravens (11-3) have become the first team in the AFC to clinch a playoff berth this season.
This marks the 11th time in head coach John Harbaugh’s 16 seasons that the Ravens have advanced to the postseason. Now, they will focus on trying to secure the AFC North title and at least one home playoff game; they haven’t hosted a playoff game since 2019.
Against Jacksonville, the Ravens were ragged at times offensively and lost rookie running back Keaton Mitchell to a season-ending knee injury, but they still pulled away to their fourth win in a row.
The Jaguars (8-6), losers of three straight, surely helped the Ravens’ cause as they missed out on multiple scoring chances in the first half.
The Ravens opened up a 10-0 halftime lead on a 43-yard field goal by Tucker and then a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to tight end Isaiah Likely with 1:12 left in the half.
Jackson also threw an interception in the first half, but the Jaguars failed to take advantage when quarterback Trevor Lawrence fumbled and Ravens cornerback Arthur Maulet recovered at the Ravens’ 19-yard line.
The Jaguars had three other first-half scoring chances and came up with nothing.
Kicker Brandon McManus missed field goals from 50 and 55 yards, and the Jaguars also botched a sequence in the final seconds of the half. Lawrence completed a 36-yard pass to Zay Jones to the Ravens’ 5-yard line, but rather than spike the ball to stop the clock, Lawrence threw a short pass to Parker Washington. Ravens safety Marcus Williams tackled Washington inbounds, and the Jaguars, who had no timeouts left, failed to get off another play before halftime.
Early in the third quarter, though, Jaguars wide receiver Jamal Agnew got behind the Ravens’ secondary for a 65-yard touchdown to cut the Ravens lead to 10-7, but the Ravens countered with a 1-yard score by Edwards on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
Here are five quick observations of the game, the Ravens’ eighth win in their past nine games after a 3-2 start:
1. Keaton Mitchell’s injury adds another challenge to the offense.
The Ravens have already had to soldier on without All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews, who is out until at least the postseason with an ankle injury, and now they’ve lost dynamic rookie running back Keaton Mitchell to a knee injury.
Mitchell went down after a 13-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and he was carted off the field. He finished the game with nine carries for 73 yards and also caught two passes for 15 yards.
After the game, head coach John Harbaugh said Mitchell’s season is over.
That’s brutal news for the rookie and for the team. Mitchell was already a great story as a second-generation Raven, the son of one of their first Super Bowl champions. But more important was the way the undrafted rookie from East Carolina had sparked the offense after coming back from a preseason injury.
In eight games, Mitchell ran 47 times for 396 yards and two touchdowns. He also had nine catches for 93 yards, meaning the elusive speedster averaged 8.7 yards every time he touched the ball. That’s a remarkable rate of production, and one the Ravens will be hard-pressed to duplicate.
The Ravens have been here before; Mitchell was sidelined for the first five games, so the Ravens know they can win without him. But he brought a skill-set to the offense that neither Edwards, nor Justice Hill, nor Melvin Gordon nor former teammate Kenyan Drake could match.
Now, Mitchell joins J.K. Dobbins and Andrews on the injured list, and the Ravens must find ways to overcome that.
2. Isaiah Likely is emerging as exactly who the Ravens needed.
Lamar Jackson ducked away from a sack, dodged his way out of trouble, then heaved a deep pass across the field toward the far pylon. At first, it appeared to be an ill-advised throw. Then tight end Isaiah Likely came back for the ball, elevated between two defenders and hauled in the 26-yard catch at the Jaguars’ 4-yard line.
Two plays later, running back Gus Edwards barreled across the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown run and a 17-7 lead that provided all the cushion the Ravens would need.
Likely led the Ravens with five catches for 70 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown that gave them a 10-0 lead late in the first half.
Likely isn’t the All-Pro Andrews, but at 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds, Likely is a big target who, as he showed on Jackson’s deep ball, will compete for contested catches and will present a physical matchup problem for defensive backs.
After Andrews went down with an injury, Likely expressed extreme confidence that he could succeed as that next man up. He had shown that in spurts last year; Likely had a career-high 103 yards in the regular-season finale when Andrews sat out.
In three games since replacing the injured Andrews this season, Likely has 14 catches for 193 yards, and he has scored a touchdown in back-to-back games — something he also did last year when Andrews was hurt.
