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Of all the words and phrases that can be applied to this five-game Ravens winning streak — necessary, imperfect, somehow the fourth longest in the NFL — dominant does not immediately spring to mind. It’s low on the list, somewhere between, say, autumnal and lucky.

The Ravens’ 23-10 win Sunday over the New York Jets was another object lesson in the power of being just good enough. Quarterback Lamar Jackson, seemingly limited by an ankle injury (and who knows what else?), had 164 total yards of offense, but he didn’t have a turnover. Running back Derrick Henry averaged 3 yards per carry, but he scored two touchdowns in a crucial third quarter. The defense couldn’t contain running back Breece Hall as a receiver, but cornerback Marlon Humphrey ripped the ball out of his grasp to preserve a late double-digit lead. The Ravens’ special teams struggled covering kickoff returns, but punter Jordan Stout had one of the best games of his career.

“I don’t know how many times in the last however many years where we’ve had wins like this where we’ve gotten up here and have said, ‘It’s not pretty, it’s not perfect, but it’s us. It’s competing and fighting,’” coach John Harbaugh said after the Ravens (6-5) pushed above .500 for the first time this season, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers atop the AFC North.

But there is value in this brand of Ravens football. Just look at the rest of the NFL. As would-be Super Bowl contenders fall and pretenders rise out of the muck every week, the Ravens continue to plow ahead. Are they winning pretty? No. Are they winning comfortably? Also no, not really.

But the Ravens’ recent run of form has, surprisingly, distinguished them from most of the NFL’s so-called elite. Pop quiz: Since Week 8, when the Ravens ended a four-game losing streak with a win over the Chicago Bears, which team trails only the Los Angeles Rams, by wide consensus the NFL’s best team, in point differential? Not the New England Patriots (plus-44), who’ve won an NFL-high nine straight games. Not the high-flying Seattle Seahawks, either (plus-50).

The answer: You guessed it. The Ravens, at plus-64. Over that stretch, they have never won by fewer than seven points, and they’ve won three games by at least 13.

“I think this team is really starting to come together, and it’s really just good,” Humphrey said. “It’s a pleasure to be on this team. It’s a pleasure to get coached by the coaches. It’s good vibes, it’s good energy in the building, and it just seems like we’re all working towards something. Even when something’s not right — when special teams isn’t right, defense isn’t right, offense isn’t right — we’re still building with one another, and so it’s really encouraging."

The obvious caveats apply. The only team with a current winning record the Ravens have played since Week 8 is Chicago. The Dolphins (4-7), Vikings (4-7), Jets (2-9), Browns (3-8) and Bears (8-3) — yes, even the Bears — all entered Week 12 ranked between No. 22 and No. 31 in the NFL in FTN’s opponent-adjusted efficiency rankings. (The 3-8 Cincinnati Bengals, who come to Baltimore on Thursday, are 28th.) The best quarterback the Ravens have played in this stretch is Chicago’s Caleb Williams. The worst is any number of barf bag options.

But the Ravens are not winning with smoke and mirrors. Their defense has held six straight opponents under 20 points. Their special teams have returned to the top-10 form that, until last year, they’d long maintained under Harbaugh. And their offense, despite Jackson’s flagging accuracy (57.1% over the past three games), despite the line’s run-blocking struggles (2.9 yards per carry Sunday against one of the NFL’s worst defenses), despite their nagging red-zone woes (two touchdowns in five trips), has played mostly turnover-free football.

Jackson went 13-for-23 for 153 yards in his long-awaited return to M&T Bank Stadium, but he averaged an impressive 0.20 expected points added per drop-back, according to the analytics site rbsdm.com, taking advantage of two key pass-interference penalties on third down to extend drives that ended with touchdowns.

“Utmost confidence in Lamar Jackson — I always will,” Harbaugh said. “He’s my guy. He’s our guy. He’s our quarterback. Lamar is doing what he needs to do. He is winning football games. It’s not always pretty. … The pretty games will be there. They’ll be there for Lamar Jackson; you can bet on that. But I’m proud of him right now. I’m really proud of him and the way he’s fighting to win football games."

Added Jackson: “It’s a tough division, tough league. Like I said, we just have to keep going.”

The Ravens have traded curb appeal for consistency, fireworks for fundamentals. Last year, they sandwiched convincing romps over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos with an ugly road loss in Cleveland. The year before, they sandwiched blowout wins over the Seahawks and Bengals with a home loss to the Deshaun Watson-led Browns.

This year, with precious little margin for error after a 1-5 start and a handful of lower-body injuries to Jackson, the Ravens have had to win on the margins. They’ve outgained their opponent in just two of their five most recent wins. But their turnover margin during that stretch is plus-seven, tied with the Rams for the NFL’s best. Their penalty margin is plus-129 yards. Their special teams advantage, even with a disappointing Week 12 showing in Cleveland, has been considerable.

“It is great to see our defense playing well, but it’ll also feel great and look great when we are playing as well to match their energy,” Jackson said. “We just need to do that week in and week out, because those guys are stepping up. We need to do the same thing.”

Eventually, anyway. But the Ravens’ midseason improvements have boosted their floor, making ugly wins finally an option. They don’t need to hit their ceiling to beat the Bengals on Thursday or in Week 15, not with Cincinnati having a historically awful defense. They could win a rock fight against the visiting Steelers in Week 14, too, especially if backup quarterback Mason Rudolph or a limited Aaron Rodgers is at the controls.

If the Ravens win these next three games, a third straight AFC North title may be merely a formality. According to The New York Times’ playoff simulator, their odds of winning the division title would improve from about 88% to 98% with a 9-5 record.

Dominant? Not yet. But the Ravens are just good enough to get there. And being just good enough has worked out pretty well as a blueprint so far.

“It feels great, but it’s just halfway done,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not over. The season is not over. The game wasn’t over, and the season is not over.” He pointed to the Ravens’ looming AFC North tests. “That’s going to be it, right there. And it’s starting Thursday night. We have no time, really, to rest. We’ve got to go to work on the Bengals, and we know what that’s like, how challenging that is. So we’ll be ready to go.”