Lamar Jackson threw nine passes to Zay Flowers in the first half and never went to him again. Mark Andrews rebounded from a ball bouncing off his hands for an interception to catch his first touchdown pass of the season. And Derrick Henry was Derrick Henry.
The result was a dominant offensive performance as Jackson outshined rookie Jayden Daniels in a showdown between two of the NFL's best quarterbacks with 323 yards passing and 40 more rushing, and the Baltimore Ravens beat the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Sunday for their fourth consecutive victory.
“Just a pick your poison offense,” Jackson said.
Henry ran for 132 yards and his NFL-leading eighth and ninth TDs, Flowers set a career high with 132 yards receiving and Jackson moved into second on the career rushing list among QBs. Baltimore (4-2) mixed and matched the pass and run to near perfection.
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“Guys are going to get their touches and get the ball and good things will happen, and that’s what happened today,” said Andrews, who tied Todd Heap for the most TD catches since the team moved to Baltimore with the 41st of his career. “We’re extremely versatile in what we’re doing, and we’re going to take this game, get better from it week by week and become the machine that we can be.”
Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin on two TD passes, but did not get nearly enough help from the backfield in a matchup of the two top rushing offenses in the league. With Brian Robinson Jr. out because of a knee injury, Washington (4-2) got just 52 yards on the ground.
“B-Rob is a great player, but it’s next man up,” Daniels said. “We have to go out there and do our job.”
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The Commanders' defense struggled to contain Jackson and Henry, allowing Baltimore to rack up 484 yards, and their winning streak ended at four with a loss at the hands of an opponent that is starting to look like the legitimate Super Bowl contender it was expected to be.
“We got so many guys that can make plays, a lot of guys are getting the chances, getting the ball and being able to showcase their talents," said Henry, who became the first player to rush for a TD in each of his first six games since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005. "That’s what you want as an offense.”
The masterclass by the Ravens included scoring drives of 93 and 94 yards, the second of which became the difference in the game when Henry scored from 7 yards out late in the third quarter.
"Those two drives were much needed," Flowers said. “I feel like we needed those drives to set the tone that this offense is going to keep going all game and we’re just going to keep scoring, either running or passing.”
Struggles defending against the pass continued, with Daniels going 24 of 35 for 269 yards, but again Baltimore was able to outscore its problems. Coach John Harbaugh called it the ultimate team win.
“All three phases contributed to the win when they had to,” Harbaugh said. “Guys answered today in a lot of ways.”
Asked afterward if he thought the game showed the Ravens have the best offense in football, Jackson shrugged off that notion because there's still a lot of season to go.
“We’re just proving we can win games,” said Jackson who completed 20 of his 26 passes. “There’s always room for improvement.”
Injuries
Ravens: LB Malik Harrison (groin), CB Arthur Maulet (knee and hamstring) and DE Broderick Washington (knee) were inactive.
Commanders: DT Jonathan Allen was ruled out early in the fourth quarter with a pectoral injury. ... DE Dorance Armstrong left in the second with a rib injury. ... DE Clelin Ferrell missed a fourth consecutive game with a knee injury.
Up next
Commanders: Host the Carolina Panthers next Sunday.
Ravens: Visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, Oct. 21.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
