Lamar Jackson was back in action and impressed, leading the Baltimore Ravens to defeat the Miami Dolphins.
On Last Night Football, Lamar Jackson made a strong return to NFL action, throwing four touchdown passes to lead his Baltimore Ravens to a 28-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Jackson Hemingstra had missed the Ravens’ last three games due to injury problems, and Baltimore had struggled during his absence.
But with the two-time NFL MVP back in the lineup, the Ravens looked more like themselves, racking up 338 yards of offense, 229 of which came in the second half.
Jackson threw touchdown passes to Rashod Bateman, Charlie Kolar and twice to Mark Andrews. And while he didn’t look as explosive when he chose to run the ball, the 28-year-old’s return opened up the running game in general, and the team’s rushing increased. 150 yards on the ground, including 119 yards on 19 carries by Derrick Henry.
“It’s amazing,” Jackson said afterward. “It felt great to come back and do the dub.”
Coming off a big win against the Atlanta Falcons last week, the Dolphins took the lead with a field goal in the first quarter, then Jackson took advantage of a Tahj Washington fumble and connected with Andrews for the game’s first touchdown.
Baltimore extended its lead in the second quarter with Andrews’ second touchdown reception of the game, culminating in an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive.
Miami’s field goal before halftime narrowed the deficit, but the Dolphins couldn’t get much more offensive play going after halftime, with Baltimore adding 14 points in the third quarter to seal the victory.
“I felt a little comfortable and our guys were ready to score,” Jackson – who finished with 204 yards on 18 of 23 passing – said. “Shout out to the offensive line. They did a great job.”
“Those guys, in all phases, all skill positions and our running backs, were absolutely ready and looking to put points on the board because we only scored twice in the first half.”
In Jackson’s first game since Sept. 28, he continued his impressive record against the Dolphins.The Florida native now has 1,405 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, one interception and a 142.9 passer rating in five games against Miami, the most against an opponent by any single player (minimum 100 attempts) in history, according to NFL Research.
His return to the field is timely for Baltimore, which has kept its season alive by winning two straight games and has a 3-5 record on the year.
The Ravens will still face an uphill battle to make the postseason, but with Jackson back, that journey looks a little easier.
According to the NFL, only four teams have made the playoffs after starting the season 1-5 since the 1970 merger. But, since 1990, 21 teams have made the postseason with a 3-5 start.
For the Dolphins, it was another crushing loss as they slipped to 2-7 and the pressure on head coach Mike McDaniel increased again after a big win over Atlanta last time out.
Like many of their games this season, the loss to the Ravens was punctuated by self-inflicted mistakes – a first-quarter fumble by Washington gave Baltimore excellent field position, a fourth-and-one Larry Borromeo false start ended a promising drive, Riley Patterson missed a close field goal and Malik Washington also fumbled in the quarter.
Miami produced its best performance of the season in Week 8 against the Falcons but Thursday’s outing will do nothing to quiet the talk surrounding McDaniel’s future.
