What We Saw: Week 12

The What We Saw team recaps everything you missed from Week 12

Ben Brown
What We Saw 2 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Bills @ Lions
Giants @ Cowboys
Patriots @ Vikings
Broncos @ Panthers
Buccaneers @ Browns
Ravens @ Jaguars
Texans @ Dolphins
Bears @ Jets
Bengals @ Titans
Falcons @ Commanders
Chargers @ Cardinals
Raiders @ Seahawks
Rams @ Chiefs
Saints @ 49ers
Packers @ Eagles
Steelers @ Colts

Ravens @ Jaguars

Final Score: Jaguars 28, Ravens 27

Writer: Justin Havelock (@HavelockJustin on Twitter)

 

The opening kickoff between the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars was delayed 25 minutes due to a thunderstorm warning and brief showers. The weather broke quickly though as the skies were sunny and clear when this game started and the rainfall had no impact on the outcome of the game.

 

Baltimore Ravens

 

Quarterback

 

Lamar Jackson: 16/32, 254 Yards, TD | 14 Carries, 89 Yards, Fumble (Lost)

 

Lamar Jackson struggled badly in this game as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense came alive. Defensive end Josh Allen kept him under consistent pressure and the Jaguars’ secondary shut down Mark Andrews quite effectively to take away the Baltimore Ravens quarterback’s main weapon in an already limited offense.

Jackson rushed for 6.3 Yards Per Carry (YPC) against Jacksonville’s run defense as he had to move the sticks by himself for most of the day. He actually crossed 700 rushing yards on the season in this game, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to have four different 700+ yard rushing seasons.

He did manage a few nice passes too here though, including this 62-yard Jackson-Jackson connection with DeSean Jackson.

 

 

 

Running Back

 

Gus Edwards: 16 Carries, 52 Yards, TD | 1 Target | Fumble (Lost)

Patrick Ricard: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 14 Yards

Justice Hill: 1 Carry, 3 Yards

Kenyan Drake: 2 Carries, 2 Yards | 1 Target

 

Gus Edwards returned this week after missing the past two games with a knee injury. He had proved himself worthy of lead back status in Baltimore despite only 27 carries this season by racking up 131 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns this season. That high-volume role did not amount to much against Jacksonville’s run defense as the Ravens’ running back put up a mere 3.25 YPC. Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun wreaked havoc on this backfield all-day, stuffing Edwards four times in honour of Thanksgiving and posting an elite 25% stop rate against him.

Thankfully, Edwards rushed for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. He was tackled quickly behind the line of scrimmage but climbed over bodies on a big second effort and worked his way in for the score.

 

 

He continued to struggle on his very next touch of the game, fumbling the ball inside the Baltimore Ravens’ own end.

The rest of this Ravens’ backfield didn’t fare much better in this matchup. Fullback Patrick Ricard muscled out some solid Yards After Catch (YAC) on a first-quarter check down pass, Justice Hill had a red zone carry for a short gain in the third quarter, and Kenyan Drake took a big tackle for loss on his second rush attempt, unable to build any momentum with Josh Allen on him right away.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Josh Oliver: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 76 Yards, TD

DeSean Jackson: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 74 Yards

Mark Andrews: 7 Targets, 4 Receptions, 50 Yards | Fumble (Recovered)

Devin Duvernay: 2 Carries, 16 Yards | 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 23 Yards

Demarcus Robinson: 4 Targets, 1 Reception, 17 Yards

 

The Baltimore Ravens came into Week 12 with a depleted group of receivers, having already lost wideout Rashod Bateman for the season and rookie Isaiah Likely to a potential multi-week absence after he injured his ankle in practice on Friday and did not travel to Jacksonville with the team. The lack of options in the Ravens’ passing game set the stage for the emergence of tight end Josh Oliver who had a revenge game against his former team.

His day started off quiet, with a first-quarter target on 1st & Goal that was overthrown out of his reach as quarterback Lamar Jackson anticipated tight coverage. On the Ravens’ opening play of the second half, Jackson scrambled, threw on the run, and found his man for a 40-yard gain. Two plays later, Oliver had a high pass slip right through his hands inside the endzone.

 

 

Just outside of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter, the 25-year-old tight end found himself open in the red zone and broke a tackle at the goal line to score a touchdown.

