Baltimore vs. Cincinnati
Lamar Jackson Runs All Over Bengals to Earn a Win in First Start, as Ravens Edge Cincinnati
After the Baltimore Ravens spent the offseason stocking up targets for quarterback Joe Flacco, but best weapon they got may have been a pair of legs.
Backup quarterback Lamar Jackson, selected as the 32nd and final pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, started in place of the injured Joe Flacco and ran 26 times for 119 yards in the Ravens’ 24-21 win over Cincinnati to snap a two-game losing streak to the Bengals in front of a capacity crowd of 70,077 at M&T Bank Stadium.
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Baltimore (5-5) had two weeks to prepare for the change at quarterback after Flacco injured his hip in the opening series of a 23-16 loss to Pittsburgh two weeks ago. A well-placed bye week gave Jackson more time to prepare for the Bengals, and he used his tools that helped him win the 2016 Heisman Trophy while with Louisville—his legs, which helped open up the running game for the Ravens, as fellow rookie Gus Edwards ran for 115 yards and a score, and Alex Collins added a rushing touchdown as well.
Jackson’s 26 carriers were the most by a quarterback in the Super Bowl era, the most rushing yards by a QB in his first NFL start, and a single-game rushing record for a Ravens quarterback in franchise history.
From the air, Jackson looked more like a rookie making his first NFL start, completing 13 of 19 passes for 150 yards and an interception. But Jackson’s legs are what had everyone talking after the game.
“I thought he played winning football,” head coach John Harbaugh said in his postgame news conference. “It’s tough being a quarterback in this league. It’s tough against a defense like that had everything on the line and played all out against him. … I thought he played very poised. I thought he played the position. I thought he played quarterback very well. Managed us, operated us, got us in the right formations.
Jackson, for his part, was humble after the game but satisfied with the victory to get his team back to the .500 mark.
“We came out with a win, so it was pretty good, I guess,” Jackson said. “I had butterflies before the first tackle, but after the first tackle, it was game on.”
Jackson said he had a bout of insomnia Saturday night, as he was fired up for the game.
“I think I stayed up all night,” Jackson said. “I was ready to play last night.”
The Bengals admitted that the different style of quarterback affected them.
“It’s like two different offenses,” Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict said. “With Joe Flacco, he just stands back there and isn’t very mobile but throws the ball hard. This guy (Jackson) is very unpredictable.”
Cincinnati (5-5) is also at .500 after starting the season 4-1, including a win at home over the Ravens in the Thursday night game of Week 2.
Jackson got started right away, running for 10 times for 64 yards and five first downs on the opening drive alone, which Alex Collins capped with a seven-yard touchdown run.
Willie Snead IV, one of three receivers brought in by the team over the offseason, led the Ravens with five receptions and 51 yards, but he and Nick Boyle were the only two players who had more than one catch. John Brown and Michael Crabtree, the other two free-agent acquisitions, had one grab each in the game.
Justin Tucker had another perfect game, which should come as no surprise. He was 3-for-3 in field goals, including a 56-yarder right before halftime to send Baltimore into the locker room with a 13-7 lead.
The Bengals came out roaring the second half, as two Andy Dalton touchdown passes put Cincy on top, 21-13 at the 5:45 mark of the third quarter.
Baltimore responded, however, with an 11-yard touchdown run by Edwards, who then ran it in again for a two-point conversion tie the game at 21 going into the fourth quarter.
With the pressure on, Jackson engineered a 55-yard drive that fell just short of the end zone, but Tucker hit a chip-shot 24-yard field goal to provide the winning points with 8:12 left.
The Bengals had two chances to respond but failed on both occasions. Randy Bullock missed a 52-yard field goal attempt and Dalton threw incomplete on fourth down from the Ravens 37-yard line in the final two minutes of the game when the pass was knocked away by Marlon Humphrey.
Ravens fans were relieved by the ending after Dalton and the Bengals broke Baltimore’s heart with a last-minute touchdown in Week 17 last year that cost the Ravens a playoff berth.
“When I looked up at the scoreboard I was like, `This is bringing back some bad memories,”’ Humphrey said. “If we were going to keep those playoff hopes alive, we have to go just one game at a time, one play at a time and get victories.”
Baltimore’s defense didn’t force any turnovers, but they held Dalton to 211 passing yards and two touchdowns after allowing four TD passes in the Week 2 loss, and the Bengals were also contained to only 48 rushing yards.
The win keeps the Ravens’ playoff hopes alive, as they are among five teams at 5-5 that are tied for the final playoff spot in the AFC. The Bengals are one of those teams along with Tennessee, Miami, and Indianapolis.
The Ravens have a good chance to build on the momentum from this win that snapped a three-game losing streak, as they host an Oakland team that, despite snapping a five-game winning streak today in a win over Arizona, is 2-8 on the season. Following that is a trip to the 4-6 Falcons, so two winnable games are on the horizon before a tough trip to Kansas City.
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