ExtremeRavens

Here’s how The Baltimore Sun sports staff views the outcome of Sunday’s Week 6 game between the Ravens (3-2) and Washington Commanders (4-1) at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore: Brian Wacker, reporter Ravens 27, Commanders 20: This one will be a shootout, so don’t be surprised if the score is even higher. The Ravens’ secondary has given up a ton of yards and Washington has one of the league’s weakest run defenses, allowing 5.1 yards per carry to rank 31st. The Commanders’ secondary also ranks 24th in completion percentage allowed (.687). But Baltimore’s defense is also perhaps the most talented that Washington has seen so far, and safety Kyle Hamilton, inside linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive tackles Nnamdi Madubuike and Travis Jones will make enough plays to force Washington into some mistakes. Childs Walker, reporter Ravens 34, Commanders 24: This matchup is one of the most exciting on the NFL calendar, pitting offenses that can blister any opponent on the ground or through the air. The Ravens will have to maintain defensive discipline on the edges and in the secondary to keep Jayden Daniels from going off. The Commanders, with one of the league’s weaker defenses, might have to pick their poison between Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry running and Jackson looking over the top as he did in Cincinnati. Washington’s potent offense won’t be silenced, but it won’t keep up with Jackson and Henry. This is a significant step up for the Commanders, and it will show in the end. Mike Preston, columnist Ravens 28, Commanders 21: Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Washington rookie Jayden Daniels have similar styles, and Daniels has already proven he throws a better long ball. But in this game, experience will matter and Jackson is in his seventh season. That will be the marquee matchup, but the game will be determined by the Commanders’ defense. Washington is allowing 130 rushing yards per game, and that is a mismatch against the Ravens’ No. 1 ranked rushing offense. The Ravens aren’t that much better defensively with the No. 31 ranked pass defense, but they aren’t as bad as they appear on the back end. They still seem to have communication problems and were torched last week by the Bengals, but the Ravens will get pressure on Daniels. The Ravens need to step up in the secondary because the Commanders have some good receivers led by Terry McLaurin, and running back Austin Ekeler is a threat out of the backfield. Also, the Commanders’ four wins have come against the New York Giants, Cincinnati, Arizona and Cleveland, not exactly the class of the NFL. C.J. Doon, editor Commanders 31, Ravens 28: Everything on paper suggests the Ravens win, and perhaps easily. Washington’s defense is one of the worst in the NFL, and while the Ravens haven’t exactly looked like the 1985 Bears, they have much more talent on that side of the ball. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry could simply have their way all afternoon, making it impossible for rookie Jayden Daniels and company to keep up. But something is pushing me to pick the Commanders and keep riding the Daniels hype train. Baltimore felt vulnerable enough on defense to bring in longtime assistant Dean Pees this week, and it could take a little more time to sort out the problems in the secondary. Daniels frustrates the Ravens’ pass rush and makes enough big plays to keep Washington within striking distance before leading a late drive for the game-winning field goal. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | The NFL’s hottest ticket this week? Ravens vs. Commanders in Baltimore. Baltimore Ravens | Ravens get 3 starters back during Thursday’s practice; Commanders RB still out Baltimore Ravens | How will Dean Pees help Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr? ‘Could be anything.’ Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Commanders Week 6 betting guide: Picks, predictions and odds Baltimore Ravens | Maryland sets monthly sports betting tax revenue record in September Tim Schwartz, editor Commanders 34, Ravens 30: Who saw this coming from Washington? Jayden Daniels has proved to be everything that franchise needed and more, and the Commanders are a formidable foe. Roquan Smith is right: Daniels hasn’t seen a defense like the Ravens’, but Smith hasn’t seen a quarterback like Daniels either. And the only quarterback playing better than the rookie is … Lamar Jackson. Expect some superb quarterback play Sunday, so sit back and enjoy the shootout. Bennett Conlin, editor Ravens 33, Commanders 27: Coming into the season, plenty of people penciled in a win for Baltimore this week. Jayden Daniels’ sizzling start to his NFL career has turned this game into a must-watch matchup between two of the league’s most dynamic quarterbacks. Still, there’s a reason the Ravens and Lamar Jackson are nearly a touchdown favorite. Baltimore is the more complete team, with the Commanders having issues defending the pass. Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow combined to throw for more than 600 yards and seven touchdowns in their respective matchups with Washington. The Commanders are a legitimate threat to win the NFC East, but the Ravens are a Super Bowl contender. There’s still a gap between these franchises, but it’s shrinking. If there were ever a Ravens-Commanders game to attend, this fits the bill. View the full article

Tickets for Sunday’s game between the Ravens and Washington Commanders have increased by 232% from the start of the NFL season, according to a social media post from online ticketing marketplace TickPick. Entering the start of the season, the cheapest tickets for the game were $92 on TickPick’s website. As of Thursday afternoon, TickPick shared that the “get-in price” was $301. Only the Las Vegas Raiders’ home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday rivals that number. The surge in fan interest comes as the Commanders exceed preseason expectations. Washington was optimistic it could improve from its 4-13 season last year, but the Commanders weren’t expected to match last year’s win total through five weeks. Washington is 4-1 behind new coach Dan Quinn and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner at LSU, Daniels leads the NFL in completion rate (77.1%) and is the front-runner to win Offensive Rookie of the Year while simultaneously inserting himself in the NFL Most Valuable Player Award conversation. Washington is off to its best start through five games since 2008, and the Commanders lead the NFC East by a game over the Dallas Cowboys. It’s early in the season, but the Commanders join the Chiefs, Texans and Vikings as teams with at least four wins. Baltimore, which started 0-2, looks like it’s back to form as one of the NFL’s top franchises. A fourth-quarter comeback against the Bengals last week moved the Ravens’ winning streak to three games. They’ve been particularly successful offensively in 2024, leading the NFL in yards per game (447.6) and ranking second in points per game (29.4) behind the MVP-level play of quarterback Lamar Jackson. Only Daniels and the Commanders (31) score more points per game so far this season. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens get 3 starters back during Thursday’s practice; Commanders RB still out Baltimore Ravens | How will Dean Pees help Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr? ‘Could be anything.’ Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Commanders Week 6 betting guide: Picks, predictions and odds Baltimore Ravens | Maryland sets monthly sports betting tax revenue record in September Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more The matchup between Jackson and Daniels is being viewed as one of the most intriguing quarterback duels of Week 6 in the NFL. The two possess similar ability to run and pass well, but their equally entertaining playing styles have stark differences. Using the secondary ticket market as a guide, the game with the Commanders is drawing more fan interest than other upcoming home games. Tickets are available on StubHub, another online ticketing marketplace, for as low as $118 for Baltimore’s Nov. 3 game vs. the Denver Broncos. A Thursday night game vs. the Bengals a few days later has StubHub tickets for $115. Tickets for the Philadelphia Eagles’ visit to M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 1 are available for as low as $278, which is still less than the $288 tickets currently available on the platform for Sunday’s game with Washington. Sunday marks the third home game of Baltimore’s season. The Ravens are 1-1 at M&T Bank Stadium, losing to the Raiders and beating the Buffalo Bills in a blowout on national television. Have a news tip? Contact Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin. View the full article

