IN BALTIMORE — — To have Baltimore’s top quarterback, Lamar Jackson, find open receivers deep in the secondary, scramble when necessary, and lead the Ravens to score after touchdown after touchdown after touchdown after touchdown was pretty much the best-case scenario when he returned to play for new offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Sunday’s game between the division leaders was lopsided from the start, as Baltimore scored four touchdowns before Detroit had a single first down. The Ravens went on to win by a score of 38-6. Jackson had an almost perfect quarterback rating of 155.8 after passing for 357 yards and three touchdowns. Also, he scored a touchdown on the ground.
“Today was lights out,” said tight end Mark Andrews, who grabbed two touchdown passes. I’m going to go ahead and credit Lamar’s offense from the top down, starting with Coach Monk and, of course, Lamar. Both of those fellas were top-notch.”
The Ravens (5-2) started off strong against the NFC North-leading Lions (5-2), scoring on each of their first four possessions. The Ravens had their best game of the season as the resurgent Lions failed to perform well on the road against a formidable opponent.
We didn’t play well, that’s all. It’s unfortunate to say, but it’s one of those games. “We just couldn’t find a way to get out of our own way,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell remarked. I have to give props to those fellas. They embarrassed us with their excellent performance on the football field.
Jackson made 21 of 27 shots. Even though he’s had at least a 70% completion rate in all but one game this season, the Ravens’ offense has been all over the place until Sunday. There was much anticipation for Monken and Jackson’s cooperation after they signed a new contract in the offseason. It makes perfect sense now.
Jackson’s deep passes versus Detroit were very effective, as he routinely found wide-open targets with room to run. He was effectively shielded by Baltimore, and even when things broke down, his scrambling helped keep plays alive.
On fourth down, Jackson kicked off the scoring with a bootleg of 7 yards. On the ensuing drive, he led his team to a score by escaping the pocket to his right and then finding Nelson Agholor down the right sideline for 12 yards.
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After Gus Edwards scored on a 2-yard run, the final score was 21-0 thanks to an 11-yard touchdown pass to Andrews. The Lions had only accomplished three three-and-outs up to that time. With a score of 28-0, a 16-to-0 advantage in first downs, and a 325-13 advantage in total yards, Baltimore was in command.
After getting off to a good start to the second half, Detroit’s drive stalled at the Baltimore 6-yard line. In just four plays, the Ravens covered virtually the full length of the field for a touchdown. Jackson threw a touchdown pass of 8 yards to Andrews to put the AFC North leaders up 35-0. Edwards, who was wide open for a short ball, surged for 80 yards on the play.
Rookie Jahmyr Gibbs’ 21-yard run early in the fourth quarter gave Detroit the game-winning touchdown.
Despite playing some mediocre quarterbacks, the Baltimore Ravens made quite a statement against a red-hot Detroit Lions squad, allowing only seven touchdowns all season.
Roquan Smith, a linebacker for the team, explained that they simply played their usual defense. To paraphrase, “We just knew that they haven’t faced a defense this year like ours.”
For the 15th game in a row, the Lions have scored at least 20 points, and they have won four straight games by a combined total of at least 14 points. They were no match for the Ravens on defense or offense, and by the end of the game Baltimore had substituted in backup quarterback Tyler Huntley.
Detroit’s 2014 draft pick Kyle Van Noy contributed to two of Baltimore’s five sacks. This was the fourth interception for Ravens’ Geno Stone this year.
PLAYS RAVENS
The Ravens completed eight passes of 20 yards or more. The Los Angeles Chargers had nine against the Minnesota Vikings, the only team this season to do so.
In the presence of the offensive coaches, “Todd got a game ball,” as Coach John Harbaugh put it. Those productions were well-executed, but they are also terrific plays. The quarterback is where it all begins.
INJURIES
After returning a kickoff in the third quarter, Mohamed Ibrahim of Detroit had to be taken off the field with a hip injury. He had surgery, so he checked into the hospital. Malcolm Rodriguez, a linebacker with the Lions, sprained his ankle. Keaton Mitchell, a running back with the Ravens, suffered a hamstring injury.
