Ravens’ Lamar Jackson delivers the best fourth quarter of his career, outscoring the Bengals

BALTIMORE – The Ravens found themselves in a tough spot against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, falling behind by 14 points in the second half with a struggling defense.

So what gave them hope of a comeback? Lamar Jackson is playing his best football ever.

Jackson posted the best fourth quarter of his career, leading the Ravens to a 35-34 victory. With a perfect fourth-quarter passer rating of 158.3, he threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns – both fourth-quarter personal bests – to secure a season-high win over the Bengals and once again save the NFL’s worst pass defense.

It didn’t matter that the Ravens’ defense allowed 470 yards and five touchdowns. It was always believed that Jackson would lead Baltimore to victory.

“He’s special, but we’re like little brothers right now,” Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said of the defense. “He carries us.”

The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player had to shake off his worst start to the season. After throwing for 71 yards in the first half, Jackson began to click as Baltimore trailed 21-7 early in the third quarter.

Jackson threw touchdown passes of 84 yards to Tylan Wallace and 18 yards to Mark Andrews before connecting with Rashod Bateman for the game-winning 5-yard touchdown with 1:49 to play.

Since 2021, Jackson has won three times when trailing by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter. This is the highest value in the NFL during this period.

“He brings a different level of intensity and carries the team on his back week in and week out,” Andrews said. “And for us, again, it’s the belief, it’s not about giving up and understanding that we have the best player in the world on our team and we’ll never get out.”

It was just last month when Jackson rallied the Ravens from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to a 41-38 overtime victory in Cincinnati. This extended Jackson’s dominance over the Bengals, improving his record to 10-1 against them.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jackson also became the only player in NFL history to have five fourth-quarter touchdown passes and no interceptions against an opponent in a single season.

“I just think he took the game on his shoulders like he does,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.

The Ravens are now 7-3 with the NFL’s No. 1 offense (440.2 yards per game) and the league’s No. 27 defense (367.9).

“I told my guys on the sideline, ‘We have to score. If they score, we have to score – that’s the type of game it’s going to be,'” Jackson said. “We saw that from the first moment, but I’m proud of my boys because we did it.” [and] We got through.”

Baltimore plays at the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) on November 17th in the battle for first place in the AFC North. If the Ravens fall behind in this game, they know they can come back for a reason.

“We have Lamar Jackson,” Bateman said. “I [am not] I’ll lie to you – if [he’s] On the field we had a chance to win the game, period.”