Three Ravens starters who were absent from practice Wednesday returned as limited participants Thursday. Coach John Harbaugh chalked up the absences of wide receiver Rashod Bateman (groin), left tackle Ronnie Stanley (toe) and cornerback Marlon Humphrey (ankle) to “normal after-game-type-of-things that you deal with at this point in time of the season.” All said, the Ravens (3-2) have remained fairly healthy through five weeks heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. clash with the Washington Commanders (4-1), who hold the second best record in the NFC and haven’t lost since Week 1. Bateman hasn’t been a focal point of the Ravens’ offense but has proven to be a strong complementary piece. He caught three passes for 28 yards and logged his first touchdown of the season against the Dallas Cowboys, then tallied another four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Stanley has been a consistent force along the offensive line, playing 99% of snaps and ranked by Pro Football Focus as the second-best pass blocking tackle in football. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | The NFL’s hottest ticket this week? Ravens vs. Commanders in Baltimore. Baltimore Ravens | How will Dean Pees help Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr? ‘Could be anything.’ Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Commanders Week 6 betting guide: Picks, predictions and odds Baltimore Ravens | Maryland sets monthly sports betting tax revenue record in September Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more Humphrey was an unlikely hero in a Bengals game littered with star power. He came up with the late interception that sent the game to overtime. He left the stadium in a walking boot but looked comfortable in individual drills Thursday. Defensive tackle Broderick Washington (knee) and cornerback Arthur Maulet (knee/hamstring) each did not practice for the second consecutive day, while reserve guard Sala Aumavae-Laulu was absent for the first time with a back injury. Returner Deonte Harty (knee) and tight end Charlie Kolar (toe) were full participants. Right tackle Roger Rosengarten (hand/ankle) was a limited participant both days of practice this week. As for the visiting Commanders, running back Brian Robinson Jr. (knee) didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday. Defensive end Clelin Ferrell (knee) was limited Thursday, while outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. (illness) and running back Austin Ekeler (heel) were listed as full participants. Defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis was out with an illness. Wide receiver Noah Brown (groin) and safety Quan Martin (neck) were limited participants for the second straight day. Guard Nick Allegretti (ankle) returned Thursday and was limited. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article

When Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr would catch up with Dean Pees this summer, the two often left it at personal exchanges and family updates with some football sprinkled in. But through those conversations, Orr could sense a longing to return to football from his 75-year-old former coach. “Even though he was retired, he still had that fire in him,” Orr said. “He still wanted to be around ball. He still has a passion for it.” The Ravens hired Pees this week in a senior advisor role ahead of facing their beltway rivals and winners of four straight, the Washington Commanders. That game kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Orr, one of the youngest coaches in the league at 32 years old, said he envisions Pees having a game day role, but they have not yet finalized plans for their newest coaching addition. Pees previously served as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017, which included the organization’s last Super Bowl title in February 2013. Most recently he served as defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in 2021 and 2022. He was in a similar role with the Patriots before arriving in Baltimore and with the Tennessee Titans after he left. “He’s been really successful as a football coach,” Orr said. “So I think, a person who knows the culture and knows the organization and is still willing to teach and learn, I think he could really help coming in.” Orr played linebacker under Pees from 2014 to 2016 before his career was cut short by a rare congenital spine condition. The lasting memory that has influenced the first-year coordinator’s approach was the way Pees built relationships with his players. Orr is a players’ coach. Much of that is Pees’ influence, he said. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | The NFL’s hottest ticket this week? Ravens vs. Commanders in Baltimore. Baltimore Ravens | Ravens get 3 starters back during Thursday’s practice; Commanders RB still out Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Commanders Week 6 betting guide: Picks, predictions and odds Baltimore Ravens | Maryland sets monthly sports betting tax revenue record in September Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more Coach John Harbaugh called Pees “a good sounding board and mentor for Zach.” Orr didn’t lay out a specific vision for how Pees could help. Rather, that they can lean on Pees’ experience and his point of view. “It can be big picture, it could be with position, it could be anything,” Orr said. Baltimore’s defense has been a sore spot through five weeks — albeit against the toughest strength of schedule to date, according to Pro Football Focus. The Ravens’ remaining 12 games rank 23rd in that category. Nonetheless, the defense needed a facelift. The Ravens rank 26th in points allowed per game (25.2), 19th in yards (340.6) and 30th in passing yards (280.2), as well as 31st in completion percentage allowed (.672). They coughed up a fourth-quarter lead in a loss against the Raiders, nearly did so in a win over the Cowboys and were thrashed by the Bengals in an overtime victory. As safety Kyle Hamilton said earlier this week, Orr “could’ve easily been like, ‘No I’m going to fix it in-house.’ To be humble enough to bring someone in who knows what they’re doing … he’s a great guy, knows ball so it’s good to have him here. It’s just another set of eyes. It’s not like he’s going to start calling the defense.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article

