Sad news: The Baltimore Ravens have just Fired one of their best players

The win made the first-place Ravens of the American Football Conference history as they secured a postseason berth. Leading from start to finish, they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 23–7 on “Sunday Night Football.” Nine games ago, Baltimore had eight victories.

Lamar Jackson, the quarterback, completed 14 of 24 passes for 171 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also ran 12 times for 97 yards. The game’s most memorable play occurred in the third quarter when tight end Isaiah Likely, standing in for the injured Mark Andrews, caught a jump ball from Jackson after he had twice avoided sacks. Between two Jaguars defenders, Likely—who led the Ravens with five catches, 70 receiving yards, and a touchdown—came down with it. Gus Edwards completed the drive with his season’s eleventh rushing touchdown (and the league’s tenth since Week 7).

The Jaguars wasted a lot of opportunities in the first half. The Jaguars ran out of time inside the 5-yard line, Lawrence fumbled in the red zone, and Brandon McManus missed two field goals that were longer than fifty yards. Since there were no timeouts, Lawrence chose not to spike the ball, and Parker Washington was tackled in bounds. For the second time in the team’s history, Jacksonville failed to score in the first half despite having four possessions inside the opponent’s 40-yard line. In their first game back from injury since Week 9, their lone touchdown came on the longest touchdown pass of Lawrence’s career, a 65-yard wheel route to Jamal Agnew that made it 10-7 in the third quarter. That was as close as the Jaguars could get.

Justin Madubuike, a defensive lineman for the Ravens, hit Lawrence four times, had a sack, and has now recorded at least 0.5 sacks in 11 consecutive games. Baltimore strengthened their position as the NFL’s top scoring defense by recovering two fumbles.

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After going just 2-for-5 in the red zone, Baltimore’s offense struggled. To their advantage, Justin Tucker connected on all three of his field goals (26, 34, and 43).

The Ravens’ luck with injuries did not improve as they managed to get away. In the fourth quarter, left tackle Ronnie Stanley left the game to be assessed for a concussion, and running back Keaton Mitchell also needed to be carted off after appearing to suffer a serious knee injury. Security Marcus Williams missed the second half as well after finishing the first half with a tackle that prevented a touchdown.