Likely doesn’t have that telepathic connection with Jackson that Andrews did, but it’s clear that Jackson increasingly trusts the second-year tight end. And with teams focused on stopping receivers such as Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers, Likely showed how he can be a dangerous component to this offense as well.
3. Kyle Hamilton’s toughness set the tone defensively.
Kyle Hamilton was questionable to play this week after leaving the game last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams with a knee injury. He practiced with a visible knee brace this week, but by Friday he was practicing fully and he seemed fully committed to playing if possible.
Hamilton was listed as questionable, but not only did he play, he led the Ravens with seven tackles and had a tackle for loss, his 10th of the season, extending a franchise record for a defensive back. He also extended his 6-foot-4 frame to get a piece of a pass that was juggled and then caught out of the back of the end zone by Calvin Ridley. (The Jaguars unsuccessfully challenged the call.)
To be sure, the Ravens had a lot of other standouts defensively, as for the ninth time in 14 games this season, Mike Macdonald’s defense limited the opposing offense to no more than one touchdown.
Arthur Maulet, who made a crushing tackle on the game’s opening kickoff, had a big fumble recovery when Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence simply lost a grip on the ball, in the red zone no less. Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens were physical in coverage. Defensive lineman Justin Madubuike picked up a sack, and in the process he tied an NFL record by recording at least a half-sack in his 11th straight game.
Hamilton, though, set the tone, as much simply by his presence as anything. At one point, the TV broadcast sound clearly picked up Lawrence yelling, “Watch 14!” Hamilton wears No. 14.
Lawrence knew what other have seen all year: Hamilton is a game-changer, and his ability to fight through his injury and deliver for the Ravens is a big reason their defense shut down the Jaguars.
4. The Ravens need more from their tackles for a deep postseason run.
Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley (knee) and right tackle Morgan Moses (shoulder) have been dealing with injuries all season, and Stanley left this game to be evaluated for a concussion as well. But the Ravens’ inability to find much rhythm offensively was in large part due to the Jaguars decisively and repeatedly winning on the edge.
The Jaguars finished with three sacks and nine quarterback hits, and that sack total doesn’t include an intentional grounding call when Lamar Jackson threw the ball away with Josh Allen bearing down on his blind side. Allen had blown past Stanley, and earlier in that series he had beaten Stanley to stuff Keaton Mitchell after a 1-yard gain.
As they did last week, the Ravens shuffled in reserves Patrick Mekari on the left side and Daniel Faalele on the right to give both the ailing veterans some plays off.
Jackson finished this game with modest numbers, going 14-for-24 for 171 yards. He rarely had a clean pocket, and some of his biggest plays came when he improvised or pulled a typical Jackson, Houdini-like escape to either run or throw.
But for the Ravens’ offense to operate in rhythm, the top tackles need to be better when they face one good edge rush after another in the postseason.
5. Christmas night will be fun, but Miami game is the key.
With this win, the Ravens remain in position for the AFC’s No. 1 seed with three games left, though John Harbaugh was not about to look that far ahead.
“There’s No. 1 seed. There’s no such thing as that right now,” Harbaugh said last week. “Just because they put a bracket on the TV screen, it doesn’t mean anything. … We have to go earn everything we get, and if we earn it, then we’ll get it. If we don’t earn it, we won’t. So we’re going to try to win as many games as we can, climb as high as we can.”
That begins Christmas night with a prime-time matchup against NFC powerhouse San Francisco, and then the Ravens host the Miami Dolphins in a New Year’s Eve matchup that will have a huge say in the race for the AFC’s top seed.
Even if the Ravens lose at San Francisco to fall to 11-4, the Dolphins (10-4) — who host Dallas (10-4) on Christmas Eve — could do no better than tie the Ravens with a win over the Cowboys. So their New Year’s Eve showdown would be for the AFC’s top spot with one game remaining; no other team in the AFC has 10 wins.
If the Ravens beat San Francisco but lose to Miami, then the Dolphins would own the tiebreaker should the teams tie for the best record in the AFC.
Of course, the Ravens also have a division title to worry about, and those pesky Cleveland Browns (9-5), led by Joe Flacco, aren’t going away. The Browns finish the season against Houston, the New York Jets and Cincinnati, and might be favored to win all three.
Fasten your seatbelts. But at least the Ravens know one thing: Their playoff ticket is punched.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox