Baltimore Ravens beat LA Rams to maintain blistering form
Wednesday 27 November 2019 08:03, UK
Lamar Jackson threw for five touchdowns as Baltimore Ravens ran up another huge score, beating the LA Rams 45-6 for a seventh win in succession.
Jackson, making his Monday Night Football debut, matched his career high with five touchdown passes and ran for 95 yards in another MVP-calibre performance, as the Ravens routed Los Angeles at the LA Memorial Coliseum to stay on course for a postseason bye week.
Baltimore's stunning victory leaves the Rams, beaten in last year's Super Bowl as the game's bright young things, facing a battle to reach the play-offs this year but the Ravens can make the long trip back from West to East with spirits high after racking up more than 40 points for the third consecutive week.
Mark Ingram rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown while also catching a scoring pass as the Ravens became the fourth team in the 21st century to score touchdowns on their first six drives in a game.
With Jackson operating almost flawlessly, and serenaded with 'M-V-P' chants from the home fans by the end, Baltimore embarrassed Aaron Donald and the previously solid Rams defense by racking up 480 yards with their evolving brand of high-octane football.
Baltimore's brilliant young quarterback wants to be perfect and he got awfully close in his Monday Night Football debut with the fearsome Ravens and that was evident in the first half.
Jackson basically hadn't allowed the football to touch the ground Monday night until he dropped an ordinary shotgun snap late in the first half at the Coliseum. He picked it up, split the pocket and sprinted away through the Rams defense, going 35 thrilling yards before tripping right at the goal line.
Instead of celebrating, Jackson sprung up and remonstratively slapped both his hands on his helmet as he closed out a first half in which he went 9 for 9 and led four TD drives.
The 22-year-old quarterback completed 15 of 20 for 169 yards and constantly made smart decisions with his arm and his feet, hitting Willie Snead with his fifth TD pass with 14:43 to play and then taking the rest of the night off, but even the LA crowd serenaded him with M-V-P! chants in the final minutes.
Snead and Marquise Brown had two touchdown catches apiece for the Ravens, whose winning streak is their longest since they won seven straight to close the 2000 season on the way to their first Super Bowl title.
At 9-2, the Ravens have matched their best start since 2012 and outscored their last three opponents 135-26 while the Rams reached new levels of disappointment under Sean McVay having not lost by more than 21 points in their first 43 games under him.
And the once-prolific offense had another low-key display with just 111 yards in the first three quarters before finishing with 221. The Rams also failed to score a touchdown for the second time in three games, while Jared Goff reflect on a November that saw him fail to throw a touchdown pass.
The Ravens scored on their opening drive for the seventh time this season when Jackson lofted an easy TD pass to Marquise Brown, who got his second TD from 18 yards out on Baltimores second drive, and Ingram capped a 75-yard march with a 1-yard TD run on the third.
Baltimore got the ball back with only 1:55 left before half-time, but that was plenty for Jackson. He hit Snead with a 7-yard TD pass with 12 seconds left, and Rams fans booed their team off the field down 28-6.
Baltimore opened the second half with another 75-yard drive capped by Ingram's scoring catch as the Ravens held the ball for all but 59 seconds of the third quarter, and Snead made his second TD catch early in the fourth.
What's Next
Baltimore - it's a huge test of the Ravens credentials in Thanksgiving week as they take on the San Francisco 49ers (10-1) on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, before travelling to Buffalo (8-3) in Week 14.
LA Rams - after two defeats in their last three games, the Rams take their dwindling play-offs on the road to NFC West rivals Arizona (3-7-1) in Week 13, before returning to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to take on the surging Seattle Seahawks (9-2) in Week 14.
Join us for Thanksgiving on Sky Sports as we bring you seven games across three days of coverage, starting with three games back-to-back on Thursday and then another three on Sunday.