It’s been years since the Washington Commanders (4-1) were involved in one of the most highly anticipated NFL games of the week, but that’s the case when the NFC East leaders visit the Ravens (3-2) on Sunday. It doesn’t hurt that the game pins two of the most exciting quarterbacks in the NFL against each other. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson has the better professional resume, which makes sense given his years of playing experience. Jackson is a two-time Most Valuable Player Award winner, leading the Ravens to a winning record every season as the franchise’s starting quarterback. He’s rushed for over 5,500 yards, as he’s closing in on Michael Vick’s record for most career rushing yards by a quarterback at 6,109. Washington’s Jayden Daniels is no slouch, either. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is off to a blazing start in the first five games of his NFL career, completing a league-best 77.1% of his passes. Daniels holds the fifth-shortest odds to win NFL MVP (+1100 on FanDuel), a remarkable feat for such a young player. Jackson holds the second-shortest odds (+650) behind only Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (+230). Daniels is the most popular bet to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, with 22% of bets placed on FanDuel in the award’s futures market being on the Commanders rookie, according to a FanDuel spokesperson. Daniels is the heavy favorite to win the honor, currently holding odds of -250. Sunday’s game is more than just a stellar quarterback battle, though. It’s a showdown between two division leaders who play home games in the same state. While the on-field rivalry hasn’t been much over recent years, fans in the region are particularly excited for this game. The interest carries over to bettors, too. More bets have been placed on Ravens-Commanders than any other NFL game this week as of Thursday afternoon, according to a DraftKings spokesperson. What are the odds? John Harbaugh’s squad is nearly a touchdown favorite against Dan Quinn’s bunch. Spread: Ravens -6.5, via FanDuel Total: 51.5 points Baltimore moneyline: -300 (wager $300 to profit $100) Commanders moneyline: +245 On the season, the Ravens are 3-2 against the spread, while the Commanders are an impressive 4-1. Minnesota is the league’s only team that has covered the spread in every game this season, as the Vikings are a perfect 5-0. Ravens make a statement The Commanders have been phenomenally fun with Daniels at quarterback. Still, there’s a gap between the teams. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Maryland sets monthly sports betting tax revenue record in September Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more Baltimore Ravens | Comparing Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels is a ‘disservice.’ They’re different. Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s Ravens mailbag: Why covering the NFL is so different now | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is difficult to stop. Here’s how the Ravens plan to do it. Baltimore is the second-highest rated team this season on Pro Football Focus, and the Ravens are second in DVOA. The Ravens have the makings of a Super Bowl contender, with a collapse against the Raiders and a last-second incompletion the two faults keeping this team from being 5-0. As for the Commanders, they have wins over the Giants, Bengals, Cardinals, and Browns. Those teams are a combined 6-14 this season. The Commanders are winless against teams with winning records, losing to Tampa Bay by 17 on the road to open the year. Two of Baltimore’s three wins came against teams currently with winning records, including a 35-10 blowout of the Bills and a win over the Cowboys in which they led by 22 points in the fourth quarter. This game is understandably being hyped as a game of the week, but can the Commanders hold up against one of the best teams in the NFL? Best bet: Ravens -6.5 Have a news tip? Contact Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin. View the full article

The return of the NFL season — and a strong start for the two franchises playing in Maryland — isn’t just good news for fans. It’s also good news for the state’s sports betting industry. Interest in the red-hot Washington Commanders (4-1) and Ravens (3-2) trickled down to the sports betting industry in September, as Maryland posted its most lucrative month of sports betting tax revenue generation since the state legalized sports betting in November of 2021. The early-season NFL interest also coincided with the stretch run for the Orioles, who ended their regular season last month. Marylanders wagered $532.9 million on legal sportsbooks in September, which led to $9.4 million of tax revenue coming back to the state, according to figures released by the state’s lottery Thursday. The monthly tax revenue figure is more than $1 million higher than the previous monthly record of $8.2 million, which was set in January. Tax revenue created by Maryland sports betting goes to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund, and those funds benefit public education programs. “We’re encouraged that the sports wagering market continues to generate additional funding to support schools, and at the same time we also encourage everyone to be responsible about their betting,” Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin said in a news release. “Mobile wagering apps have tools that allow you to set limits on your activity. If you bet, please enjoy it in moderation and leave room to simply have fun watching the games and being a sports fan.” Maryland is home to 11 legal mobile sportsbooks and 12 retail sports betting facilities. Major operators in the state include BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel. Fanatics Sportsbook also operates in Maryland, and it has a retail sportsbook at the Commanders’ Northwest Stadium, but that location only generated about $75,000 of tax revenue in September. The majority of bets placed in Maryland come via online platforms, rather than in-person wagers. Related Articles Gambling | Clark Construction selected for preliminary Pimlico rebuild contract Gambling | Janon Fisher III, champion steeplechase rider, dies DraftKings and FanDuel are the most-used betting apps in Maryland. DraftKings accounted for $3 million in tax revenue creation in September, while FanDuel paced all sportsbooks by accounting for $4.8 million. Maryland bettors wagered more than $405 million on the two betting apps in September, the first month of the NFL season. Football typically drums up the most sports betting interest across all U.S. states. It’s no surprise that Maryland’s previous monthly sports betting tax revenue record came in January, when the Ravens hosted three games, including two playoff games. Baltimore narrowly missed out on a Super Bowl appearance, which would’ve generated massive betting interest across the state. Given the early season success of both the Commanders and Ravens — each team leads their respective division — it’s possible Maryland could break its September tax revenue record next month when the lottery releases October sports betting figures. The Ravens also host the Commanders on Sunday, in a game that should generate buzz from fans and bettors across the state. The Orioles’ two playoff games took place on the first two days of October, adding to the state’s potential betting frenzy. Have a news tip? Contact Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin. View the full article

