Lamar Jackson leads Ravens back as Baltimore hold off Bengals in 35-34 thriller
Lamar Jackson threw for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the Baltimore Ravens stopped Cincinnati with a two-point conversion with 38 seconds left to hold off the Bengals 35-34 on Thursday night.
The Ravens (7-3) came back from trailing 21-7 in the third quarter and won a huge game from Cincinnati receiver Ja’Marr Chase. He finished with 11 catches for 264 yards and three touchdowns, including a five-yarder in the final minute to pull the Bengals (4-6) within one. Cincinnati — which lost to Baltimore in overtime last month — decided to go for second and the lead, and Joe Burrow’s pass for Tanner Hudson sailed high.
Cincinnati had a chance to take the lead when it led by 14 with the ball in the third, but a fumble by Chase Brown gave the Ravens a short field, and a nifty scramble down the sideline by Jackson set up Derrick Henry’s touchdown -run of one meter. .
In the fourth, Tylan Wallace turned a short pass into an 84-yard touchdown, barely staying in bounds as a pair of Cincinnati defenders couldn’t stop him. Justin Tucker missed the extra point, but the Ravens were within one point.
Cincinnati drove into Baltimore territory, but on both third-and-2 and fourth-and-2, Burrow threw incomplete deep. Jackson gave the Ravens the lead with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews, then the two-time MVP-winning quarterback ran himself for a two-point conversion.
Chase beat Baltimore from deep for a 70-yard touchdown, tying the game at 28 with 5:37 to play, but the Ravens answered with Jackson’s 5-yard scoring toss to Rashod Bateman with 1:49 left to go ahead 35–28 .
Baltimore had 231 of 389 total yards in the fourth quarter.
Jackson threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns. Burrow threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns.
The Ravens lost All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton late in the first half to an ankle injury.
Cincinnati scored on a one-yard touchdown run by Brown on the game’s first drive. The Ravens thought they had stopped the Bengals on fourth down near the goal line, but a holding call on cornerback Brandon Stephens gave Cincinnati another set of downs.
Baltimore also burned two timeouts on that first drive, one on a failed challenge.
Jackson threw a six-yard scoring pass to Nelson Agholor in the second, but the Bengals took the lead on a three-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to Tanner Hudson shortly after Hamilton’s injury.
The Ravens got back to midfield at the end of the half, but by then they were out of timeouts and the clock was running out on them.
Burrow threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Chase early in the third.