Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson on finally beating Kansas City Chiefs: ‘Feels good to get that monkey off of our back’
With a somersault touchdown and a clutch fourth-down conversion, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson beat the Kansas City Chiefs and his self-described “kryptonite” for the first time in a thrilling 36-35 decision on Sunday night.
Jackson carried the short-handed Ravens to their first win over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs after three defeats by running for 113 yards and throwing for 239 yards.
The odds were seemingly stacked against Baltimore, which was down several injured players and trailed by 11 points (35-24) to start the fourth quarter. Jackson then delivered the biggest fourth-quarter comeback of his career, running for two touchdowns, including a flip into the end zone for the winning, 1-yard score.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh celebrated the emotional win by giving Jackson a huge hug on the field.
“It feels good to get that monkey off of our back,” said Jackson, whose three of eight regular-season losses have come against Kansas City. “We’ve got to move on to Detroit now. We didn’t win the Super Bowl yet; it’s just one game. We’ve got to just keep staying focused.”
The Ravens evened their record at 1-1 with one of their most improbable victories. Injuries forced Baltimore to play without All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley, its top two running backs and rookie wide receiver and first-round pick Rashod Bateman, as well as a dozen others on injured reserve.
But the Ravens had Jackson, who gave them all of the confidence they needed to upset the reigning AFC champions. Up by one point with 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining, Harbaugh yelled to Jackson and asked whether Baltimore should go for fourth-and-1 at its own 43-yard line.
“I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah!'” Jackson explained after the game. “I said it again.”
Jackson took the snap in the pistol formation and ran up the middle of the defense, putting his head down for a 2-yard gain to close out the game.
It was a gutsy run by Jackson and a nearly unprecedented call by Harbaugh. Since 2000, this marked only the second time that a team went for it on fourth down in their own territory during the final two minutes of a game when leading by less than a field goal, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Was there any doubt that Harbaugh was going to go for it?
“No, there wasn’t,” Harbaugh said. “But I think I wanted to be sure myself, you know? I knew [Jackson] was going to say yes, but we were going for it at that point.”
Jackson became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era with 100 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns in multiple games. He also tied Michael Vick for the most 100-yard rushing games by a quarterback with his 11th (including playoffs).
This just didn’t have the makings of a record-setting night for Jackson. He threw two interceptions in the first quarter, including a pick-six on his second pass attempt.
After the second interception, a visibly frustrated Jackson threw his helmet down on the sideline.
“I know my team is going to look at me,” Jackson said. “If I’m out there just messing up, they’re going to be like, ‘God damn, what are you doing?’ So, I’ve got to do it for my guys. My guys have my back. The first two interceptions, they were like, ‘Man, you’re good; you got that out the way. Let’s just play.’ I was like, ‘You’re right, I’ve got to play now. That’s over with.’ And that’s what we did.”
Jackson settled down, throwing a 42-yard touchdown to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in the third quarter before setting up his greatest comeback.
Before Sunday, Jackson was 0-6 in his career when trailing by 11 or more points in the fourth quarter (including playoffs). His previous biggest comeback was three points (Week 5 in 2019 at the Pittsburgh Steelers).
Jackson’s high-flying, 1-yard touchdown with 3:14 left gave the Ravens their first lead and put them ahead for good.
“He’s incredible, man,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. “That’s the guy right there. It’s hard to put into words, but he put the team on his shoulders many, many times tonight.”
Lamar Jackson shows nerves of steel with gutsy, fourth-down call to beat Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
“Lamar! Do you want to go for this?” Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh could be seen shouting from the sideline.
Paying tribute
Lamar Jackson
 Jackson with the Baltimore Ravens in 2020
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| No. 8 – Baltimore Ravens | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | January 7, 1997 Pompano Beach, Florida |
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| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Boynton Beach Community (Boynton Beach, Florida) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Louisville (2015–2017) | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2018 / Round: 1 / Pick: 32 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||||
Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). While playing college football at Louisville, he won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and was unanimously selected as an All-American during his sophomore year in 2016.
Jackson was the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft when he was selected by the Ravens on their final pick. He began his rookie season as a backup, but became the team’s starting quarterback following an injury to starter Joe Flacco. Jackson helped the team clinch the AFC North division title and became the youngest quarterback to start a playoff game. In 2019, his first full season as starter, Jackson set a record for the most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback, led the league with 36 touchdown passes, and became the second unanimous NFL Most Valuable Player winner in league history. He was the fourth African-American quarterback to win the award. In 2020, he became the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season more than once.
Awards and highlights
College
NCAA Football
- Heisman Trophy (2016)
- Maxwell Award (2016)
- Walter Camp Award (2016)
- Associated Press Player of the Year (2016)
- Sporting News Player of the Year (2016)
- Unanimous All-American (2016)
- 2× ACC Player of the Year (2016, 2017)
- 2× ACC Offensive Player of the Year (2016, 2017)
- ACC Athlete of the Year (2018)
- Total yards: 5261 (2017)
Louisville Cardinals football
- Unanimous selection to Louisville Cardinals Team of the Decade (2010-2019)
- First Louisville Cardinals quarterback named to All-American team: (2016)
- Most career rushing attempts by a quarterback: 655 (2015-2017)
- Most career rushing yards: 4,132 (2015-2017)
- Most career rushing touchdowns: 50 (2015-2017)
- Most passing touchdowns in a game: 6 (tied with Chris Redman) (2016)
NFL
- NFL Most Valuable Player (2019)
- Bert Bell Award (2019)
- 7× AFC Offensive Player of the Week (2019: Week 1, Week 9, Week 10, Week 12, Week 15) (2020: Week 1, Week 14)
- NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (December 2018)
- 2x AFC Offensive Player of the Month (December 2018) (November 2019)
- FedEx Air Player of the Year (2019)
- Kansas City Committee of 101 awards AFC Offensive Player of the Year (2019)
- Pro Bowl (2019)
- Pro Bowl Offensive MVP (2019)
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- First-team All-Pro (2019)
- Sporting News Offensive Player of the Year (2019)
- 1 ranked player on NFL Top 100 (2020)
NFL records
- First quarterback with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons (2019, 2020)
- Most rushing yards by a quarterback in a season: 1,206 (2019)
- Most rushing attempts by a quarterback in a season: 159 (2019)
- Most 100+ rushing yards games by a quarterback in a season: 5 (2019)
- Most perfect passer ratings in a season (tied with Ben Roethlisberger): 2 (2019)
- Youngest quarterback to ever start a playoff game: 21 years, 364 days (2018 Wild Card Round against the Los Angeles Chargers)
- Youngest quarterback to achieve a perfect passer rating: 22 years, 244 days (Week 1, 2019)
- Youngest quarterback to start a Pro Bowl game.
- Highest touchdown passing percentage (7.4%) in the Super Bowl Era (minimum 500 attempts)
Ravens franchise records
- First quarterback to start in a Pro Bowl game.
- First quarterback to make First team All-Pro.
- Most rushing yards by a quarterback in a game: 152 (Week 6, 2019)
- Most passing touchdowns in a season: 36 (2019)
- Lowest percentage of passes intercepted, season: 1.5 (2019)
- Lowest percentage of passes intercepted, career: 1.6 (2018-2019)
- Most games with a perfect passer rating: 2[90]
- Most passing touchdowns in a game: 5
- Highest completion percentage in a game: 88.2
- Highest completion percentage in a season: 66.1 (2019)
- Highest completion percentage, career: 64.0 (2018-2020)
- Highest passer rating, season: 113.3 (2019)
- Highest passer rating, career: 102.6 (2018-2020)
