BALTIMORE — As Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson moved around the pocket on a third-and-goal late in the second quarter, his eyes fixated downfield, there was a clear lane in front of him to try and run for the touchdown.
That’s what the 71,051 at M&T Bank Stadium expected him to do. Many of the fans were demanding it, yelling for Jackson to take off. Jackson, however, had no interest in running on that play — or really any others — in the Ravens’ 41-10 throttling of the Denver Broncos on Sunday. He was content to throw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers.
.@Lj_era8 ➡️ @ZayFlowers FOR SIX ❗❗
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/9bMllZpHfu
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 3, 2024
Whether that had something to do with the knee and back injuries that limited Jackson to just one practice during the week, nobody was willing to say. The reality was that the Ravens didn’t need Jackson to run against the Broncos because he — and they — were doing everything else at such a high level.
“He didn’t have to (run),” said Derrick Henry, who did plenty of running himself, taking 23 carries for 106 yards and two scores to go along with a 27-yard reception. “He’s dangerous with his arm, and I think he showed that today. If you want to take away him running the ball, he’ll go over your head and throw it. If he has to run it, he’ll do that as well. Hats off to him. He’s an engine that makes this thing go. ‘MV3.’”
Jackson, who practiced only on Friday, was again at the top of his game, completing 16 of 19 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns, good for a 158.3 passer rating. It was the fourth game in his career with a perfect passer rating, tying Ben Roethlisberger for an NFL record.
“I’m betting on Lamar at some point to break it,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I thought he played great, but also, the team around him — the pass protection — that’s a really good pass-rush team, a real aggressive defense, a really highly-ranked defense. Our offense came to play as a group.”
In the first half, the Ravens had only 24 yards rushing against one of the league’s best defenses statistically, yet Baltimore still led by two touchdowns at intermission because Jackson threw for 208 yards and two scores. Just in case the Broncos harbored any second-half comeback hopes, the Ravens’ ground game extinguished them by leading the way on two long third-quarter touchdown drives that turned a matchup between two 5-3 teams into a laugher. The Ravens had 103 rushing yards in the second half alone.
The Broncos entered the week allowing just 15.0 points and 282.6 yards per game. They were also limiting the opposition to a league-low 4.4 yards per play. In scoring on seven straight possessions after a first-series punt, the Ravens tallied 38 points with 91 seconds left in the third quarter. Justin Tucker tacked on a field goal a little over two minutes into the fourth.
The Ravens totaled 396 yards of offense and averaged 7.3 yards per play. Harbaugh called off the dogs on Sean Payton’s team, taking Jackson out early in the fourth quarter with a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on “Thursday Night Football” just four days away.
“We played our (most) complete game of the season so far, I would say, as a team,” Harbaugh said. “Our defense stepped up and played really well.”
Baltimore’s defense had some of the same issues it’s been having for much of the season. The pass rush was spotty until the second half when Denver, down by multiple scores, had no choice but to throw the ball. There were still too many Broncos receivers running free in the secondary. They averaged over 4.0 yards per carry, too.
However, the Ravens did flip the script in one area: They were able to get off the field on third and fourth downs. Defensive back Ar’Darius Washington had his first career interception on a deflected Bo Nix pass on the game’s second play from scrimmage. The Ravens also had four fourth-down stops and held Denver to a 6-of-14 effort on third down.
“We are kind of scarred by our past right now, and we’re not trying to give up anything at this point, so everybody had that mindset today,” said safety Kyle Hamilton, who had a game-high 10 tackles. “We did it for the most part.”
Now, the ball is in general manager Eric DeCosta’s court. The trade deadline is at 4 p.m. Tuesday, and even with a solid performance Sunday, the Ravens still looked like a team that could use a defensive addition or two, particularly to better match up with the AFC heavyweights and high-quality offenses — like the one that will be in Baltimore Thursday night.
Tavius Robinson’s two-sack performance Sunday shouldn’t close the door on the Ravens adding an edge rusher. Despite practice squad elevations Chris Wormley and Josh Tupou stepping in and playing a lot of snaps, the Ravens could use more help along the defensive front. And Marcus Williams regaining his starting job Sunday shouldn’t ease the angst about the team’s safety production.
Can DeCosta get Calais Campbell out of Miami after the Dolphins fell to 2-6 Sunday with a late loss to Buffalo? Or how about a pass rusher like Azeez Ojulari, Za’Darius Smith, Jadeveon Clowney or Arden Key, who are all playing for teams going nowhere fast? Maybe the New Orleans Saints will be willing to talk about Tyrann Mathieu after they dropped to 2-7 with a loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers.
What’s clear is the Ravens have an elite offense, easily one of the best in the NFL. It may wind up as the best in team history. The Broncos probably wouldn’t quibble with that statement after they were steamrolled Sunday. Denver forced a punt and the Ravens’ next seven drives went touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal.
“We got whupped today,” Payton said.
It was a 10-7 game midway through the third quarter when Jackson sandwiched 7- and 53-yard touchdown passes to Flowers around a Broncos field goal. When the Ravens then took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and went 70 yards on 11 plays, scoring on Henry’s 6-yard run, it was 31-10.
THE KING OF THE ENDZONE!
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/xLjqzvsFDm
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 3, 2024
“It’s a pick-your-poison offense, so based on what the defense is giving me, certain guys might have a day,” said Jackson after running the ball just three times for 4 yards. “A couple of days ago, it was (Rashod Bateman) having a night, and a couple of weeks later, it’s Zay. It’s really based on the defense of how they are feeling. ‘Who’s this offense tilting toward?’ But all of the great guys we have, it could be the tight ends one game, it might just be the running backs one game. You really never know.”
Through nine games, Jackson has thrown for 2,379 yards, 20 touchdown passes with just two interceptions. After becoming the first quarterback in Ravens history to throw for 275-plus yards for five straight games, Jackson is on pace to throw for just under 4,500 yards. His previous career high was 3,678, set last year. He’s also on pace to throw 38 touchdown passes, which would also be a career high.
Henry has now rushed for 1,052 yards and totaled 13 touchdowns (11 running and two receiving). He’s on pace to rush for 1,987 yards and score 32 touchdowns in his age-30 season.
And then there’s Flowers, who is primed to become the first Ravens Pro Bowl receiver in franchise history. Flowers now has 46 catches for 654 yards and three touchdowns, and he’s on pace to have 1,235 yards receiving.
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The Ravens still have eight regular-season games remaining, but after performances like Sunday, it’s easy to imagine the possibilities.
“You look at our body of work and what we’ve done through nine games, we’ve done a good job of chasing balance in the air and on the ground,” said wide receiver Nelson Agholor. “It starts with (No.) 8. Eight is the ultimate dual-threat quarterback and he puts people in a bind with his arm, and then he’s accompanied by (Henry), who’s a dominant tailback, and Justice (Hill), who’s a very creative speed back. And at the end of the day, that creates a lot of openings over the middle. We chase balance. That’s what we do.”
Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said during the week that his group needed to take something away from the Ravens, and his preference was the “run game and make them throw it.”
They mostly did that in the first half, and the Broncos trailed 24-10. The Ravens offense didn’t relent from there.
“What ‘L’ has to do to get him ready to play, that’s what he’s going to do. He showed it today,” Henry said. “He needed one day (of practice) to have a perfect passer rating. I feel like it doesn’t matter if it’s one day or half a day, he’s going to be ready.”
(Photo: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
