Kyle Goon: Rivalry? Not really. Lamar Jackson keeps owning Joe Burrow.
It's almost enough to make you feel sorry for Joe Burrow, frosted tips and all.
One of the NFL's best quarterbacks nearly willed his team to a breathtaking victory, falling a 2-point conversion shy. Burrow tortured a beleaguered Ravens secondary by finding his top partner, Ja'Marr Chase, 11 times, including three touchdowns.
Now the Bengals are 4-6, their season on the brink, their coach potentially on a hot seat. Burrow — who played in the Super Bowl three seasons ago — can't claw his way back to the top of the division again for one good reason.
Lamar Jackson is simply greater.
As brilliant as Burrow was Thursday night, Jackson picked apart Cincinnati's defense even more effectively in the 35-34 victory , finishing with 290 yards, four touchdowns and a 141.4 passer rating, besting Burrow's 108.3.
More tellingly, Jackson showed the difference between them is that he can create something from nothing. Jackson is the kind of player who can zigzag nearly 60 yards in the backfield just to gain 10, putting the Ravens on the brink of the end zone on his own two feet if nothing else is there for him.
That third-quarter tackle-dodging run was an emotional surge that brought the Ravens' offense screaming back to life from a 14-point deficit. Jackson nearly threw the ball away as he dashed out of the grasp of Trey Hendrickson and B.J. Hill. But then he turned the corner near the sideline and saw blocks outlining a snaking lane along the sideline.
"I just had room, [so] I was just trying to get as many yards as I could," Jackson said. "I should have scored, really."
Next Gen Stats gave Jackson a 4% chance of gaining a first down on the play, but those odds are for handicapping mere mortals. Jackson took more than 10 seconds just to cross the line of scrimmage. Mark Andrews would have guessed longer.
"It felt like that play took 30 seconds, everybody just scrambling around," he said with a shake of his head. "Of course he gets a huge gain."
Jackson again made an underwhelming group performance right. He brushed over the flaws of a team that was flagged 11 times and a defense that gave up 428 passing yards. Hell, he brushed over his own shortcomings.
After the offense went three-and-out for the fourth time of the night, M&T Bank Stadium began to boo the sluggish start in the third quarter. By night's end, after Jackson had led four straight touchdown drives, those same spectators were chanting "M-V-P!" uproariously.
Nothing feels impossible with Jackson playing this way . As good as Burrow is, he can't match that standard, especially when he's across the field from his leading peer.
When Jackson has been healthy, he's beaten Burrow's Bengals 6-1 head to head, often outshining a quarterback who pundits say is the better passer of the two. In their seven meetings, both have thrown 16 touchdowns — but Jackson has three fewer interceptions and he's run for 300 more yards.
Although Burrow didn't have Tee Higgins healthy Thursday night, Jackson has never had wide receivers as talented as the two — Chase and Higgins — that Burrow has leaned on throughout his career. Jackson's leading receiver was Tylan Wallace, who gained more yards (115) in one night against the Bengals than in the rest of his Ravens career combined (98).
One of the easiest comparisons was the quarterbacks' 2-point conversions. Burrow couldn't complete a pass to Tanner Hudson that would have given Cincinnati the lead with 36 seconds to go. But, after throwing a go-ahead touchdown to Andrews earlier in the fourth quarter, Jackson got a critical conversion (after a Justin Tucker missed extra point) by running it out to his left.
Burrow has no recourse if the receivers can't get open. Jackson can do whatever is required to win.
Baltimore has a lot to fix this year, with a secondary in turmoil and penalty trouble that never seems to go away. But, with a win, the Ravens narrowed the top of the AFC North really to themselves and the Steelers and set the path to keep climbing into the tier of Super Bowl contenders with the Chiefs, Lions and Vikings. Burrow and the Bengals will need a lot of breaks just to get into the playoffs, and the trajectory of the franchise overall seems to be winding downward from that Super Bowl appearance.
It's not to say Burrow isn't talented, because he is. It's not to say he isn't tough, because he is — he hung in the pocket for 13 hits behind a subpar offensive line.
But a real rivalry requires more of a tug-of-war than Burrow and the Bengals have given a healthy Jackson, and the one-sided results just go to show how brilliant Baltimore's two-time MVP has been against his chief division threat.
While trying to give other players on the offense much-deserved credit, even coach John Harbaugh struggled to frame it without the star quarterback who makes the whole thing go, who has been so dominant for so long.
"It starts with Lamar," Harbaugh said, "and it often ends with Lamar."
You could say the same about the AFC North. It starts with Lamar. It ends with Lamar.
