Lamar Jackson ran wild in the Baltimore Ravens‘ 37-20 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football.
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Final Score
Baltimore Ravens 37, New England Patriots 20
Baltimore Ravens
Patrick Onwuasor made the highlight play of the night, coming up with a strip of Julien Edelman on a catch in the flat at the beginning of the third quarter, which Marlon Humphrey scooped up and returned for six points. He also came up with a big sack on a third-down play at the end of the first quarter and racked up a few tackles in run defense.
The Ravens had a good deal of success when it came to pressuring Tom Brady. The Patriots combated the Ravens' pass-rush somewhat at times with a quick passing game, but Baltimore came up with pressure in key moments. You have to tip your cap to the Ravens' defensive staff after this one, as they schemed up blitzes on multiple occasions that resulted in an unblocked pass-rusher pressuring Brady.
Lamar Jackson was asked to throw a lot in this game, and that is exactly how the Ravens drew it up. Jackson was efficient and effective throwing the ball, completing over 70% of his passes for 163 yards. But the damage of Jackson as a runner gave the Pats' defense all sorts of issues, as the Ravens milked the clock to nearly double the time of possession.
The Ravens' run game collected 210 yards on the ground, a lot due to a combination of offensive scheme with Jackson as a runner and the offensive line play. In total, the Ravens averaged 5.1 yards per attempt.
New England Patriots
It certainly wasn't the typical game we're used to seeing from Tom Brady. The Patriots veteran quarterback started the night with an overthrow to James White on a simple toss out to the flat, and that pretty much set the tone for his overall night. At times Brady was in complete control, especially in the middle part of the game where New England found success pushing the tempo, but all in all, this wasn't a performance he's going to look back on fondly.
The Patriots' offense did seem to kick it into gear when they were playing through White. After Julien Edelman‘s costly fumble in the third quarter, the Patriots marched right back down the field to answer with a touchdown on their own, largely relying on White as a runner. White also put the Patriots in a position to score towards the end of the first half with a really nice back-shoulder grab along the right sideline as he was matched up one-on-one with Earl Thomas.
Dont'a Hightower was one of the few players on the Patriots' defense who performed at a level they are used to this season. Hightower was in on 13 tackles and did his best to limit the Ravens' rushing attack.
The uniqueness of the Ravens' offense put the Patriots in a bind from the start of the game, as they were unable to get stops and get off the field. New England rarely gave up big plays, but they were unable to put the Ravens behind the chains on second and third down to force the Ravens to throw the ball in difficult situations.
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