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The legend of Lamar Jackson continues to grow. The star quarterback led the Baltimore Ravens back from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit, engineering three consecutive touchdown drives to secure his team a 31-25 overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Jackson completed 37 of 43 passes for 442 yards and four touchdowns, overcoming a fumble inside the red zone that resulted in the Colts at one point taking a three-score lead. Jackson calmly found Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown over and over again down the stretch of the game, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in an electric performance.
Carson Wentz played a heck of a game himself, but kicking woes did the Colts in. They missed an extra point and two field goals, one of which was blocked by Calais Campbell just before the game-tying drive. Rodrigo Blankenship had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but he hooked his kick wide, which allowed Jackson to lead the game-winning drive in overtime.
Here are some takeaways from the Ravens' thrilling prime-time win:
Why the Ravens won
How about Jackson? In a league chock-full of MVP-caliber QBs right now, No. 8 turned in one of the best performances of his career. As the game wore on, he got better and faster, tiring the Colts' defense while posting a whopping 442 yards through the air -- 355 of which came after halftime. He was loose with the ball on occasion, nearly coughing up a second red-zone fumble late in the fourth, but he was also accurate as a passer all night, especially in crunch time. The running game was nonexistent outside of Lamar's legs, but Brown and Andrews absolutely torched Indy's secondary to keep the chains moving. Baltimore's defense did enough to keep the game within reach, but this win, as has often been the case this year, really belongs to Jackson and the playmakers. You can never count Lamar out, and he proved that again when the lights were brightest.
Why the Colts lost
Almost everything went right for the Colts early on, with Wentz playing it relatively safe, Jonathan Taylor exploding for a huge score, Michael Pittman Jr. winning contested balls, and the defense keeping the Ravens' ground game in check. Then the second half happened, and their defense all but died, struggling to thwart the Ravens' pass-happy approach. Wentz, who lost a fumble earlier and still took too many hits, kept fighting to set up a go-ahead field goal, but then an apparently banged-up Blakenship chipped in with the second-half crumble, missing a 47-yarder at the buzzer to confirm overtime. There, after the coin toss went the Ravens' way, the defense didn't stand a chance, playing to keep everything in front of them but failing to keep up with Jackson's ever-gliding legs.
Turning point
Once Blankenship sailed his potential game-winning field goal to the right, it felt like the Ravens were destined to win. Baltimore has thrived in close games this year, with Monday's win marking their fourth one-score decision in five weeks. And Indy's defense had already proven exhausted by that point, surrendering a 22-3 lead. Theoretically, they could've held the Ravens to a field goal and given Wentz and Co. one last shot at redemption, but Jackson was having none of it, marching 68 yards in 10 plays for a methodical finish.
Play of the game
When is Jackson not a thrill to watch? His first-down scramble on third-and-3 during the third quarter was especially beautiful, as he weaved in and out of the Colts defense to move the chains and help give Baltimore some of its second-half momentum:
What's next
The Ravens (4-1), atop the AFC North ahead of the Browns, will be back at home again in Week 6, when they're set to play host to the Chargers (4-1), who are fresh off a shootout win over Cleveland. The Colts (1-4), meanwhile, will return to Indianapolis for an AFC South contest with the Texans (1-4), who fell to the Patriots in a close game on Sunday.
