Lamar Jackson Throws 5 Touchdowns in Dominant Win Over Jets 42-21

The Ravens ran over the Jets 42-41 Thursday as Lamar Jackson continued his impressive play with five touchdown passes. The second year quarterback is making his case for NFL MVP putting up ridiculous numbers this season consisting of 33 touchdown passes with 2,889 passing yards and only six interceptions. Jackson also broke Michael Vick‘s single season rushing record in Thursday’s win and now has 1,103 yards and seven touchdowns on 6.9 yards per carry.

Jackson was unstoppable with 86 yards rushing, and the offense as a whole ran for 218 yards averaging 6.4 yards per carry. The Ravens scored on their first three possessions and were on cruise control for the rest of the game. Mark Andrews also made history for the Ravens catching his eighth touchdown of the year, the most ever by a Baltimore tight end.

Coming into the game, the Jets were the second ranked rush defense only giving up 3.3 yards per carry, but they were up against a run heavy Ravens team that is flat out more talented. “We knew we had to play a tough offense tonight and that we had to commit to (slowing down) the run,” Jets Head Coach Adam Gase said. “We struggled early, and this is a really tough offense to play.”

The Jets had no luck stopping the pass either as Jackson threw five touchdown passes and no interceptions with a 65.2% completion rate. His running agility and how fast he can change direction have given New York and several other teams trouble.

“We were just trying to figure out what was going on. Sometimes against this group, you do not want to commit because you are unsure. They run their offense well but you have to pull the trigger and make a decision in real time. And it is not easy,” Gase said.

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New York’s 21 points came from a blocked punt return and two touchdown passes from Sam Darnold. The second-year quarterback also threw and interception and lost a fumble in the loss. “I felt like we made our plays in the passing game when they were there.  We ran the ball well. There were just a couple throws I’d like to get back,” Darnold told CBS Sports.

Baltimore’s Head Coach John Harbaugh is looking brilliant right now after benching current Bronco’s quarterback Joe Flacco last season in favor of Jackson. The former Raven quarterback is now out for the year with a herniated disk in his neck, and has been a disappointment this year after only throwing six touchdown passes in eight games.

When asked about Jackson in the postgame press conference Harbaugh said, “Lamar is really patient. He hangs in there. He trusts his protection. He can also trust his ability to get away if the protection breaks down. And he’s a really accurate thrower in that [extended redzone] range.”

The Ravens have won ten straight and lead the AFC North with a 12-2 record.

Article by Frank DeLorenzo