 

 

Oliver also had a pair of 12-yard catches that both led to a first-down conversion, the latter of which set up Justin Tucker’s 67-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the day.

Veteran DeSean Jackson was elevated from the practice squad Saturday evening and served as a depth piece for most of Week 12. After the Ravens narrowly avoided a delay of game penalty, DeSean Jackson’s first target almost became an interception on a contested catch against safety Andre Cisco. The 35-year-old wide receiver redeemed himself in the fourth quarter by showing that he still has some speed left in the tank and outran double coverage to complete a 62-yard reception.

This game started in typical Baltimore fashion as Mark Andrews caught a 25-yard pass on the first play. Unfortunately, the superstar tight end struggled with Cisco and fellow safety Rayshawn Jenkins holding him to three receptions and 25 receiving yards throughout the rest of this matchup. During the same drive, he fumbled the ball after bobbling the catch and being unable to establish possession. Upon review, the officials overturned the call on the field and ruled that Jenkins had recovered his forced fumble out of bounds.

Early in the fourth quarter, Andrews had a chance at a touchdown but he bobbled another catch in tight coverage against Cisco who then shoved him to the ground to shut down the play. The Ravens’ veteran tight end later managed to score a two-point conversion on Josh Oliver’s touchdown, trucking into the endzone with a defender on his back.

Devin Duvernay showed no signs of the hamstring injury that limited him in practice as he racked up seven implied touches to tie with Andrews at the top of this depth chart. His best play of the day actually came on his shortest gain, as he kept his hands underneath the ball on a low pass that briefly touched the ground as he brought it in. The Jacksonville Jaguars even challenged the play, hoping for an incompletion, but the call on the field was upheld.

Duvernay finally made his first drop of the season in the third quarter as he looked up to locate the nearest defender and lost focus on his hands. During the very next play, on 3rd & 10, Jackson went right back to him with a deep pass that soared well over his head.

Demarcus Robinson came into Week 12 questionable with a hip injury. On the second play of the game, Jackson overthrew a deep ball to Robinson that might have gone for a touchdown if the 28-year-old had been able to come up with it. He caught his only pass on 3rd & 4 a few plays later in the same drive.

Robinson saw another first-quarter target on 3rd & 4, this time in the endzone. He mistook the throw for a low pass and dove for the football when he had a chance at a body catch if he stayed upright, missing a second potential touchdown. This was effectively his last target of the day, as his quarterback tossed a dangerous pitch at his feet in the third quarter to avoid a sack.

While the play was called back due to an offensive holding penalty, James Proche delivered on a 23-yard shoestring catch in the fourth quarter.

 

Jacksonville Jaguars

 

Quarterback

 

Trevor Lawrence: 29/37, 321 Yards, 3 TD | 2 Carries, -1 Yard, Fumble (Lost)

 

Trevor Lawrence was sacked on the opening play, the first of four sacks in this matchup, but delivered a strong performance against the Baltimore Ravens. He only had one incomplete pass in each of his first two quarters, both surprisingly coming from Christian Kirk, and was absolutely on fire with Zay Jones all day.

The sophomore quarterback still had some miscues. He threw a risky deep ball in the fourth quarter that was almost intercepted. Safety Geno Stone actually had the pick in his hands but couldn’t hang onto it as he collided with Kirk who came out of the game briefly with an injury after the play.

Lawrence also had a strip-sack in the third quarter after he tried to rush for a first down on 3rd & 9 and was stuffed by the Ravens’ defense on both of his carries. He seemed to improve with each quarter, however, which all culminated in a dominant game-winning drive inside the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter.

 

 

Running Back

 

JaMycal Hasty: 12 Carries, 28 Yards | 5 Targets, 5 Receptions, 67 Yards, TD

Snoop Conner: 3 Carries, 11 Yards

Travis Etienne Jr.: 2 Carries, 3 Yards

 

After he recorded only two carries, Travis Etienne Jr. exited the game with an injury to his left foot. While the broadcast repeatedly called him probable to return in the second half, he sat on the sideline with his helmet off for the rest of the day. It should be noted that this injury was to the same foot that caused Etienne to miss all of last season with a Lisfranc injury.

In Etienne’s absence, JaMycal Hasty had himself a breakout game. While he only rushed for 2.3 YPC, Hasty flexed his ability as a pass-catching back against the Baltimore Ravens. In the second quarter, he caught a 28-yard receiving touchdown on 2nd & 13 to give the Jacksonville Jaguars a brief lead.

