Jackson survives horrible weather to lead Ravens to eighth win in row
Neither rain, wind nor the San Francisco 49ers’ top-ranked defense could prevent Lamar Jackson from guiding the Baltimore Ravens to their franchiserecord eighth consecutive win.
Jackson weathered miserable conditions to run for 101 yards and Justin Tucker kicked a tiebreaking 49-yard field goal as time expired to give the Ravens a 20-17 victory Sunday in a possible Super Bowl preview.
The combination of driving rain, a stiff wind and San Francisco’s rugged defense was difficult for Jackson to handle. He completed only 14 of 23 passes for 105 yards and lost a fumble.
Asked afterward to describe the weather, Jackson bowed his head, lifted it slowly and peeked over the podium to declare, “Horrible.”
Certainly, not the kind of weather that benefited the passing game.
“Oh, man. I was throwing passes behind my receivers. It was ticking me off,” Jackson said. “A lot of passes getting away from me. The weather, it messed with me a lot.”
But the dual-threat quarterback was solid when it counted. Not only did Jackson fuel the NFL’s topranked rushing attack, but he directed a clutch drive that lasted nearly 6 1⁄2 minutes before Tucker ended it with a kick that tore through the raindrops and between the uprights.
Jackson knew that after he had done his job, Tucker would do his part.
“That golden leg. I got all the faith in him,” Jackson said. “I’m on the sideline praying, but at the same time I know Tucker can do it.”
Tucker, the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history, now has 15 gamewinners over an eight-year career.
“That’s the guy you want in that situation,” coach
John Harbaugh said.
Baltimore (10-2) improved to 16-3 with Jackson as a starter and 12-0 when he rushes for at least 70 yards. In addition, Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history to have four 100-yard rushing games in a season.
Raheem Mostert ran for a career-high 146 yards and a touchdown for the 49ers (10-2), now tied with New Orleans for the best record in the NFC.
“We had every chance to win that game. Came up a little bit short there at the end,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Credit to them. Hopefully, we can earn an opportunity to maybe get the chance to play them some other time again.”
Jimmy Garoppolo went 15 of 21 for 165 yards for San Francisco.
Jackson lost a fumble for the first time this season when Marcell Harris yanked the wet ball from his grasp at the San Francisco 20 in the third quarter.
The 49ers subsequently got a game-tying 32-yard field goal from Robbie Gould.