(Photo courtesy of NBC News) “Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson face off”
James Guiry
Connector Staff
The Baltimore Ravens beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in one of the two games on Monday Night Football in Week 7. Two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson’s stellar performance led the Ravens in their 10-point victory over the Bucs. Star receiver Mike Evans left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury after securing what would be his 100th career touchdown reception and his only reception of the night. The Ravens seemed like they had everything figured out this week, it would have been hard for any team to beat them.
The now 5-2 Baltimore Ravens have won their last five games after coming out to a slow start, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns on 17 passes with a 77% completion percentage. He also had 9 rushes for 52 yards. This marks Jackson’s third game in a row with over 280 yards through the air.
Veteran tight end Mark Andrews had not had a touchdown through the first 5 games of the season. He ended that drought last week with a touchdown reception against the Washington Commanders. This week, Andrews found the end zone twice for the Ravens.
Derrick Henry failed to get in the endzone for the first time this season. However, his impact was still felt heavily on the field. Henry led the rushing attack for the Ravens. He has been an outstanding addition to this Ravens team, carrying the ball 15 or more times in his last five games. Henry finished this game with 15 carries for 169 yards, averaging over 10 yards per carry.
Kicker Justin Tucker was perfect going 2/2 on field goals and 5/5 on extra points, scoring 11 points for the Ravens. It appears every Ravens player was on another level.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey had two interceptions before exiting the game with a knee injury.
If you had only watched the first quarter, you may think the Buccaneers dominated this game. The Bucs went up 10-0 and beat up Lamar Jackson in the backfield. After Evans got injured, Tampa’s offense stalled and the Ravens took advantage by shutting out the Bucs for the next two quarters and scored 34 points.
The Buccaneers scored 21 points to Baltimore’s 7 in the fourth quarter, but it still was not enough. The Bucs would go on to lose by 10.
Losing the game was not even the biggest loss of the night for Tampa though, as Evans suffered a soft tissue injury in his hamstring. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Evans will miss “at least four weeks (not games)”. If the loss of a star wideout was not enough, the Bucs’ No. 2 receiver, Chris Godwin also went down with a gruesome ankle injury. Godwin was carted off the field as a result. This one was seemingly worse though as it happened with less than a minute left while the Bucs were down 10 points. A seemingly meaningless few seconds resulted in a devastating injury.
Bucs Head Coach Todd Bowles announced Tuesday that Godwin dislocated his left ankle and will likely be done for the remainder of the season. Bowles said Godwin may come back if they make a late playoff run but for now, he needs surgery and will not play. The Buccaneers have more to worry about now as they have a tough schedule ahead of them without Evans.
Turnovers made the difference in this game. The Ravens had two interceptions to the Bucs 0. The Bucs were threatening to take a 17-7 lead over the Ravens before quarterback Baker Mayfield threw his first interception in the endzone and Tampa did not score again until the fourth quarter after that pick. The Bucs have a very important matchup on Oct. 27 against the Atlanta Falcons. They are tied for the lead in the NFC South with the Falcons, who they lost to earlier this season on Thursday Night Football.
Tampa Bay has had a good season so far it would be a rough sight if this is how their season ended. On the other hand, the Ravens are emerging as a Super Bowl favorite, appearing to be the biggest threat to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC.