 

 

Just before halftime, he caught a 24-yard reception that almost went for a touchdown as well. The Ravens left him wide open as Lawrence baited the defense downfield with his eyes. Hasty pulled the ball in, made a quick turn, and gained quite a bit of YAC before the Ravens were able to make a tackle and prevent him from getting into the endzone again.

Rookie running back Snoop Conner saw his first career NFL touch in the third quarter and picked up two more on the subsequent drive. The Jaguars stuck to Hasty in the fourth quarter, but with potential injuries throughout this backfield Conner might wind up seeing more carries in the near future.

Newly acquired Darrell Henderson Jr. was inactive against the Ravens after being claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Rams. He did not appear on the final injury report though, so this was likely a matter of learning a new playbook in time. Keep an eye on upcoming practice reports to see if Henderson is limited with the knee injury that sidelined him in Week 11.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Zay Jones: 14 Targets, 11 Receptions, 145 Yards

Christian Kirk: 1 Carry, -5 Yards | 9 Targets, 4 Receptions, 46 Yards

Jamal Agnew: 5 Targets, 5 Receptions, 37 Yards, TD

Marvin Jones Jr.: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 22 Yards, TD

Evan Engram: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 4 Yards

 

This was the Zay Jones game in Jacksonville. Jones’ six first-half receptions were more than the rest of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense combined and he caught nine consecutive targets going all the way into the fourth quarter before a pass slipped right through his fingers for a rare drop. His only other two incompletions came as quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw a pass behind his wide receiver and on a late throw where Jones was open but the play was simply mistimed.

He recorded a first-down conversion on seven receptions as he consistently gained separation and broke tackles against a Baltimore Ravens defense that was woefully ineffective against the combination of Jones and Lawrence. The 27-year-old veteran appropriately scored a two-point conversion in the final minute as he found himself cleanly inside of his defender in man coverage and snagged a slightly high pass from his quarterback to win the game.

Christian Kirk saw only three targets in the first half as Zay Jones dominated the early target share in Jacksonville. Late in the second quarter, he made an 11-yard catch-and-run as he broke a tackle to pick up both a first down and some solid YAC. Lawrence had Kirk wide open to start the second half but the wideout was simply unable to reel the ball in.

Kirk picked up an undisclosed injury on a fourth-quarter deep shot that was nearly intercepted as he ran head-first into the knee of Geno Stone. He stayed down on the ground for a minute or so before he got up and walked off on his own. He returned two plays later and while he was only targeted twice more in this matchup, he caught a 16-yard reception on 3rd & 21, as well as a 17-yard pass on 2nd & 10. Hopefully, that can be taken as a sign that he should be back to his usual self next week.

After the injury to Kirk, it was Jamal Agnew that saw the biggest increase in targets. A fourth-quarter pump fake by Lawrence gave him time to get open over the middle and he delivered a first-down conversion on 2nd & 15. Then on 2nd & Goal at the one-yard line, Agnew was the man in motion before he doubled back to beat Marcus Peters in man coverage and score a touchdown. He also made a 5-yard catch inside the red zone on 3rd & 10 that briefly looked like it would be a touchdown before linebacker Roquan Smith shut him down.

Marvin Jones Jr. went without a target in the first half. In fact, he didn’t make an impact until after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. The 32-year-old wide receiver made a critical first down catch on 4th & 5 right before he caught the game-winning touchdown for the Jaguars. He kept both of his feet in bounds by a single blade of grass here.

 

 

 

Tight end Evan Engram caught a pass on 3rd & 5 early in the second half. He made a nice double move but came up just shy of the first down. Like most of this receiving corps, a lot of his usual volume was vultured away by Zay Jones this week.

Series Navigation
Introduction
Bills @ Lions
Giants @ Cowboys
Patriots @ Vikings
Broncos @ Panthers
Buccaneers @ Browns
Ravens @ Jaguars
Texans @ Dolphins
Bears @ Jets
Bengals @ Titans
Falcons @ Commanders
Chargers @ Cardinals
Raiders @ Seahawks
Rams @ Chiefs
Saints @ 49ers
Packers @ Eagles
Steelers @ Colts

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