### **Baltimore's defense gives up too many big plays.**
The Ravens were without top cornerback Nate Wiggins (illness), and his presence was missed. Giving up explosive plays has been a problem for Baltimore's defense all season, and against the Jaguars, it happened quickly.
On the second play from scrimmage, Jaguars blocking tight end Nate Boerkircher got behind Marlon Humphrey for a 52-yard completion from Trevor Lawrence. It set up an early touchdown that gave Jacksonville a 7-0 lead, and for the injury-riddled Ravens, that was a problem. With Joe Fagnano (10-for-18, 60 yards, two interceptions) making his first career start at quarterback, the Ravens wanted to avoid falling behind and hoped their defense would set the tone. It didn't happen, and Baltimore's defensive struggles weren't over.
Less than two minutes before halftime, the Ravens blitzed, the Jaguars' offensive line picked it up, Lawrence delivered a strike to wide receiver Parker Washington down the middle of the field, and Washington ran away from Ravens safety Malaki Starks. The 50-yard touchdown gave Jacksonville a 17-3 lead at intermission – a hole from which the Ravens never escaped.
Neither of those long completions required Jacksonville to make a spectacular throw or acrobatic catch. The receivers were simply wide open.
The Ravens can't afford to make mistakes that lead to easy touchdowns, especially when scoring for the Ravens has become so hard.
"I really think the explosive play before the half kind of broke the game open," Minter said. "Early on, we let them get behind us to one of their, I would call him more of a blocking tight end. Which is unfortunate.
"I take a lot of pride in the secondary. We haven't gotten the results that we're after. So we've just go to go back to work."