BALTIMORE (AP) 鈥 Never before had Baltimore’s running game been stopped like this with Lamar Jackson at quarterback.
In the end, the Ravens still had more than 40 points.
After a slow start against Cleveland on Sunday, Jackson finished with four touchdown passes, and the Ravens rolled to over the Browns. Cleveland held Derrick Henry to only 23 yards rushing, and Jackson himself didn’t do much running either. But the two-time MVP quarterback showed he can produce with his arm 鈥 even when nothing else is working.
He also avoided the big mistake, which was clearly a point of emphasis for the Ravens after they squandered a 15-point lead in a 41-40 loss at Buffalo the previous week.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 take back what happened last week,鈥 Jackson said Sunday. 鈥淲e have to move forward.鈥
Baltimore led 10-3 at halftime against Cleveland, but coach John Harbaugh said some of the biggest offensive drives of the game came before that. The Ravens started at their 11, 9 and 4 on three of their first-half possessions. They didn’t score on any of those, but they also didn’t give Cleveland’s defense a game-changing turnover.
鈥淥ur offense was backed up three times in the first half, all the way back inside the 10, even inside the 5-yard line and didn鈥檛 cave to that high-pressure defense,鈥 Harbaugh said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 probably the winning key to the game, especially offensively. You just keep pushing. You don鈥檛 make mistakes.鈥
Baltimore’s offense doesn’t deserve all the credit for the team’s scoring output. The Ravens scored a defensive touchdown and also had a blocked punt and a long interception return. Baltimore took advantage of those short fields.
At 102.6, Jackson is now the NFL’s career leader in passer rating, having inched ahead of Aaron Rodgers by a fraction of a point. After throwing for 41 touchdowns and only four interceptions last season, Jackson has six TD passes and no turnovers through Week 2 in 2025.
What’s working
Jackson is spreading the ball around to quite a variety of receivers. Tylan Wallace caught his second career touchdown pass, and Tez Walker caught his second and third TDs. Veteran newcomer DeAndre Hopkins has a TD catch in each of the first two weeks.
Zay Flowers and Rashod Batemen still received the most snaps among the wideouts, but Wallace, Walker and Hopkins combined for 51, and Jackson appears to trust them.
What needs work
Cleveland certainly had some success controlling the line of scrimmage on defense. That’s not usually an area of weakness for the Baltimore offense, but it’s something to keep in mind given the Ravens will have to face the Browns again.
Baltimore’s 45 yards rushing was the team’s fewest in a game with Jackson at quarterback.
鈥淚 would say they were quote-unquote 鈥榖litzing the run.鈥 It wasn鈥檛 a blitz call, but it鈥檚 a blitz reaction to the run, and those guys were coming downhill immediately,鈥 Harbaugh said. “They were all close to the line of scrimmage to start with. That was the plan for them 鈥 make sure that the Ravens don鈥檛 run the ball. ... That鈥檚 smart football, and they had success with that part of it.鈥
Stock up
The defense as a whole took a step forward after allowing 41 points to Buffalo. Linebacker Roquan Smith was a force, finishing with three tackles for loss and scoring on a 63-yard fumble return.
Stock down
With so many receivers now part of the offense, tight end Mark Andrews has only two catches through the first two games. He was unable to hold onto a pass in the end zone Sunday.
Injuries
LB Kyle Van Noy (hamstring) and CB Marlon Humphrey (groin) went down with injuries against the Browns. Neither is expected to be out for the season, but Baltimore’s defense could be affected in the short term.
FB Patrick Ricard (calf) still hasn’t played this season.
鈥淧at is more disappointed than anybody that it hasn鈥檛 gotten there faster than what was expected when he first did it. So yes, it鈥檚 been slower than we hoped, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥 Harbaugh said. “We鈥檙e kind of in that, I鈥檇 say probably week-to-week mode with Pat right now.鈥
Key stat
Jackson became the seventh quarterback in NFL history with at least 2 TD passes and a passer rating of 90 or higher in 10 consecutive games, including postseason. The others are Rodgers (14), Philip Rivers (13), Peyton Manning (13), Tom Brady (12), Patrick Mahomes (11) and Drew Brees (10).
Up next
The Ravens host Detroit on Monday night.
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