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The Ravens took over at their own 27 with 5:40 left in Sunday’s showdown in Foxborough, leading 31–26, and in a spot where most teams, even the NFL’s most explosive, would be tempted to slip into a four-minute offense to simply run the ball and get out of town with a win.
But Baltimore wasn’t about to do that, not after what happened last week against Miami.
On first down, Lamar Jackson launched a pass deep to his left to tight end Mark Andrews, who was running a corner route, and just overshot him. On the next snap, second-and-10, Jackson laced a pass down that sideline to second-year receiver Rashod Bateman, who caught it past the sticks and raced for a 35-yard gain that moved the ball into Patriots territory.
The Ravens would score five plays later, but that almost wound up being beside the point—or as much so as a critical fourth-quarter touchdown can be.
There were bigger things at work for John Harbaugh’s group.
“We talked about it—after that game happened, we talked about it Monday and Tuesday,” Jackson told me from the postgame locker room. “We told each other, ‘We can’t let anything like that happen again. When we take the lead, we expect to win the game, finish the game out, close the game out, four quarters.’ We just didn’t do what we were supposed to do. So we better keep our head up and focus on the next opponent, and that’s what we did today.”
Jackson continued, “Basically, Albert, just keeping our foot on the gas and playing our football, how we do. Don’t let up, because it’s the NFL.”
If the Miami experience, and watching a 35–14 lead disintegrate into a 42–38 loss in less than a quarter’s time, left a mark, then consider Harbaugh and his staff’s aggressiveness late in Sunday’s game an effort to close a wound. The touchdown that wound up coming, a nine-yard run by Jackson himself, off right guard on an option keeper, ended up salting away the Ravens’ 37–26 win over the Patriots.
But, again, the drive that got Baltimore there went deeper than just that.
First, it acknowledged the obvious, that the Ravens needed a healing moment after having to hear about the Dolphins game all week—“We got to stay aggressive because that’s what happened,” Jackson said. “We started running the ball, looking for it, like, . But it didn’t happen or go so well. So we wanted to keep our foot on the gas, throw the ball, let our playmakers make catches and do what they do.”
Second, it showed a newfound confidence in Jackson’s ability to throw the ball, something else that, at this point, looks well-founded.
Through three games, Jackson has thrown for 749 yards, 10 touchdowns, two picks and a 119.0 quarterback rating, all while working behind a line that’s been shuffled due to injury and with a still-evolving skill group. What’s more, more of his plays are coming from the pocket, in the dropback game, than ever before.
“I feel a lot more comfortable,” Jackson told me. “My guys are doing a great job of getting open, our line is giving me great protection. So all I got to do is deliver the baby. That’s all.”
That happened consistently Sunday, with Jackson throwing for 218 yards, four touchdowns and a pick, and rushing for another 107 yards and another touchdown on 11 carries. He led the Ravens on scoring drives of 69, 75, 75, 44 and 73 yards. And even if he didn’t acknowledge it much afterward—“It’s a football game at the end of the day. I don’t really look at the history of what’s going on, who they played and who was there; I just want to go out there and win”—it happening in Foxborough matters, too.
It gives the Ravens a potential tiebreaker in the AFC race and, as beating a Bill Belichick defense always is, should be a nice confidence builder for the evolving offense.
And as for what it’s not? Well, I did ask Jackson about his contract situation, and obviously every afternoon he has like Sunday will only bolster his case on that front. But for now, he swears he’s put it behind him and will revisit it only when his season comes to an end.
“I’m playing football right now,” he said. “I said what I said about it, respectfully, but I don't really dwell on the business side. Right now, I’m out doing football.”
And on Sunday, he did football exceptionally well on an afternoon that his team needed, and now, he hopes, it’ll be a launching pad for everyone there.
“Yeah, absolutely, we just can’t get on our high horse,” Jackson continued. “We just got to keep our foot on the gas and keep our head up and keep focusing. We got the Bills coming up at our stadium next, tough opponent, and we got to be ready to play football again just like we did today.”
A few more days like this one, and they’ll really be rolling.
