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Lamar Jackson defeating an NFC team may be the biggest guarantee in all of sports.
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback led his team to a fifth straight victory with a 41-31 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday at Raymond James Stadium. Baltimore is now 5-2 on the season following a slow start, while Tampa Bay fell to 4-3 with the loss.
Jackson is now an unbelievable 23-1 against NFC foes in his career and has already beaten the Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders this season.
He was brilliant again Monday and went 17-of-22 passing for 281 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions while adding 52 yards as a runner. It wasn’t just him, as Derrick Henry (169 rushing yards and one touchdown catch), Mark Andrews (two touchdowns) and Rashod Bateman (121 receiving yards and one touchdown) also impressed in the win.
But it was Jackson who drew much of the attention from social media:
To call the first half a roller coaster for a Tampa Bay team already facing the daunting task of playing against Jackson as an NFC club would be quite the understatement. Initially, it looked as if the home team would roll when it jumped out to a 10-0 lead behind Mike Evans’ 100th career touchdown.
Jackson responded with touchdown passes to Andrews and Justice Hill, and the Buccaneers also had a particularly disastrous possession when Evans dropped a touchdown pass and grabbed his hamstring in obvious pain. He never returned, and Baker Mayfield added insult to injury when he threw a poor interception to Marlon Humphrey in the end zone.
Humphrey added a second interception as Baltimore took a 17-10 lead into intermission, although the cornerback was ruled out for the second half with a knee injury.
Jackson made sure the Ravens didn’t need him down the stretch.
Perhaps his best throw of the evening came on a 49-yard rainbow to Bateman for a touchdown, and he followed that by breaking the game open with another touchdown pass to Andrews. The Andrews score capped off a drive that started with an 81-yard run from Henry as the Ravens showed off all their offensive weapons.
The rest of the game was largely a formality even though Tampa Bay cut into the deficit after recovering Jackson’s backward pass and scoring a touchdown on the ensuing possession. The star quarterback more than made up for the one mistake by blocking for Henry on a long run and then finding the running back with his fifth touchdown pass of the day.
Jackson looks the part of an MVP candidate, which would, in turn, set the Ravens up to compete for a Super Bowl as the season progresses.
First, though, is an upcoming divisional showdown against the Cleveland Browns as they look to extend their winning streak following a dominant performance against Tampa Bay.