Baltimore Sun staff writers pick every game of the NFL season. Here’s who they have winning in Week 6: San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (Thursday, 8:15 p.m.) Brian Wacker (9-5 last week; 47-31 overall): 49ers Childs Walker (9-5 last week; 41-37 overall): 49ers Mike Preston (7-7 last week; 41-37 overall): 49ers C.J. Doon (9-5 last week; 43-35 overall): 49ers Tim Schwartz (8-6 last week; 48-30 overall): 49ers Bennett Conlin (7-7 last week; 40-38 overall): Seahawks Jacksonville Jaguars at Chicago Bears (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.) Wacker: Bears Walker: Bears Preston: Bears Doon: Bears Schwartz: Bears Conlin: Bears Arizona Cardinals at Green Bay Packers (Sunday, 1 p.m.) Wacker: Packers Walker: Packers Preston: Packers Doon: Packers Schwartz: Packers Conlin: Cardinals Houston Texans at New England Patriots (Sunday, 1 p.m.) Wacker: Texans Walker: Texans Preston: Texans Doon: Texans Schwartz: Texans Conlin: Texans Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints (Sunday, 1 p.m.) Wacker: Buccaneers Walker: Buccaneers Preston: Buccaneers Doon: Buccaneers Schwartz: Buccaneers Conlin: Buccaneers Cleveland Browns at Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, 1 p.m.) Wacker: Eagles Walker: Eagles Preston: Eagles Doon: Eagles Schwartz: Eagles Conlin: Eagles Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (Sunday, 1 p.m.) Wacker: Colts Walker: Colts Preston: Colts Doon: Titans Schwartz: Colts Conlin: Titans Los Angeles Chargers at Denver Broncos (Sunday, 4:05 p.m.) Wacker: Chargers Walker: Broncos Preston: Chargers Doon: Broncos Schwartz: Broncos Conlin: Chargers Pittsburgh Steelers at Las Vegas Raiders (Sunday, 4:05 p.m.) Wacker: Steelers Walker: Steelers Preston: Steelers Doon: Steelers Schwartz: Steelers Conlin: Steelers Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.) Wacker: Falcons Walker: Falcons Preston: Falcons Doon: Falcons Schwartz: Falcons Conlin: Falcons Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.) Wacker: Lions Walker: Lions Preston: Lions Doon: Lions Schwartz: Lions Conlin: Lions Cincinnati Bengals at New York Giants (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.) Wacker: Bengals Walker: Bengals Preston: Bengals Doon: Bengals Schwartz: Bengals Conlin: Bengals Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (Monday, 8:15 p.m.) Wacker: Bills Walker: Bills Preston: Bills Doon: Bills Schwartz: Bills Conlin: Jets View the full article

The comparisons between the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels are inevitable. Both are dynamic, electrifying and elite quarterbacks who are as dangerous with their legs as they are with their arms. They both won a Heisman Trophy in college and both are Black. And they are also the only two players in NFL history to have averaged 200-plus passing yards per game and 50-plus rushing yards per game. But to liken them as identical performers would be like saying there was little difference between Picasso and Van Gogh — and to paint them with too broad a brush. “It’s tough to compare anyone to Lamar,” Washington tight end Zach Ertz said. “He’s a two-time MVP. One of the best players in the league for a very long time. Jayden just had his fifth game in the league. We got all the confidence in the world that he’s gonna be in that conversation for a long time. But I think it’s a disservice to both players, honestly.” It would also in many ways be inaccurate. For one, there are inherent differences by the simple fact that Jackson, 27, is in his seventh year in the league. Daniels, 23, is in his first after the Commanders selected him with the second overall draft pick out of LSU this past April. For another, there are stylistic differences that stand out in ways both nuanced and more noticeable. “I would say Lamar has got the ability to probably do more arm-angle wise,” former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky told The Baltimore Sun. “He can get a little bit more creative with his throwing. Jayden’s a little bit more mechanically structured or repeatable.” Which perhaps helps explain why Daniels has had immediate success. With 1,135 passing yards and 300 rushing yards, he’s the first player with 1,000-plus passing yards and 250-plus rushing yards in his first five career games. As a result, Washington is averaging an NFL-best 31 points per game, with its 3.37 points per drive also tops in the league and third-best by any team in the first five games of a season since 2000. (The Ravens, meanwhile, rank second in scoring offense at 29.4 points per game.) While Orlovsky added that Jackson can make “pretty ridiculous” throws from some of the positions he’s in (like his touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely against the Bengals last week), he said that Daniels’ mechanics are more “refined” than Jackson’s were at this point of his career. Of course, Jackson’s play has been nothing to sneeze at. His 1,206 passing yards, nine touchdowns and one interception are ahead of where he was through five games last season, when he became just the youngest player to win a second MVP Award. But how he’s doing it has also stood out, with Jackson “throwing more receivers open” than in the past, Orlovsky said. “Lamar might be able to drive the ball more,” he said. “Lamar probably has a stronger arm when it comes to that. But both have strong NFL arms and for a guy that, you know, we’re talking about in comparison to a two-time MVP … the fact that that’s even a remote conversation is jarring.” There are other differences, too. While their rushing numbers are similar — Jackson has 363 yards and two touchdowns on the ground to Daniels’ 300 yards and four scores — how they have achieved them aren’t quite the same. Daniels, for example, has rushed for 244 yards on scrambles, according to Next Gen Stats, with Washington having called 20 designed runs that have added up to 62 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson, on the other hand, is tops in the league with 30 designed runs for 221 yards and two scores. Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels “creates problems in different kinds of ways,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images) As for how the two coaches see their respective opponent? “[Daniels] creates problems in different kinds of ways,” the Ravens’ John Harbaugh said. “He can throw it — he’s throwing the ball downfield at a very efficient rate. He’s hitting all of the quick-out throws, the RPO [run-pass option] throws and the quick-game throws very effectively — he gets the ball out fast on those throws. “And then, if it’s not there, he’s creating plays on the run with his legs. He’s not just running, which he is running, but he’s also throwing on the run and making plays that way.” And Washington’s Dan Quinn? “I would say the second play to begin for both of them, when they can get outside the pocket on a drop-back pass — that, to me, both of them have incredible traits to do that,” the former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator said when asked how the quarterbacks are unique. “So, the same 50-yard pass that we saw from Jayden to Terry, we’ve seen that both of them had the same long runs in that same space. So, is the coverage standing back? Are they coming up? “Both of them can process things really quickly to get in the right play into the right spot. Offensively, they are both different in the systems that they’re in. But I thought both teams really feature them on the things that they do best.” For Daniels, that means getting the ball out quickly to his first read, Ravens All-Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith said. Washington linebacker Frankie Luvu, meanwhile, said seeing Daniels at practice is like watching a veteran at work. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s Ravens mailbag: Why covering the NFL is so different now | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is difficult to stop. Here’s how the Ravens plan to do it. Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Commanders scouting report for Week 6: Who has the edge? Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: The Black quarterback is here to stay | COMMENTARY When it comes to the two quarterbacks, however, both are unsurprisingly willing to sink into the narrative and compare one another. And though they are not close, there is a mutual respect. “I’m a fan of his, and how he plays the game, how he approaches the game,” Daniels said. “But we’re two different quarterbacks, two different styles. “I appreciate what he’s done for the sport and what he’s done for the African-American quarterbacks.” As for Jackson, he said he didn’t watch much of Daniels in college but did see enough that he would have voted for him for the Heisman Trophy. He also agrees with the rookie when it comes to comparisons. “He’s his own player, he’s his own man, at the end of the day,” Jackson said. “We’re just trying to make a name for ourselves, not anyone else.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article

Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston will answer fans’ questions in the middle of each week throughout the Ravens season. After a 41-38 overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Baltimore (3-2) is riding a three-game winning streak and tied for first place in the AFC North. Here’s Preston’s take on a handful of questions from readers: (Editor’s note: Questions have been edited for length and clarity.) In 2019, early in the season the Ravens brought in linebackers L.J. Fort and Josh Bynes and traded for cornerback Marcus Peters, and it helped stabilize the defense, leading to a 14-2 regular season. What do you think the Ravens need to do to stabilize the ‘D’ this time around? — Paul in Orlando Paul, there is no magic formula this time around. It’s hard to find a shutdown cornerback at any time, especially when a team like the Ravens might be a player or two from reaching the top. Hopefully, rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins matures to the point where the Ravens can match him up with any receiver, like they did against Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb and the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase. He didn’t look like Deion Sanders out there, but the experience can only help. When I watch the Ravens play on the back end, safety Marcus Williams isn’t very aggressive. Strong safety Kyle Hamilton is good near the line of scrimmage, but not so dominant in space when he has to cover. Brandon Stephens needs to turn and locate the ball, while fellow cornerback Marlon Humphrey likes to freelance and has problems on the outside as opposed to playing inside. Coordinator Zach Orr’s scheme could use some adjustments as well, but after watching the Ravens in the first five games, I just don’t see a lot of talent back there. When that happens, the pass rush is crucial, and maybe that will get better as the season rolls along. Unfortunately, the Ravens didn’t get a lot of pressure on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow last Sunday. It could be different this week, though, against the Commanders and rookie Jayden Daniels. The Ravens, though, are bringing back Dean Pees, 75, as a senior advisor, which speaks volumes about the trouble this defense is having with Orr and its talent. In looking at the schedule, what are your thoughts on the Ravens extending this three-game winning streak into something more significant? Or which team could pose a problem to that idea? — Ed Helinski from Auburn, New York Ed, the Ravens need to win and dominate in the first half of the season. It’s not the most difficult schedule coming up with games against Washington, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Denver and Cincinnati. But the second half is more difficult because the Ravens play three games during a 15-day stretch followed by three games in 11 days in the final four games of the season. That’s when a lot of players might get banged up, and there is little time to rest. It’s important for the Ravens to go 8-2 or 8-3 early in the season. They have the offensive talent to go on a roll, but there is concern about the defense. What NFL coaches are considered the best at clock management? Asking for a friend. — Jim Britt from Weyers Cave, Virginia Sorry, I can’t answer that question because I cover the Ravens for most of the season, and really don’t get extensive looks at other teams. With that said, Kansas City’s Andy Reid is excellent late in games, and part of that is because of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. There have been doubts about coach John Harbaugh’s poor clock management over the past decade, and unfortunately he hasn’t gotten any better. In the AFC North, I’ve watched enough Pittsburgh games to know that Mike Tomlin is sound in every facet of the game. Denver’s Sean Payton has done a pretty good job through the years, and the Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan have been sound as well. Mike, with the NFLPA announcing their request to stop player interviews in the locker rooms, I was wondering how your and The Baltimore Sun’s coverage of the Ravens has changed throughout the years. Do you still have personal relationships with some players, or has it changed? With the players and the Ravens promoting themselves on social media, how have you adapted to that trend? — Dan H from Elkton, Maryland Dan, that is an excellent question. I’ve been covering the NFL since 1987, and once the Ravens moved here for the start of the 1996 season, owner Art Modell treated the media like we were part of the team. That, however, turned out to be the end of the era as far as developing close relationships with players. I had a coworker named Gary Lambrecht who covered the team with me for The Sun, and we would spend hours a day in the locker room hanging out with players. My favorites were always the offensive linemen, such as Jeff Blackshear, Wally Williams, Orlando Brown Sr. and Jonathan Ogden, and defensive linemen such as Rob Burnett, Michael McCrary, Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams. We’d fight, argue, dog cuss each other and laughed a lot. If a player started ragging on you, you had to get on his case as well. Players respected that because it showed you couldn’t be intimidated. That’s the name of the game in the NFL. I remember when defensive backs like Samari Rolle would rag on you if you wore shorts above your knees. There was never any mercy in an NFL locker room, and sometimes it could be a very cold place. But overall, it was so much fun. I can’t mention the names of any players, but we’d hang out, crack jokes and even went to dinner. There was once a story in Sports Illustrated that claimed reporters really never got to know players on the roster. I disagreed then and even more now. I still talk and speak with a lot of the former Ravens who played in 2000 and later, such as Williams, Ogden, McCrary, Peter Boulware, Jamie Sharper and occasionally Matt Stover. I remember once when Brown Sr., a.k.a. Zeus, threatened to beat me up and had to be restrained by Ogden. I remember when Gary and I got in an argument with Siragusa while running back Errict Rhett was taping a segment for Fox 45 TV with Steve Davis, and Rhett stopped the interview to give props to me and Gary for standing our ground and not backing down. We each still have a copy of the video. The locker room was the media’s domain as well. Now, I hear about players wanting to stop doing interviews in the locker room. It’s all gotten out of hand, especially because of social media. Because of tweets and podcasts, players believe they can do their own thing. I can eventually see the day, and it’s not far off, when newspapers and TV stations stop traveling and covering road games, especially those played at night. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more Baltimore Ravens | Comparing Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels is a ‘disservice.’ They’re different. Baltimore Ravens | Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is difficult to stop. Here’s how the Ravens plan to do it. Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Commanders scouting report for Week 6: Who has the edge? Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: The Black quarterback is here to stay | COMMENTARY I can also see the day when in-house websites become the primary source of covering a team, especially because of the customary positive spin. As a journalist, I’ve always thought it was good for the rooting public to get to know players on the roster. In the 1950s and 1960s, that wasn’t necessary because a lot of the players lived in various communities. They owned shops, restaurants and car dealerships in the area. Those days are gone, as well as the long stays in the locker room. The new wave of coaches prefer it that way, because the less the public knows, the better. That’s why interviews are restricted to a certain time frame. It’s sad that we really never get to know the players we cover, but NFL teams prefer it that way. We live in a generation in which a lot of the young folks are about themselves, which is why they spend more time taking selfies instead of helping others. I guess you can tell, Dan, that you struck a nerve. But after a couple of decades in this business, times have changed and not for the better. It’s only going to get worse. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article

