Lamar Jackson led his Baltimore Ravens to a win over the defending Super Bowl champions New England Patriots. Sophomore quarterback, who was widely doubted when coming from a colleague, posted one of his best performances since becoming a pro.
Jackson ended the night with 17 completions in 23 passing attempts, for 163 yards, and a touchdown. But he also added 61 rushing yards for two scores and had a massive impact on the game.
In the moments when he needed to be calm and rational, Jackson ultimately met the expectations. With Ravens up 30-20 in the fourth, Earl Thomas III intercepted Brady’s pass with 13:01 left. Jackson took over the wheel, and led a drive that lasted 9:35, executing him with a one-yard rushing touchdown.
“I mean this man is the MVP,” said Earl Thomas about Jackson at the press conference. “I’m right behind him. I’m backing him.
That wasn’t his only score, as he carried the football inside the endzone for once more, at 6:47 into the first. It was the initial score of the game and an indication that the youngster became fired-up early on.
The Ravens opened the match pretty well, and after Gus Edwards’ 12-yard rushing touchdown, they were up 17-0 after one minute inside the second period.
But the Pats made a huge push and two minutes afterward responded through Mohamed Sanu who received a 4-yard pass from Brady for New England’s first TD of the game. Nick Folk scored two more field goals, and the game suddenly became tight with the hosts leading 17-13.
“Here they come roaring back and we make a couple mistakes,” Harbaugh noted. “They made some mistakes, too. It was that kind of a football game.”
But the hosts responded right after the halftime break. Pats had the football at the start of the period, and while going steady towards the Ravens’ endzone, Julian Edelman fumbled the football with Marlon Humphrey recovering the same and returning it for a 70-yard touchdown. It was a game-changer that turned back the momentum on the home team’s side.
Yet, Brady and the co. still didn’t want to go down. James White had a TD of his own. The teams entered the final sequence with the same distance between them. Earl Thomas’ interception and Jackson’s fantastic composure would later win this one for the home team.
But there was one more guy who did one hell of a job for the Ravens last night. Mark Ingram II ended the game with 15 carries and 115 yards. When Ravens had difficulties breaking probably the best defense in the league, it was Ingram who got the football. The home team ended the game with 210 rushing yards, which is something we haven’t seen when New England plays for a long time.
Brady had 285 yards for a touchdown and a pick, completing 30 of his 46 attempts. Edelman had 89 yards in 10 catches, Sanu 81.
“We didn’t do anything well enough to deserve to win,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We’ve all just got to do a better job…We did a lot of things we need to do better.”
The Pats (7-1) suffered their first loss of the season, and they have to be careful now because Baltimore (6-2) is right behind them. The Ravens are in a nice position to chase the home-field advantage in the playoffs, and to endanger the champ until the end of the regular part of the season.
Their next opponents are the Cinncinati Bengals, whom they already defeated 23-17. The Ravens travel there next week.
Meanwhile, the champs have a week off before visiting Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of the 2017 Super Bowl.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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