The Jacksonville Jaguars entered Sunday Night Football with a record of 8-5.
A loss would give them the same record as the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans, each 8-6, with both teams chomping at the heels of the Jaguars.
The Baltimore Ravens came onto the field of EverBank Stadium leading the entire AFC at 10-3 overall with just a few weeks to go and the opportunity to be the only AFC team with a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs.
In just a few weeks' time, the Jaguars and Ravens have each been the top team in the AFC.
But Baltimore has performed better in recent history, winning their last three match-ups and seven of their last eight.
Conversely, Jacksonville had lost their last two games and three of their last five.
The Jaguars began with a drive that ended in a punt, while the Ravens flew down the field, getting into scoring position.
However, quarterback Lamar Jackson would be flagged for intentional grounding, leading to fourth down.
As a result, kicker Justin Tucker would come out onto the field for a 43-yard try, booting it through to give the Ravens the early lead, 3-0, at the 6:21 mark of the first quarter.
Jaguars' kicker Brandon McManus tried for the equalizer, but his 50-yard attempt hit the left upright and fell outside the desired area, giving the Ravens the ball on their own 40.
Safety Rayshawn Jenkins, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, and outside linebacker Travon Walker all got to Lamar Jackson on the following drive, Jenkins stopping Jackson after a two-yard gain, Hamilton after one yard, and Walker sacking him for a loss of 15 yards, forcing a three-and-out.
McManus would try from 55 on the team's second drive and the ball sailed to the left, no good.
Jenkins would come up big against Jackson once again, stealing the ball away on an interception over the middle when he got in front of intended wide receiver Nelson Agholor, returning it 18 yards to the Jacksonville 48-yard line.
Head Coach Doug Pederson would elect to go for it on 4th-&-2 and quarterback Trevor Lawrence would find wide receiver Calvin Ridley for 13 yards and a new set of downs.
Later on the same drive, Lawrence would take off on 3rd-&-long and get positive yardage, but would fumble on the run, with Baltimore cornerback Arthur Maulet recovering the ball and returning it 19 yards to the Baltimore 40.
The Ravens would capitalize on this turnover, going 60 yards on 13 plays, ending with Jackson to tight end Isaiah Likely for a 16-yard pass play for a score to extend their lead to 10-0 with 1:12 on the first-half clock.
Wide receiver/special teams returner Jamal Agnew would get the Jaguars close to midfield on a 29-yard kickoff return that followed the Likely score, placing the Jaguars at their own 41.
With no timeouts remaining, Lawrence would go 4-for-5, aiding Jacksonville to get to the Baltimore four-yard line, but they would not get back to the line of scrimmage, running out of time in prime position to score, going into the break with a goose egg still on the board.
Baltimore would open the second half with a punt.
Lawrence would follow by going 4-for-4 on Jacksonville's opening drive of the second half, with his fourth pass going to Agnew for a 65-yard score to give the Jaguars their first points of the night, which came at the 7:15 mark of the third quarter, getting within three, down 10-7.
The Ravens would punt again on their second drive of the second half.
On their next drivem the Jaguars would not get out of their own 20-yard line, with Lawrence getting flagged for intentional grounding on 3rd-&-8, setting up 4th-&-19 from their own one-yard line, resulting in a punt back to the Ravens.
It would only take five plays for Baltimore to go 58 yards, beginning on their own 42 following a three-yard return by wide receiver/special teams returner Tylan Wallace, and ending inside the Jacksonville end zone on a one-yard run by running back Gus Edwards to extend the Ravens' lead to 10 again, 17-7, with 14:58 remaining in the game.
Baltimore would take five minutes and 32 seconds off of the clock on an 11-play drive tha concluded with Tucker's second field goal of the game, this from 26 yards away, to extend their lead to 13, ahead 20-7, with exactly eight minutes remaining.
On the next Jaguars' drive, Lawrence would fumble the ball for the second time on the night, this forced by Ravens' defensive tackle Justin Madubuike and recovered by linebacker Patriick Queen inside the Jaguars' red zone, on the 19-yard line.
Baltimore would gain points off of this turnover on Tuckers third field goal of the night, this from 34 yards out, to raise the Ravens to a 16-point advantage, 23-7, at the 6:01 mark of the fourth quarter.
A touchdown try in the back of the end zone would be reviewed and upheld as an incomplete pass from Lawrence to wide receiver Calvin Ridley and the Jaguars would turn the ball over on downs shortly after, giving the Ravens the ball back on their own 13.
On 3rd-&-1, Jackson would switch fields, going from his own 42 to the Jacksonville 37 on a 21-yard run that would help Baltimore to run the clock down to close this game with a playoff berth as the team rose to 11-3.
The Ravens have now won four in a row and eight of their last nine outings.
Moving in the opposite direction, the Jaguars have now lost their third-straight game and four of their last six, heading to 8-6 on the season,.
The Jaguars still own tiebreakers over both the Colts and Texans, but with all three teams having the same overall record (8-6), there is very, very, very little wiggle room for the Jaguars to beat themselves any more than they already have.
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