Lamar Jackson’s time to enjoy football as a fan is sparse. Aside from watching film of his upcoming opponents, highlights and online clips are most of what he gathers from the rest of the NFL. Jayden Daniels has populated Jackson’s social media feed for the past few weeks. The Ravens quarterback said it’s hard to escape constant updates about how Washington’s rookie sensation is tearing through opposing defenses. If Jackson had a vote for the Heisman Trophy, the award he won at Louisville in 2016 and Daniels won last year at LSU, it would have been cast for the current Commanders star. “I’m glad teams are accepting that now,” Jackson said when asked about the evolution of his position. “Guys have proven they can step into the league and do what they’re supposed to do.” The dynamic quarterbacks will be on the same field Sunday when the Ravens, winners of three straight, host the Commanders, who have won four in a row. The NFL has yet to solve Daniels, who’s logged 1,435 total yards and eight total touchdowns through his first five games. The Ravens hope to be one of the first to do it. Baltimore is historically one of the NFL’s best teams against rookie quarterbacks — John Harbaugh is 23-7 against them since he became the coach in 2008. This is the Ravens’ first test against one this season. Daniels presents a difficult matchup for a Ravens defense that has yet to get going, and the No. 2 overall draft pick has succeeded in some areas Baltimore has conversely struggled in. The Commanders’ 31 points per game lead the NFL (the Ravens rank second with 29.4). Washington also has the best third-down conversion rate in the league, while the Ravens’ defense has allowed the 11th most third-down conversions. The Commanders are top five in total offense, while the Ravens’ defense has allowed the second-most passing yards per game through five weeks. “Just hit him. Just get in his face and hit him,” defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike said. “That’s the approach every week. Just stop his confidence, stop whatever he feels like is gonna work and try to make him one-dimensional. That’s when you can really have fun.” Teams are throwing on more than 67% of their offensive plays against the Ravens, the second-highest rate in the NFL. That’s in contrast with what Washington does. The Commanders pass at the lowest rate in football, and Daniels’ 131 attempts this season rank 24th. How do the Ravens plan to slow down Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels on Sunday? “Just hit him. Just get in his face and hit him,” defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike said. (Kim Hairston/Staff) But when the rookie does drop back to pass, it usually results in a big gain. His 8.5 yards per pass attempt ranks second in the NFL behind only San Francisco’s Brock Purdy. And the Ravens have been as susceptible as any defense in allowing those game-changing plays. “Especially against somebody like him, it’s just a matter of decreasing those plays happening,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “I feel like other than that, we’re having pretty good games.” “Stopping any explosives, I think that’s really the challenge,” cornerback Brandon Stephens said. “They hit a lot of explosives, not only in the pass game but the run game. We gotta limit those.” To help slow Daniels and future opposing quarterbacks, the Ravens brought in Dean Pees as a senior advisor for the defense this week. The 75-year-old, who’s been away from the league since 2022, will be with the team in practices throughout the week and on game days, Harbaugh said. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more Baltimore Ravens | Comparing Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels is a ‘disservice.’ They’re different. Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s Ravens mailbag: Why covering the NFL is so different now | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Commanders scouting report for Week 6: Who has the edge? Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: The Black quarterback is here to stay | COMMENTARY In some ways, the Ravens are already prepared to face a quarterback like Daniels. Their defense battled Jackson in practice almost every day this summer, and although they don’t go live against each other as much once the season starts, they remember the discipline required to contain a dual threat like Daniels. The Commanders are 4-1 for the first time since 2008 and in first place in the NFC East through five weeks. Their rookie quarterback, the early favorite for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, is largely why. But, as Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith said, “he definitely hasn’t seen a defense like ours.” Have a news tip? Contact Taylor Lyons at tlyons@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/TaylorJLyons. View the full article

The Ravens eked out a 41-38 thriller in Cincinnati. The Commanders blew out the Browns. Who will have the edge when these high-scoring teams meet Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium? Ravens passing game vs. Commanders pass defense The Ravens had to throw to stay within shouting distance of the Bengals after going down 10 in the third quarter. Lamar Jackson and his receivers were up to the task, connecting for 235 yards and three touchdowns in the second half and overtime. Jackson flashed his unique ability to make something out of nothing when he dropped a snap, stiff-armed a would-be tackler, scrambled toward the sideline and threw across his body to tight end Isaiah Likely in the end zone. All of his key targets, from Likely to Mark Andrews (four catches on five targets, 55 yards) to Rashod Bateman (four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown) to Zay Flowers (seven catches for 111 yards), made vital plays to keep the Ravens moving as they rallied for an improbable victory. Jackson had attempted just 33 passes over his previous two games, so the Ravens showed their offense, No. 1 in the league in DVOA and yards per play, could be great in a different way. Their pass protection held up well despite the fact Cincinnati knew they would throw on almost every play. They’re likely to stick with their line configuration from the last two games — rookie Roger Rosengarten at right tackle and Patrick Mekari at left guard — even if original starting guard Andrew Vorhees (ankle) is healthy enough to suit up against Washington. Jackson will go against a Washington defense that ranks 27th in DVOA against the pass but just played its best game of the season in beating the Browns and struggling quarterback Deshaun Watson. The Commanders sacked Watson seven times and held him to 125 yards on 28 attempts. Coordinator Joe Whitt’s defense blitzes on 27.5% of dropbacks and ranks 14th in the league in pressure rate, per Pro Football Reference. Defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. (three sacks, nine quarterback hits) is Washington’s top edge rusher, and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen is a threat from inside. But the Commanders are unusual in that inside linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu are just as important to their pass rush as the big guys upfront. The Commanders are vulnerable in the secondary, where cornerbacks Mike Sainristil and Benjamin St-Juste are average at best in coverage. They have not intercepted a pass through five games. EDGE: Ravens Commanders passing game vs. Ravens defense Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has transformed Washington’s offense into one of the league’s best — first in scoring and third in yards per play. After a relatively ragged start, the Commanders have averaged 38 points over their last three victories. Daniels, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, is remarkably accurate (77.1% completions) but not at the expense of looking downfield (8.7 yards per attempt). He has thrown an interception in each of his last two games and completed just 14 of 25 passes against a Browns defense that was the toughest he’s faced. