Lamar Jackson’s play keys 24-21 win over Bengals.
Sunday, November 18, 2018, M&T BANK STADIUM, BALTIMORE – Ten years ago, the Ravens had to rely on a rookie quarterback to win a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals. That player was Joe Flacco.
Baltimore hadn’t started a first-year signal-caller since Flacco got under center that day. But with Lamar Jackson playing the same role Sunday–ironically in place of an injured Flacco–the Ravens came off their bye week to score 11 unanswered points and notch a crucial come-from-behind, 24-21, win over the Bengals in front of 70,077 delirious fans.
The win had plenty of ramifications.
The win ended the Ravens’ pre-bye losing streak at three. It evened Baltimore’s record at 5-5. And it temporarily put Baltimore into the sixth, and final, AFC playoff spot– a slot that the Bengals had occupied before the game.
But the accentuations don’t stop there.
–The game featured the Ravens getting 100-yard performances from two ball carriers, something the team hadn’t accomplished since a December 2012 home win over the New York Giants. On that day, the Ravens wore black jerseys–just as they did on Sunday.
-Jackson broke the team record for quarterback single-game rushing yards, eclipsing the 65 by Tyrod Taylor in 2012, also coming against the Bengals.
–The Ravens tied the all-time series with the Bengals at 23 wins apiece. The teams split the season series for the 12th time.
–Coach John Harbaugh picked up his 99th regular-season win.
–The Ravens avoided losing a third straight home game in a season for the first time in 11 years.
“I’m very proud of our players,” Harbaugh said. “It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t perfect. But it was us…. We showed a lot of fight. I thought (Jackson) played spectacularly. He played very poised. I thought he played the position very well.”
The Ravens’ current three-game home stretch ends next week with a visit from the hapless Oakland Raiders (Sunday, November 25, 1 p.m.; WJZ-TV; WIYY-FM).
With the smaller and more mobile Jackson getting his first NFL start, the Ravens played a different style. The team simplified its playbook and displayed a ground-oriented approach. Baltimore threw 21 passes (including two sacks allowed) and ran 54 times against Cincinnati’s bottom-ranked defense.
On defense, the Ravens wanted to be more physical and the team played more man-to-man coverages and rotated inside linebackers and cornerbacks throughout the game. The defensive approach was epitomized on the last play of the game. Marlon Humphrey wrested the ball away from Cody Core on a fourth-down pass.
But make no mistake about it. Even though this was a team win, the day belonged to Jackson.
With his arm, Jackson was 13-19 with 150 yards and an interception. And Jackson electrified the crowd with his legs, going for 117 yards on 27 carries. That performance put Jackson in the NFL record book–the most carries by an NFL quarterback since 1950.
The Ravens showed that had early and emphatically. Baltimore ran the ball on 13 straight plays to open the game and kept up that ground-based attack despite occasional absences from returning left tackle Ronnie Stanley and left guard Alex Lewis (both left the game with injuries, but returned).
However, Jackson showed hit-or-miss qualities that come with his style of style. On the hit side, his scrambling led to a 23-yard completion to John Brown (STATS), a play that set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal. On the miss side, Jackson handed momentum to the Bengals in the third quarter via a sidearm throw that was picked off by safety Shaun Williams near midfield. And on the very next drive, Jackson was stuffed on a fourth-and-one run.
Gus Edwards on the run (photo, NJ.com)
Cincinnati turned both miscues into touchdowns to take a 21-13 lead.
But the Ravens fought back.
Undrafted rookie running back Gus Edwards (115 yards, 17 carries, touchdown) contributed mightily in an 80-yard drive that ended with his own 11-yard slashing TD run. He then ran in on a two-point conversion to tie the game late in the third quarter.
With 8:12 remaining, Tucker kicked a 24-yard go-ahead field goal. That lead held when the Bengals’ Randy Bullock missed a 52-yard try wide right at the 3:59 mark.
But even though a Stanley formation penalty meant the Bengals would get the ball back needing only a field goal to tie, they could not pull off a fourth comeback win this year.
The final outcome was more than a win for the Ravens. It was hope.
