Lamar Jackson threw two third-quarter touchdown passes Thursday night and the Baltimore Ravens kept Tom Brady’s struggles going in a 27-22 win over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Baltimore (5-3) won its second game in five days and took a half-game lead on Cincinnati in the AFC North, while Tampa Bay (3-5) fell a half-game behind Atlanta for first place in the NFC South. Every team in that division owns a losing record.
Trailing 10-3 at halftime, the Ravens got their offense going behind Jackson. On its first drive of the second half, Baltimore covered 77 yards in nine plays, with Jackson finding Kenyan Drake for a 5-yard scoring strike.
The Ravens took the lead for good with five seconds remaining in the third, capping an 80-yard drive that lasted nearly seven minutes with a Jackson-to-Isaiah Likely 10-yard touchdown pass for a 17-10 advantage.
Baltimore added insurance tallies with 6:55 left on a 15-yard touchdown jaunt by Devin Duvernay and then Justin Tucker’s 30-yard field goal at the 2:12 mark. Brady hit Julio Jones for an 8-yard score with 49 seconds remaining, but the Ravens recovered an onside kick to wrap it up.
Jackson completed 27 of 38 attempts for 238 yards and also ran for 43 yards. Brady was 26 of 44 for 325 yards, but it wasn’t enough to keep Tampa Bay from losing for the fifth time in six games. Baltimore outgained the Buccaneers 453-349 and owned the ball for nearly 38 1/2 minutes
The Ravens initiated the scoring on Tucker’s 22-yard field goal with 11:03 left in the first quarter. Baltimore began that drive on the Tampa Bay 6-yard line after recovering a muffed punt.
The Buccaneers responded on their opening drive, their first of two 75-yard scoring marches, this one ending in Leonard Fournette’s 1-yard run with 6:56 left in the first.
Tampa Bay made it a seven-point lead when Ryan Succop hit the first of his three field goals, a 31-yarder with 26 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Along with scoring his first career touchdown, Likely, a rookie out of Coastal Carolina, set career highs with seven receptions and 77 yards. He took over the primary tight end role after All-Pro Mark Andrews left the game in the second quarter due to a shoulder injury and did not return.
Andrews had 33 yards on three catches before exiting.
–Field Level Media
