Ravens News 12/13: Kings of the North and more

Lamar Jackson lifts Baltimore Ravens to 42-21 win over Jets on history-making night - Aaron Kasinitz

In the game, Jackson broke Michael Vick’s single-season NFL record for rushing yards as a quarterback and tied the top mark in franchise history with his 33rd touchdown pass of the year. Still, in the wake of an historic victory, coach John Harbaugh said Jackson didn’t only affect the game with his skills; he also jolted teammates with his display of passion.

“Lamar is a competitor,” Harbaugh said. “He wasn’t mad at anybody. He was upset with the fact that we weren’t extending drives, we weren’t getting the job done. ‘We can be better,’ that’s exactly what he said. ‘We have to convert. We have to convert. We’re better than that.’ And [his teammates] respect him and they respond to it.”

“That emotion is great,” offensive tackle James Hurst said of Jackson’s third-quarter shouts and stomps. “That fires us up. Obviously, you know, we felt like we kind of skidded out there that time in the game. We felt like we needed to be out there moving the ball down the field and we were just kind of flat. So [Jackson] came over, we got fired up and we turned it around a little bit.”

What we learned from Ravens’ victory over Jets - Grant Gordon

Statistically, the intrigue of Thursday night’s matchup lay within the Jets’ second-ranked rushing defense slowing down the Ravens’ top-ranked rushing offense. All that intrigue was run over by the Ravens in the first quarter. Entering the evening, the Jets were allowing an average of 78.8 yards on the ground. Baltimore had 99 by the time the first stanza concluded -- or more accurately after its first two drives, which ended with a 13-0 lead (Justin Tucker missed an extra point in what was likely the most shocking negative to come out of Thursday for the Ravens). When Jackson, Ingram (13 carries for 76 yards, two total touchdowns) and Co. were done running around and through the Jets at night’s end they had 218 yards on the ground. It was far and away the most given up all season by New York, having previously allowed 129 in a win to the Cowboys. Coming off a season-low of 118 rushing yards against the Bills, these Ravens are running past anyone and everyone.

The 2019 RedZone Power Rankings - Kevin Clark

1. Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are the only NFL team to score on over half of their drives. If an alien came down tomorrow and asked to see a football team to learn what the sport is, we’d take them to Baltimore. When John Harbaugh told Lamar Jackson he was changing the sport, he was not speaking for the team or the staff, he was speaking for the TV viewer, too.

This team goes for it on fourth down because it’s analytically sound. And true to the nature of the channel, Jackson converts in the red zone, completing 60 percent of his passes inside the 20, and 60 percent of his passes inside the 10. This is separate from his running talents. He has had either a 100 passer rating, 100 rushing yards, or both, in every game since the first week of October.

Ravens React to Being Kings of the North Again - Clifton Brown

“Congratulations to the Ravens, to the players, to the coaches, to the fans,” Harbaugh said. “The Ravens are the AFC North champs and we’re very proud of that. That’s a great accomplishment. It’s a great division and it’s our first goal. That’s done. We move on and we’ll get to work.”

“At that point we were 2-2, we had lost two (straight) and the season could’ve gone one way or another,” Ingram said. “It says a lot about the character of this team, our coach, guys believing in each other. We decided that we wanted to be great.”

“We’ve won 10 games in a row,” Yanda said. “Obviously, we’ve never done that here. This is definitely the best team I’ve ever been on. We’ve won 10 games in a row. That’s all I need to say.”

“We got into the playoffs last year,” Judon said. “That wasn’t enough. We’re not done yet. We ain’t done yet.”

“It feels great to get another division title with this group,” wide receiver Willie Snead IV said. “But to have the entire AFC playoffs come through Baltimore? That’s everything we need to get to Miami. We just have a really good nucleus of guys this season. We just went to work. We weren’t worried about anyone else. Now they seem to be worried about us.”