CINCINNATI — Moments after the Baltimore Ravens‘ thrilling 41-38 overtime victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, coach John Harbaugh and his players were jumping up and down in the locker room with their arms in the air and shouting in jubilation.
It seemed like everyone was celebrating the Ravens’ largest comeback win in three years — except for quarterback Lamar Jackson. Despite throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns, Jackson was upset about a fumbled snap in overtime that nearly cost Baltimore the game.
“This is not an exciting win for me at all … I’m ticked off about that,” Jackson said. “But we got it done, so it’s cool. We got the win; that’s all that matters.”
Jackson carried the Ravens in regulation, leading them to scores on all four drives of the second half (three touchdowns and one field goal). It was another signature game for the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, who produced his second career game of at least 300 yards passing, four touchdown passes and 50 yards rushing.
But, on Baltimore’s first drive of overtime, Jackson glanced at the play clock to make sure there wouldn’t be a delay of game penalty and took his eyes of the snap while in the pistol formation. Jackson’s fumble was recovered by the Bengals, who then missed a potential winning 53-yard field goal.
One play after that brief scare, Baltimore running back Derrick Henry ran for 51 yards to set up Justin Tucker’s winning 24-yard field goal. In winning their third straight game, the Ravens (3-2) dropped the Bengals to 1-4.
Asked if he’s the least excited Ravens player after the emotional victory, Jackson replied, “Probably. I just don’t like how that situation happened [in] overtime. If that probably wouldn’t have happened, I would be the happiest person in a Ravens uniform right now.”
On the same field where Jackson had his dazzling spin move in 2019, he delivered another play to remember. With Baltimore trailing 38-28 with 5½ minutes left in regulation, Jackson eluded the pass rush of 265-pound defensive end Sam Hubbard by stiff-arming him to the ground, leapt in the air near the sideline and somehow threw a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the completion probability of that touchdown pass was 31.4%.
‘I’ve never seen anybody throw anything like that in my entire life,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. “That’s just the type of player he is. The play’s never dead. He’s so special, and that was a really cool one.”
The Ravens trailed by 10 point three times in the second half, but Jackson brought them back each time. Baltimore’s win probability was 9% when Cincinnati led 38-28 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
This marked the Ravens’ first win after trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter since October 2021, when Baltimore rallied from 16 points down to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 31-25, in overtime.
“That was like [a] third MVP level for Lamar,” Henry said. “It was a one-of-a-kind game. [He’s] the best player in the league; [he’s] the G.O.A.T for a reason.”
