The Detroit Lions had never beaten the Baltimore Ravens in the Lamar Jackson era, but they changed that in a big way on Monday night. The Lions defense sacked Jackson seven times on the night, held him to just 35 rushing yards, and made key defensive stops in the red zone throughout the game.
Meanwhile, the Lions offense continued its momentum from last week’s blowout win over the Chicago Bears. In particular, the Lions’ rushing attack was lethal, finishing with 224 rushing yards and four touchdowns, including a couple of explosive plays from David Montgomery—who finished with a career-high 151 rushing yards.
With the win, the Lions move to 2-1 on the season and share a lead with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings atop the NFC North.
First quarter
The Raven won the coin toss and deferred, giving the Lions offense the first opportunity to strike. Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams on the second play of the drive for a big 24-yard gain. Then, he hit Williams again for 19 yards to convert a third-and-6.
Down in the red zone, Detroit faced a third-and-3 and Goff tried to hit Jahmyr Gibbs, who hadn’t turned around to find the ball. That left the Lions on fourth down, and Detroit went for it—and converted to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Two plays later, the Lions punched it in with Gibbs for an impressive 11-play opening drive and a 7-0 Lions led.
The Ravens answered with an explosive play of their own to start. Mark Andrews beat Brian Branch to the outside on a 19-yard catch.
A Lamar Jackson keeper gained another 12 yards down into Lions territory. On third-and-1, the Ravens hustled to the line, gave it to Derrick Henry, and the All-Pro back diced his way for a 28-yard touchdown. 7-7 tie.
The Lions’ next drive got off to a disastrous start, with a swing pass to Gibbs gone wrong. Pressure forced the ball low and backwards—a lateral that Gibbs had to corral off the ground—and Detroit lost 9 yards on the first play. That forced a quick three-and-out, giving Baltimore the opportunity to take the early lead.
But the Lions defense forced a quick three-and-0ut after Jackson wasn’t on the same page as Justice Hill. A stellar punt—combined with a bad decision by Kalif Raymond and penalty on D.J. Reed—put the Lions inside their own 2-yard. Detroit was able to get out of the shadow of their own end zone thanks to a third-and-7 conversion to Sam LaPorta, and that was the final play of the first quarter.
Second quarter
A completion to David Montgomery moved the chains again. Then Goff went back to LaPorta on third down for a 14-yard gain. Detroit moved the sticks again with a run up the gut with Gibbs on third-and-1, as they moved into Ravens territory. The Lions started moving the trenches with the “Maryland I Formation,” featuring three backs behind Goff. Then, Goff hit Gibbs on a Texas route down to the 1-yard line. Montgomery plowed it in there for the score and a 14-7 Lions lead with 5:55 left in the half. The impressive drive went 18 plays for 98 yards and nearly took up 11 minutes of clock.
The Ravens responded with a kick return all the way to midfield—with Jake Bates making the tackle. Detroit had an opportunity to get off the field on a third-and-7, but Jackson scrambled away from pressure and found Rashod Bateman, who had beaten Terrion Arnold for a first down.
Then Jackson hit Devontez Walker—with Arnold in coverage again—for 34 yard down to the 3-yard line.
The Lions forced the Ravens into fourth-and-goal thanks to a big tackle from Zach Cunningham.
Disaster would strike for Jackson and the Ravens offense. The former MVP tried to scramble, but he lost the ball when Jack Campbell strip sacked him. The Lions took over with 1:24 left on their own 20-yard line.
Detroit couldn’t do anything with the ball, though, and the Ravens got the ball back at the Lions’ 48-yard line with just under one minute left to try and even the game up.
In between drives, Sione Vaki left the game with a groin injury. Initially, he was ruled questionable to return, but early in the second half. he was downgraded to out.
The drive started with a 13-yard scramble from Jackson, who got out of bounds to stop the clock. He gained another by hitting Deandre Hopkins down the sideline. Arnold was tagged for a pass interference call to take the ball down to Detroit’s 3-yard line, and Baltimore punched it in from there with a pass to Bateman with 24 seconds left. 14-14 tie.
With just 18 seconds left, the Lions dinked and dunked their way to attempt a 67-yard field goal, but Bates’ kick was wide left.
