Lamar Jackson, who may be playing the best football of his career, made it look easy.
The two-time MVP threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns Monday night, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.
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“Trying to win. That’s all that’s on my mind,” Jackson said after the AFC North co-leaders scored on seven of nine possessions before removing him from the game with just under two minutes left.
“I’m proud of him. I’m happy for him. He’s a great leader, a great player.” coach John Harbaugh added. “He’s the ultimate competitor on a level with the greatest competitors I’ve ever seen.”
Jackson improved improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.
Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.
“Early indication is that it’s dislocated. Doesn’t look good,” said Bucs coach Todd Bowles, who defended the decision to still have Godwin on the field in the closing minutes.
“He’s a player. We’e trying to win the ballgame. We were still down 10, we’re trying to get extra points and kick another onside kick. It just happened,” Bowles added. “With Mike (Evans) going down, we didn’t have that many receivers left as it was, so we play what we got.”
Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of 9 and 4 yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.
The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defense, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions – one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.
“It doesn’t matter when, where or what. He’s the ultimate competitor,” Andrews said of Jackson. “It’s just play after play after play of him making big-time plays and helping this team win games. He does it better than anybody in the league. He lays it all out on the line every game. He’s the best. He’s the MVP.”
Mayfield finished 31 of 45 passing for 370 yards, three TDs and two interceptions. Evans joined Hall of Famers Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison and Terrell Owens as the only players to have at least 100 TD receptions in the first 11 seasons of a career when he caught a 25-yard scoring pass in the first quarter.
Evans, who missed two days of practice last week with what the Bucs described as a nagging hamstring issue, appeared to aggravate the injury on the scoring reception. Mayfield nearly connected with him in the end zone again in the second quarter, but this time the ball glanced off Evans’ hands as he and Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens went to the ground.
Evans remained on the turf for several minutes before being helped to his feet and limping to the locker room. He did not return.
The Bucs played at home for the first time since Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, causing extensive damage in the Tampa Bay area and along the path it took across the state. The Bucs relocated ahead of the storm to New Orleans, where they practiced for four days before trouncing the Saints 51-7 last week.
The Ravens lead the the NFL with 1,476 rushing yards this season and have run for at least 150 in every game. With 243 on the ground Monday night, they became the fourth team since 1980 to begin a season with at least 1,400 yards in their first seven games. The others are the 1984 Chicago Bears (1,508), 2006 Atlanta Falcons (1,476) and 2019 Ravens (1,429).
Henry’s touchdown catch midway through the fourth quarter made it 41-18. The Bucs scored twice in the closing minutes, including after a successful onside kick, the second time the Ravens have failed to recover an opponent’s onside kick this season.
Those late scores gave the Bucs a glimmer of hope that was quickly extinguished when Godwin was hurt while being tackled by Roquan Smith on a 21-yard catch with about a minute left.
