Lamar Jackson threw for 323 yards and a touchdown to spark the Baltimore Ravens over Washington 30-23 on Sunday in a showdown of the NFL’s top-scoring squads.
NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry ran 24 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns while Zay Flowers had 132 yards on nine catches, all in the first half for a Ravens record.
“Just giving my guys the opportunities, making guys miss and getting yards after the catch,” said Jackson. “Some guys were popping open from the schemes we were doing.
“It was just an all-around team effort.”
Two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Jackson completed 20 of 26 passes and ran 11 times for 40 yards, guiding the Ravens on two scoring drives from beyond 90 yards for a fourth consecutive Ravens victory after an 0-2 start.
“Just taking accountability,” Jackson said “We made a lost of mistakes the first two games. That’s the NFL — everything’s not perfect.
“But we’ve just been trying to minimize our mistakes and put points on the board and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Washington rookie star Jayden Daniels completed 24 of 35 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns and ran six times for 22 yards against the NFL’s top run defenders.
“Great player,” Jackson said of Daniels. “Just his sixth game in the league, rookie year. The sky is the limit for him.”
Baltimore took a 10-3 lead on Henry’s 3-yard touchdown run to cap a nine-play, 93-yard drive.
Washington answered on Daniels’ 7-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin but Baltimore responded on Jackson’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews for a 17-10 Ravens lead.
The Ravens stretched their lead on a 7-yard Henry touchdown run to end a 94-yard march.
Daniels connected with McLaurin on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 12:12 remaining but Justin Tucker kicked his third field goal, a 39-yarder, for a 30-20 Ravens lead with 6:18 remaining. Austin Seibert answered with a 49-yard field goal but the Commanders came no closer.
Tampa Bay produced the biggest scoring day as Baker Mayfield threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns to spark the Buccaneers over host New Orleans 51-27.
Sean Tucker ran for 136 yards and a touchdown while Bucky Irving ran for 81 yards and a touchdown and Chris Godwin caught 11 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns for the Bucs.
Bears roll in London
At London, top 2024 NFL Draft pick Caleb Williams completed 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Chicago Bears (4-2) in a 35-16 victory over Jacksonville.
Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen each caught two touchdown throws and D’Andre Swift ran for 91 yards and another touchdown for the Bears.
Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns in the Eagles’ 20-16 home victory over Cleveland. A.J. Brown caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles.
At New England, Houston’s C.J. Stroud threw for 192 yards and three touchdowns and Joe Mixon ran for 102 yards and had a touchdown run and scoring catch in the Texans’ 41-21 rout of the host Patriots.
“Awesome job. We played really well. We brought energy,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Proud of everybody.”
New England rookie Drake Maye threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns but the Texans forced four turnovers for the triumph.
Green Bay’s Jordan Love threw for 258 yards and four touchdowns to give the Packers a 34-13 home victory over Arizona.
Joe Flacco threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns as Indianapolis rallied in the fourth quarter for a 20-17 victory at Tennessee.
