Lamar Jackson became the fastest quarterback to reach 5,000 rushing yards and the Baltimore Ravens forced four turnovers while recording a 20-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night at Inglewood, Calif.
Zay Flowers caught a touchdown pass and also ran for one for Baltimore (9-3), which won for the sixth time in the past seven games. The Ravens possess the top record in the AFC heading into next week’s bye.
Justin Herbert completed 29 of 44 passes for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Chargers (4-7), who lost their third straight game. Keenan Allen caught 14 passes for 106 yards and Gerald Everett had a scoring reception for Los Angeles.
Jackson was 18-of-32 passing for 177 yards with a touchdown, and rushed for 39 yards on 11 carries. He has 5,011 career rushing yards in 82 games.
The previous fastest quarterback to 5,000 was Michael Vick (104 games). Jackson’s rushing yards are fourth most by a quarterback, trailing Vick (6,109), Cam Newton (5,628) and Russell Wilson (5,232).
Los Angeles moved within 13-10 on Herbert’s 3-yard pass to Everett with 8:32 left in the contest. A 35-yard keeper by Herbert was the key play on the drive.
Normally reliable Justin Tucker was wide left on a 44-yard field-goal attempt for the Ravens with 2:57 left. But Los Angeles gave the ball back to Baltimore with 1:54 remaining.
On third-and-3, Flowers came in motion and took the handoff from Jackson and exploded through a big hole for a 37-yard scoring run to give the Ravens a 10-point lead with 1:36 left.
The Chargers again gave the ball back to Baltimore with 53 seconds left and the Ravens ran out the clock.
Khalil Mack recorded two sacks for Los Angeles, which was outgained 361 to 279.
The Chargers opened the game with Cameron Dicker’s 39-yard field goal before Baltimore moved ahead on Jackson’s 3-yard pass to Flowers with 10:41 left in the first half. Tucker tacked on a 42-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining as the Ravens took a 10-3 halftime lead.
Tucker booted a 48-yard field goal on Baltimore’s first third-quarter possession to make it a 10-point margin.
The Chargers had a chance to decrease their deficit but a 19-play, 72-yard drive ended with Jadeveon Clowney sacking Herbert and recovering the ensuing fumble at the Ravens’ 23-yard drive with 12:31 left in the game.
–Field Level Media
