The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens 33-10 on Thursday night, and the result matters less than the roster move that came with it. Lamar Jackson was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least the next four games, which turns a lopsided loss into a stress test of Baltimore's season.
Four games is the minimum, and the floor on an injured reserve stay tends to become the ceiling on a team's patience. Baltimore now has to build an offence without the player it was designed around, and the schedule will not wait while it figures that out. The next four results will show whether the roster has a viable second plan or only a first plan with a single point of failure.
Jacksonville arrives at the opposite end of the ledger. The Jaguars have won five of their last six and taken command of the AFC South, a position that has more to do with a sustained run than with one convincing night against a depleted opponent. The more telling test is how they play the opponents that follow, when the other side has a full roster and Jacksonville is the team being chased.