Third quarter
Baltimore had a chance to take their first lead of the game to open the second half, and they captured it. The Lions forced the Ravens into an early third-and-1, but Roy Lopez jumped offsides for the free conversion. On the very next play, Brian Branch dropped as close to a sure interception you’ll ever see. Then, the Ravens converted a third-and-6 with a pass to Zay Flowers. A few plays later, Jackson caught the Lions in a blitz and found a wide open Charlie Kolar for 17 yards. Mark Andrews made a jump ball catch over Branch for 19 yards to get down to the Lions’ 10-yard line.
The Lions looked like they were about to have a big red zone stop again, but after a PBU and sack, Jackson connected with Andrews, who got a step on Alex Anzalone, for a 14-yard touchdown. 21-14, Ravens.
Detroit caught a break with a kickoff short of the landing zone, giving the offense a chance to start at the 40-yard line. LaPorta helped move the chains with a 7-yard catch on third-and-3. A couple runs from Gibbs earned a new set of downs at the Ravens’ 35-yard line. Then the Lions hit a flea flicker to St. Brown for 17 yards.
On the next play, Goff hit St. Brown for an 18-yard touchdown on a perfect touch pass and a double move from the All-Pro receiver. 21-21 tie.
After Bates kicked the ball out of bounds, the Ravens started their drive at the 40-yard line. But thanks to an Al-Quadin Muhammad sack, Detroit earned a three-and-out on defense.
Another fantastic punt from Ravens punter Jordan Stout pinned the Lions at their own 4-yard line. An 11-yard run for Montgomery gave Detroit some breathing room. Then Montgomery busted out a 72-yard run to turn the tables completely.
On a key third-and-3 in the red zone, the Lions came up a yard short on a Gibbs run, leaving them with a tough decision to start the fourth quarter.
Fourth quarter
The Lions scored on the fourth down conversion with an incredible trick play. Goff handed an end-around to St. Brown, who pitched it to Gibbs for the 4-yard score. 28-21 Lions.
The Ravens avoided a three-and-out when Jackson connected with Bateman for a 19-yard line to midfield. Then Brian Branch was hit with a questionable low block penalty for 15 yards, pushing the Ravens into field goal range. A 16-yard connection again to Bateman resulted in another red zone trip for Baltimore. But the Lions held strong with back-to-back sacks by Trevor Nowaske and Derrick Barnes to force a 41-yard field goal and Tyler Loop snuck it inside the left upright.
28-24 Lions.
Detroit took over at the 35-yard line with 9:33 remaining with an opportunity to take a two-score lead. Instead, they went three-and-out after Goff tried to scramble up the middle then throw wide to an open Raymond, but turfed it.
Baltimore regained possession at their own 21-yard line with 8:31 left. But on the very first play of the drive Derrick Henry fumbled after Aidan Hutchinson punched it out and Reed recovered it at the Ravens’ 16-yard line.
Detroit looked like they were going to put the game away, but Christian Mahogany was called for a critical 15-yard facemask penalty. Detroit never came close to converting after that, settling for a 45-yard field goal attempt, which Bates nailed. 31-24 Lions.
Lamar Jackson and company had 6:30 left to tie the ballgame up. After an Aidan Hutchinson sack on first down, the Ravens faced a big third-and-12. Detroit closed out the three-and-out when Muhammad tracked a Jackson scramble down from behind for only 3 yards. The Ravens opted to punt, giving the Lions offense one more chance to put the game away with 4:24 left.
Gibbs picked up a first down on a couple of runs, bleeding some clock. But the Lions failed to convert a third-and-8, falling 2 yards short at the two-minute warning. Dan Campbell faced a critical decision. A first down wouldn’t quite put the game away, as the Ravens had three timeouts, but it would certainly diminish their odds at a game-winning drive severely. A punt would put the ball in Jackson’s hands with about two minutes and all three timeouts.
Campbell opted to go for it, and Goff dropped a perfect pass to St. Brown for a 20-yard gain down to the Ravens’.
Then on the next play, Montgomery charged in for a 31-yard touchdown to essentially clinch the game. 38-24, Lions.
With 1:42 left, the Ravens needed a miracle. Jackson did lead the Ravens down field for a touchdown (and failed two-point conversion), but left just 29 seconds on the clock. Baltimore needed an onside kick to have any chance at a win, but Detroit recovered and finished with a big win for the Lions, 38-30.
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