Jackson puts on a show as Ravens crush Rams
Baltimore scored TDs on its first six drives
LOS ANGELES — Lamar Jackson strengthened his Most Valuable Player case in his “Monday Night Football” debut, leading the fearsome Baltimore Ravens to another blowout win.
Jackson matched his career high with five touchdown passes and ran for 95 yards in another splendid all-around performance, and the Ravens routed the Los Angeles Rams 45-6 on Monday night for their seventh consecutive victory.
Mark Ingram rushed for 111 yards and a TD and caught a scoring pass while the Ravens (9-2) became the fourth team in the 21st century to score touchdowns on its first six drives in a game. With Jackson operating almost flawlessly at the controls, Baltimore embarrassed a previously solid Rams defense by racking up 480 yards with its evolving brand of high-octane football.
“We’re clicking on all cylinders right now,” Jackson said. “It’s OK, but we’re trying to win the Super Bowl.”
The Ravens’ 22-year-old quarterback went 15 for 20 for 169 yards while constantly making smart decisions with his arm and his feet. He hit Willie Snead with his fifth TD pass with 14:43 to play and took the rest of the night off.
Snead and Marquise Brown had two TD catches apiece for the Ravens, whose winning streak is their longest since they won seven straight to close the 2000 season on the way to their first Super Bowl title. At 9-2, the Ravens have matched their best start since 2012, which ended in their second Super Bowl championship. Baltimore has outscored its last three opponents 135-26.
“I’m proud of the guys,” coach John Harbaugh said. “They come to practice, they work hard, and they’re locked in. I feel like they’re on a mission, and it’s one mission at a time.”
Jared Goff passed for 212 yards with two interceptions and Todd Gurley rushed for just 22 for the defending NFC champion Rams (6-5), who took the worst loss of their three seasons under coach Sean McVay.
Los Angeles hadn’t lost by more than 21 points in its first 43 games under McVay, whose once-prolific offense had another embarrassing performance with just 111 yards in the first three quarters before finishing with 221. The Rams failed to score a touchdown for the second time in three games, and Goff didn’t throw a TD pass in November.
“We didn’t do nearly enough to be competitive,” McVay said. “It was impressive. When you sit there and watch and see (Jackson) up close and personal — on third down with his operation to find completions and making plays with his legs — I can see why they are talking about him being MVP.”
In the Coliseum’s first Monday night game since the Rams’ epic 54-51 win over Kansas City last November, the Rams gave up one more point than they had allowed in their previous four games combined. The Rams also were among the NFL’s best offensive teams for the previous two seasons, but they’ve lost that status this year while Baltimore has ascended to dominance.
“I’m not surprised” by the size of the Ravens’ victory, Ingram said. “We respect every opponent, but if we execute and do what we do, we’ll be successful.”
The Ravens scored on their opening drive for the seventh time already this season when Jackson lofted an easy TD pass to Brown, who spent a year playing community college ball in nearby Santa Clarita. Brown got his second TD from 18 yards out on Baltimore’s second drive, and Ingram capped a 75-yard march with an 11-yard TD run on the third.
Baltimore got the ball back with only 1:55 left in the first half, but that was plenty for Jackson, who went 9 for 9 in the first half. He hit Snead with a 7-yard TD pass with 12 seconds left, and Rams fans booed their team off the field down 28-6.
“That’s just operating at the highest level you can operate as a quarterback,” Harbaugh said of Jackson’s first half.
Baltimore opened the second half with another 75-yard drive capped by Ingram’s TD catch. The Ravens held the ball for all but 59 seconds of the third quarter, and Snead made his second TD catch early in the fourth.
The Ravens finally had to punt in the fourth quarter, ending a streak of 18 consecutive drives without a punt.