BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Ravens' defensive plan was to double-team Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith. So how did he get open Sunday in PSINet Stadium for one of the greatest receiving days in NFL history -- 15 catches for 291 yards and three touchdowns?

"To think, and we did that against the 'vaunted' Ravens defense," teammate Keenan McCardell said. "All you have to do is look at the history of No. 82 (Smith) and No. 87 (McCardell). The numbers are unbelieveable."

	Jimmy Smith's huge day for the Jags -- 15 catches for a career-high 291 yards and three touchdowns -- was all in vain Sunday.

In nine games against the Ravens, Smith has 59 catches for 1,070 yards. McCardell has 45 receptions for 642 yards. Still, the strategy, particularly after Sunday's 39-36 loss, will play an interesting role in the teams' Oct. 8 rematch in Jacksonville.

Knowing that the Ravens would gear their coverage to Smith, Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin spread the field with receivers. Often, he emptied his backfield, which is fitting because he didn't have any dependable backs because of the knee injury sidelining Fred Taylor. Backups Stacey Mack and Chris Howard had 19 combined carries and three combined fumbles.

From those spread formations, Smith moved from split end to flanker to the slot. Early, Ravens cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Duane Starks tried pressing him at the line of scrimmage with man coverage. Smith burned them often. Later, they gave him room to roam, and Smith caught the underneath passes.

"I had a lot of double coverage and sometimes I had three guys on me," Smith said. "When I'm on the outside, it's easy for teams to double me and take me out of the game. Coach Coughlin did a good job of moving me around and mixing it up."

Sometimes, tight end Kyle Brady lined up at split end, trying to draw strong safety Kim Herring away from the middle of the field and away from Smith.

"If you keep me out of double coverage, I can cause some damage," Smith said.

Starks has the burn marks to prove it. Twice, he thought he had Smith perfectly single-covered along the sidelines. On a 45-yard touchdown pass, Starks leaped into the air, had a couple fingers on the ball and then looked down in mid-air to see Smith make the catch. Brunell burned Starks for a 43-yard five minutes later in the first quarter.

"I misjudged the ball," Starks said. "My mistakes hurt us early. Jimmy hurt us early. The coaches told us that how you finish the game is going to determine how we are going to play this year."

	“	All we kept hearing about was that vaunted defense. We get them in our place in another three weeks. ”
		— Keenan McCardell, Jaguars wide receiver

That may not speak well for the Ravens' secondary. Brunell fired a pass that bounced off McCardell's hands into Smith at the Ravens' 16 with 1:45 left in the game. Starks pulled a hamstring while missing the tackle as Smith completed the play for a 40-yard touchdown that gave the Jaguars a temporary 36-32 lead.

"All we kept hearing about was that vaunted defense," McCardell said. "We get them in our place in another three weeks."

Another reason the Jaguars could buy time to hit McCardell consistently is that Brunell used more seven-step drops. Because the Ravens stunted their defensive tackles and couldn't get seven yards into the backfield, Brunell was able to release passes untouched most of the day.

In the second half, the Ravens had to resort to blitzes to apply pressure.

"With our running back situation the way it was today, we felt we had to get the ball deep," Brunell said.

The Jaguars left PSINet Stadium feeling as though they would have won the game if Taylor were in the backfield. They blew a 17-point, first-quarter lead and, believe it or not, ran the ball only 21 times. Brunell threw 50 passes, which is what you would expect of the team that is trailing.

"It was a bad situation with the running backs, so you've got to throw the ball," Smith said. "Stats are good, but it doesn't matter when you aren't winning ball games."

For the first time, Smith had the stats but he didn't have the win.

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.