Lamar Jackson is the star of the show again as the Ravens defeat the Buccaneers on MNF

TAMPA, Fla. – Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had done everything else. He had thrown four touchdown passes. He would throw another one for good measure. He had gotten some important first downs with his legs. He had calmed the offense after a rocky start by leading them on six consecutive scoring drives as the Ravens scored 34 unanswered points against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With the Ravens facing a second-and-7 in their 33 games and looking to build a 16-point lead, Jackson saw an opportunity to do something more. When Derrick Henry retreated and found an opening to his left, Jackson decided to transform himself into a $260 million lead blocker.

Lamar Jackson blocking the lead for Derrick Henry is incredible.

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– NFL (@NFL) October 22, 2024

Jackson sprinted in front of Henry and blocked the path of Buccaneers cornerback Tyrek Funderburk. Then Jackson blocked safety Antoine Winfield Jr., allowing Henry to gain a lot more yards on the other sideline. It was only fitting that six plays later, Jackson connected with Henry for a 13-yard touchdown pass that all but secured the Ravens' 41-31 victory over the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

“It speaks for itself. That's the type of thing Lamar does, and what about the way he runs? He’s just the ultimate competitor,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “That is beyond question. I don't know if I've seen a better competitor than Lamar Jackson. It’s just incredible.”

Nearly 65,000 spectators at Raymond James Stadium and a Monday Night Football crowd that has been electrified by Baltimore's quarterback several times before were treated to Jackson's latest tour de force. His 49-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman about halfway through the third quarter was one of the finest throws of his career. But Jackson's entire body of work on Monday was the latest evidence that no one plays the quarterback position better than he currently does.

LAMAR DEEP TO BATEMAN. 49 YARD TOUCHDOWN.

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– NFL (@NFL) October 22, 2024

“The best in the league. And if people don't believe that, I don't know. They don't watch football. They just hate,” Ravens defenseman Nnamdi Madubuike said.

There were also two touchdown passes to Mark Andrews, the first making the tight end the franchise's all-time leader in touchdown receptions with 42. The second period rewarded a bold decision by Harbaugh to take fourth-and-3 from the Tampa Bay 4-yard line. There was an 18-yard touchdown to Justice Hill on a screen pass and then the 13-yard connection to Henry, who Tampa Bay was clearly tired of chasing and attacking.

All told, Jackson totaled 333 yards, had as many incompletions as touchdown passes, and could have had an even more impressive stat line had his second-quarter touchdown run not been negated by a penalty. But perhaps the most impressive thing Jackson accomplished on Monday was steadying the Ravens after a rocky start that featured mishaps, penalties and back-to-back shots on goal by the Buccaneers.

“There's really no need to have conversations when Lamar Jackson is your quarterback,” said Bateman, who had a career night with four catches for 121 yards and the touchdown. “If he stays composed, we stay composed. He will lead us and he has done it well.”

Early in the game, it seemed like the Buccaneers might be able to chase the Ravens out of the building. Then Jackson took over, aided by two Baker Mayfield interceptions by Marlon Humphrey, and Baltimore's two-time MVP quarterback didn't let Tampa Bay's defense blow up until the game was no longer in doubt.

“'Let's go. “You know we have to get points,” Jackson told his teammates in the huddle after falling behind early. “For us, we see a team that just moves the ball and puts points on the board brings without us scoring. We didn't really do anything on our first drive. It's like, “Man, we have to have some urgency with us,” and I think we did “We started putting points on the board over the next few trips.”

Did they ever? After punting on their first possession, the Ravens' next six drives went like this: touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal, touchdown, touchdown. And after Jackson's only mistake of the night, an errant back pass to receiver Zay Flowers that turned into a turnover, Baltimore added another touchdown.

This is a JACKSON FIVE!

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– Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 22, 2024

The Ravens have now won five games in a row and improved to 5-2. They have left little doubt that they currently have the best offense in the AFC. They have averaged 35 points and 479 yards per game during their winning streak after rushing for 508 yards against Todd Bowles' team on Monday night. With 244 rushing yards on Monday, they became just the fourth team since 1980 to have at least 1,400 rushing yards in seven games.

They have the league's leading MVP candidate in Jackson, who is arguably playing the best football of his career, and the NFL's leading rusher in Henry, who added 169 more yards to his total and now has 873 yards to go for a total of 10 touchdowns .

Remember all those September questions about what's going on with Andrews? He has 11 catches for 162 yards and three touchdowns in the last three games. Remember the narrative that Bateman and Jackson could never see eye to eye? Bateman now has 12 catches for 250 yards and two scores in his last three games.

Then you still have Flowers, Hill and Isaiah who will likely play if they get the opportunity. Eight different Ravens had a reception on Monday.

“If you look at our stats, you can see that anyone can touch the ball – anyone can do something,” said Andrews, who had four catches for 41 yards and two touchdowns. “The thing that makes us so dangerous in my opinion is that we distribute the ball. We have athletes and playmakers across the board.”

The only group that has really stopped the Ravens in recent weeks is the Ravens themselves. Even on Monday, as they marched up and down the field for nearly three quarters, Baltimore was its own worst enemy at times. And the Ravens continued to wreak havoc in the fourth quarter, even though they came into the game up 34-10.

The Ravens received nine penalties for 85 yards. They received a second-and-28 and a third-and-30 on penalties late in the second quarter, and they scored a field goal on that drive. They also had a third-and-25 on their first drive of the third quarter, but Justin Tucker converted a 52-yard field goal. Their fourth-quarter turnover, in which Jackson threw a return pass, was a combination of poor play-calling and poor execution.

Defensively, the Ravens were poor at both the start and finish and were attacked for the first time this year, but were able to get five straight stops in the second and third quarters. Some of Mayfield's numbers (370 passing yards, three touchdowns) were achieved in garbage time, but there were still too many botched assignments, too many missed tackles and too many dropped interceptions. And the Ravens could now be without Humphrey, their top corner, after he suffered a knee injury in the second quarter.

“We want to finish the game better,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said. “We obviously want to catch picks. I don’t know, I guess we just have bad juju at the moment, but we’ll get rid of it.”

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Special teams also came into play, allowing the Buccaneers to recover a late onside kick. Two onside kicks have been successfully recovered in seven weeks of the NFL season. Both were against the Ravens.

But none of those mistakes mattered Monday — and that's largely because the Ravens had Jackson. Whether he was running, throwing, blocking or quietly leading, he was the star of the show.

Hamilton compared him to basketball star LeBron James and called him “one of one.” Henry seemed almost in awe of the quarterback and was rightfully touched by his efforts on the lead block.

“It's unbelievable that someone is a quarterback of his caliber who is so unselfish and blocks his teammate downfield,” Henry said. “This is the type of guy who can play a hell of a game and not even know his stats. All he knows is the guys he threw to and the guys who shot. The guy is just incredible.”

(Photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)