Lamar Jackson lifted the Ravens to a win over the Bengals and is in the MVP race again
CINCINNATI — Lamar Jackson became a religious experience Sunday. The Ravens quarterback had to be seen to be believed, his football miracles leaving tens of thousands here awestruck by his almighty power, wondering why they ever doubted. Even an hour after the Ravens' surreal 41-38 overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals, those with the most fervent faith in Jackson stood there in Paycor Stadium's visiting locker room, shaking their heads at his supernatural abilities.
Jackson, indeed a mere mortal, had a different explanation of the Ravens' afternoon, a game they had won and lost about a dozen times. He pointed to a presence arguably more powerful than him. "That was just God on our side," Jackson said.
The Ravens will take the help wherever they can get it: offense, defense, special teams, higher powers. For much of Sunday, though, it was Jackson who lifted them, who carried them, who rescued them from the brink of a deflating loss in their AFC North opener.
What mattered was Jackson's statistical brilliance: 26-for-42 passing for 348 yards and four touchdowns, plus 12 carries for 55 yards. What will endure, though, are the did-he-really-do-that highlights bound to live on in the NFL's collective consciousness long after the box scores from Sunday's games have been recycled into Most Valuable Player ballots. There were stretches when Jackson could do no wrong, and when he did — well, it helps to have friends in high places.
"I never cease to be amazed, but I'm always amazed," coach John Harbaugh said after the Ravens won their third straight game, distancing themselves from the cellar-dwelling Cleveland Browns and Bengals (1-4) in the AFC North. "I just think so much of him, and I think so much of his work ethic; and then just the way he plays the game, it's unparalleled. He made plays, moved himself out of trouble. ... So many unsung plays where he saved us lost-yardage situations, and he came through."
Maybe the only Raven indifferent about Jackson's divine performance was the man himself. Asked afterward where this game ranked among all the barn burners he's played in, Jackson said, with complete sincerity: "This is not an exciting win for me at all."
He had done it all for the Ravens, and still that was not enough for him. The game was won, but it had almost been lost, and Jackson said he was "furious" over his culpability. Three minutes into overtime, with the Ravens already in kicker Justin Tucker's range for a go-ahead field goal and methodically advancing toward a potentially game-winning touchdown, the play clock was ticking toward zero. Jackson clapped his hands repeatedly, asking for the snap.
But as center Tyler Linderbaum delivered a perfect strike, Jackson's eyes were elsewhere, worried about a potential delay-of-game penalty. The snap ricocheted off Jackson's hands, bounded into the backfield and ended in the Bengals' grasp, all the way back at the Ravens' 38-yard line. Jackson lay on the field, sprawled out in agony, as if he knew his walk back to the sideline would be his last of the day.
"It's right on the front of my mind," Jackson said. "That's how it's sitting with me right now, because I just don't like putting our team in that type of situation, when those guys can just go up and kick a field goal to win a game."
"You go into a dark place for a minute, there's no doubt about it," Harbaugh said. He added: "It wasn't over; it wasn't over. We weren't walking off the field yet. Our guys just kept fighting."
The Ravens' defense, a sieve for most of the second half, held Cincinnati to just 3 yards, all runs. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson pushed his 53-yard field goal attempt wide left. The Ravens, miracle of miracles, were back from the dead. Again.
After running back Derrick Henry rumbled for 51 yards down the left sideline on the Ravens' very next play, after Tucker added a game-winning 24-yarder to pair with his game-tying 56-yarder late in the fourth quarter, the Ravens had salvation. "Ecstasy," tight end Charlie Kolar said of the Ravens' locker room celebrations. "Insane," rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten called them.
"Pretty standard for a division rivalry game in the AFC North," left tackle Ronnie Stanley joked.
The quarterbacking was anything but. Bengals star Joe Burrow, who dropped to 1-5 all time in his head-to-head matchups with Jackson, torched the Ravens' highly flammable secondary, finishing 30-for-39 for 392 yards and five touchdowns. At one point, Cincinnati reached the end zone on four straight drives, its last touchdown — a 70-yard catch-and-run score by wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (193 receiving yards) — re-establishing a 10-point margin midway through the fourth quarter.
But the Ravens were about to get Jackson's best, and Burrow's worst. With 3:30 remaining in regulation and the Ravens trailing 38-28 and facing second-and-goal from the Bengals' 6, Jackson dropped another shotgun snap. He stabbed at the errant ball with his left hand once, then twice, before dragging it into his grasp with his right hand, looking more like a kid panicked over Halloween candy spilling out of his pillowcase than a two-time NFL MVP about to make his case for a third trophy.
Jackson bounced outside the pocket, away from Cincinnati's Sam Hubbard. He stiff-armed the defensive end once, twice, Jackson's last push flattening the 265-pound veteran. He pointed to somewhere in the end zone as he approached the sideline, double-clutching the ball. Then, from the 20-yard line, Jackson threw a wobbly floater to a spot between the "A" and "L" in the Bengals' end zone, where only tight end Isaiah Likely could leap and get it.
Said Linderbaum: "Shoot, that's the type of player he is, just the capability to extend plays. That offense goes through 8. He's a difference maker."
And tight end Mark Andrews (55 receiving yards): "It's incredible. It really was incredible. I went to [Jackson], and I said, 'I've never seen anybody throw anything like that in my entire life.' That's just the type of player he is. The play's never dead. He's so special, and that was a really cool one."
And wide receiver Zay Flowers (111 yards): "That boy different, man. We talk about it every game. He just proves it every game, so I'm just wondering when we're going to stop talking about it. That man is different."
That was the last minor miracle the Ravens needed from Sunday's savior. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who left the locker room in a walking boot, intercepted a pass from Burrow on the Bengals' ensuing drive, giving the Ravens a chance to tie or take their first lead since late in the first half. After Tucker hit his 56-yarder to even the score at 38 — his first make from 50-plus yards this season — the Ravens forced a three-and-out on Cincinnati's final possession of regulation. Overtime awaited, and with it new life.
Everything Jackson had told his teammates during their comeback was coming true. That there was no need to panic. That they'd keep chipping away. That they'd score again.
"That was, like, third-MVP level for him," Henry said of Jackson. "A one-of-a-kind game. ... That's why Lamar is who Lamar is. Best player in the league. He's a GOAT for a reason."
"We got the win," Jackson said. "That's all that matters."
To which even his skeptics and nonbelievers would say: Amen.