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin (23 catches on 36 targets, 303 yards) is easily Daniels’ top playmaker. He also likes to target tight end Zach Ertz and running backs Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler. Washington’s offensive line, led by left tackle Brandon Coleman and center Tyler Biadasz, has given Daniels time to work. The rookie is a threat to extend any play, so the Ravens will have to be disciplined about boxing him in. Coordinator Zach Orr’s defense will try to bounce back from a rough day in Cincinnati, where Burrow (30 of 39 for 392 yards, five touchdowns) had his way after he got into rhythm with wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. All three Bengals stars were at the top of their game, but the Ravens made their lives easier with coverage lapses and poor tackling. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike stepped up with an interception and a sack, respectively, to help get the game to overtime, but the Ravens will need better performances from Humphrey, cornerback Nate Wiggins, safety Marcus Williams and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh to hold Daniels in check. Oweh and Kyle Van Noy will have to set tough edges, and safety Kyle Hamilton could be Orr’s ace in the hole monitoring the elusive quarterback’s movements around the line of scrimmage. Daniels’ passing efficiency drops against pressure, but he has punished blitzes with his scrambling, so it will be interesting to see how often Orr sends extra rushers. The Ravens will try to find creative ways to use safety Kyle Hamilton to confuse Washington’s rookie quarterback. (Kim Hairston/Staff) EDGE: Commanders Ravens running game vs. Commanders run defense The Bengals smothered the line of scrimmage with eight defenders in hopes of forcing the Ravens to beat them through the air. The strategy worked early as the Ravens averaged just 3.1 yards per carry in the first half while Cincinnati moved out to a 10-point lead. But the Ravens still ended up outrushing the Bengals 175 yards to 71, with Derrick Henry’s 51-yard run in overtime providing an exclamation point for their comeback. The Ravens easily lead the league in rushing and yards per carry and have outgained opponents by an average of 151 yards per game. Jackson is averaging 6.8 yards per carry, Henry 6.0 and Justice Hill 4.9 for an attack that’s ahead of the historic pace the Ravens set in 2019. They’ll go against a Washington defense that has allowed 130 yards per game (22nd in the league) and 5.1 yards per carry (31st). Will Whitt and Commanders coach Dan Quinn make the same choice the Bengals and load up to counter Baltimore’s ground force? Washington does have an excellent pair of linebackers in the aforementioned Wagner and Luvu, but its defense is softer upfront with tackles Allen and Daron Payne and ends Armstrong and Clelin Ferrell grading as average to poor run defenders, according to Pro Football Focus. EDGE: Ravens Commanders running game vs. Ravens run defense The Ravens have always had an elite running game with Jackson, no matter who’s taking the handoffs, and we’re seeing the same phenomenon with Daniels, whose Commanders rank second in rushing and fourth in yards per attempt. The rookie quarterback, averaging 60 yards per game and 5.3 per attempt, is a threat on designed runs and scrambles. He draws considerable attention, opening the way for Robinson and Ekeler to run with career-best efficiency. Linebacker Roquan Smith, right, and the rest of the Ravens defense has performed well against the run this season. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Washington has rushed for at least 200 yards in three of its four victories and will challenge a Baltimore defense that has limited opponents to 60.4 yards per game and 3.1 yards per carry. The Ravens have imposing run defenders at all three levels, from Travis Jones walling off the interior to Roquan Smith roving the middle to Hamilton coming up from the secondary. Teams have abandoned the run against them, but the Commanders won’t. Their balanced offense will present a new test for Orr’s group. EDGE: Even Ravens special teams vs. Commanders special teams Justin Tucker eased worried minds when he made a 56-yard field goal to push the Bengals game to overtime. Tucker had missed wide left from 53, 56 and 46 in the Ravens’ first three games, but the most accurate kicker in league history was perfect in the clutch in Cincinnati despite breezy conditions. On the flip side, the Ravens made a pair of return mistakes with Tylan Wallace and Chris Collier filling in for injured starter Deonte Harty. Wallace’s error was costly; he failed to field a punt that rolled out at the 2-yard line, and the Bengals dropped Henry for a safety on the next play. Because of such miscues, the Ravens rank an unfamiliar 23rd in special teams DVOA. Justin Tucker’s 56-yard field goal against Cincinnati was the longest made kick of the season for the longtime Ravens kicker. (Andy Lyons/Getty) The Commanders rank 10th in DVOA. Kicker Austin Seibert has made all 12 of his field goal attempts (none from 50 yards or more) since he replaced Cade York after Washington’s opener. Ekeler has averaged an impressive 31.8 yards on six kickoff returns, and Olamide Zaccheaus has averaged been equally good on punts, averaging 18.3 yards. EDGE: Commanders Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Week 6 of 2024 NFL season: Lions vs. Cowboys, Bills vs. Jets and more Baltimore Ravens | Comparing Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels is a ‘disservice.’ They’re different. Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s Ravens mailbag: Why covering the NFL is so different now | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is difficult to stop. Here’s how the Ravens plan to do it. Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: The Black quarterback is here to stay | COMMENTARY Ravens intangibles vs. Commanders intangibles The Ravens pushed their winning streak to three with that wild win in Cincinnati, and they’ll look to solidify their spot atop the AFC North as they put an 0-2 start behind them. Coach John Harbaugh faced sharp criticism for his clock management at the end of the first half against the Bengals, but he has the team where it was expected to be after a difficult early schedule. Harbaugh’s Ravens have generally overwhelmed rookie quarterbacks who come to M&T Bank Stadium, though Daniels is playing better than most. Jackson has lost just one career start against an NFC team. The Commanders are one of the hottest teams in the league in Quinn’s first season, riding a four-game winning streak marked by offensive explosions. Daniels has brought real hope to a fan base that suffered for decades under previous owner Daniel Snyder. The Ravens will present the greatest test to date for this burgeoning juggernaut. EDGE: Ravens Prediction Surprise! This matchup is one of the most exciting on the calendar, pitting offenses that can blister any opponent on the ground or through the air. The Ravens will have to maintain defensive discipline on the edges and in the secondary to keep Daniels from going off. The Commanders, with one of the league’s weaker defenses, might have to pick their poison between Jackson and Henry running and Jackson looking over the top as he did in Cincinnati. Washington’s potent offense won’t be silenced, but it won’t keep up with Jackson and Henry. This is a significant step up for the Commanders, and it will show in the end. Ravens 34, Commanders 24 Have a news tip? Contact Childs Walker at daviwalker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6893 and x.com/ChildsWalker. View the full article

After Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson fumbled the snap in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Bengals, he stiff-armed defensive end Sam Hubbard while rolling to his right and at the same time directed tight end Isaiah Likely. Jackson threw back across his body and completed a 6-yard touchdown pass for one of the greatest plays in team history. As spectacular as it was, seeing such highlight-reel plays in the NFL is becoming more common. This, according to Ravens executive vice president of player personnel Ozzie Newsome, is aided in part because of the evolution of the Black quarterback. More sensational plays from quarterbacks are expected Sunday when the Ravens meet the Washington Commanders at 1 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium. On one side is Jackson, who at 27 has already won two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards. On the other is 23-year-old Jayden Daniels, the clear front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year. They are among 18 Black quarterbacks to start a game this season, many of whom are ranked among the best in the 32-team league. “It’s fun to watch,” said Newsome, who with the Ravens became the league’s first Black general manager in 2002. “It’s like having a point guard or Steph Curry running your offense. You see similar plays every Sunday with [Kyler] Murray in Arizona or elsewhere around the league. You look at the number of quarterbacks drafted this year, I think the game has evolved to where you need an athlete at quarterback regardless if he is Black or white. “Josh Allen is white, but he is an athlete who makes plays with his feet. The game has evolved because there is so much speed on defense that you need to have an athlete at the quarterback position.” The increase in starting Black quarterbacks has pushed a lot of old stereotypes to the side. Both Newsome and James Harris, who with the Bills in 1969 became the second Black player to start at quarterback in pro football, remember when Black quarterbacks supposedly lacked football intelligence and weren’t considered great pocket passers or great leaders. Each points to different moments when that narrative changed. For Harris, who worked in the Ravens’ front office with Newsome from 1997 through 2003, it was when Doug Williams won the Super Bowl with Washington in the 1987 season. Williams threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-10 victory against the Broncos. “I think it was because so many people all around the country remembered that day and saw it. That certainly had a big impact,” Harris said. “Then Warren Moon ended up as a Hall of Famer and Michael Vick being the first player picked. That win created more opportunities for others to play in a passing offense and to play quarterback.’’ Newsome points to when then-Houston Oilers coach Jeff Fisher selected Steve McNair with the third overall pick in the 1995 draft, making him the highest-drafted Black quarterback in NFL history. Baltimore Sun photo by John MakelyThe success of former Titans quarterback Steve McNair helped usher in a new era of Black quarterbacks. (Staff file) McNair appeared in the playoffs four times with the franchise, which became the Tennessee Titans, including its run to the Super Bowl in 2000. McNair was selected to the Pro Bowl three times and was an All-Pro and Co-MVP in 2003. “You had guys like Randall Cunningham and Warren Moon, guys sprinkled in who were having success, but I think that opened things up and the colleges went to wide-open football and the majority of high schools were really starting to produce African-American quarterbacks,” Newsome said. “Around the early 2000s, it started to take off.” Until then, NFL offenses were predictable. Most teams used one or two running backs and only occasionally used three receiver sets. Defenses had taken over, starting with the 1970s Steelers and the mid-1980s Bears then the 2000 Ravens, and that’s when the league shifted its rules to favor the offense to get more scoring. Attack mode was in; the old read and react was out. “The college game got inundated with a lot of African-American quarterbacks,” Newsome said, “and from that led to them becoming more readily able to play in the National Football League. I think colleges started to open up their offenses because they didn’t necessarily want their guy just to sit in the pocket. Then it became a numbers game. Instead of defenses having an 11-on-10 advantage, it became 11-on-11 because you had to account for the quarterback. That allowed for more wide-open offenses and allowing a quarterback to become more of an athlete than just a statue.” Like all the others who have played in the NFL, quarterbacks come in various shapes and sizes and have strengths and weaknesses. Jackson is great at improvising and has decent arm strength, even though the pass to Likely was a rocket. He has improved his accuracy greatly inside the red zone. Kordell Stewart, who played for the Steelers from 1995 through 2002, was also great at providing a lift when plays broke down. Current Pittsburgh backup quarterback and former Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson has a reputation for throwing a great deep ball while Donovan McNabb, Randall Cunningham and McNair were good all-around performers. Moon, a Hall of Famer, was simply a gunslinger, one of the best pure throwers to ever play the game. Maybe the best of them all is Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl champion and MVP of the big game. Despite that, you still hear terms about how NFL offenses have become “street ball.” That is true to some degree, but it’s better to have a scoring threat outside the pocket than to have a stationary target inside it. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and former NFL MVP Cam Newton have played key roles in developing the next Black quarterbacks. “Young quarterbacks know that they can become the next Lamar or Dak Prescott,” Newsome said. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has only one thing left to prove | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s report card: Position-by-position grades for Ravens’ 41-38 win over Bengals | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s Ravens mailbag: Answering questions about Derrick Henry, Marcus Williams and more | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: The Ravens are getting their swagger back | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s Ravens mailbag: Answering questions about blown leads and more | COMMENTARY It wasn’t until 2017, when Geno Smith replaced Giants legend Eli Manning late in that season, that all 32 teams had started at least one Black quarterback in their history. Harris pointed out that Black backup quarterbacks were hard to find for a while in the NFL. Despite the current trend, modern players still remember and talk about pioneers such as Fritz Pollard, one of the first two Black NFL players in 1920, Jimmy Raye, Eldridge Dickey, Marlin Briscoe, Williams, and of course, Harris, one of the greatest storytellers in NFL history. “First of all, I’m happy for them, and I’m impressed with their play,” Harris said. “We always had guys to play the position and all we’ve ever asked was just for an opportunity to play, and so many who were outstanding players were denied. Many were just as good as the players today. “But it seems like we’re at the point where a Black quarterback has not only arrived, but is here to stay.” Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, wide receiver Zay Flowers and safety Eddie Jackson were merely trying to have a quiet dinner Saturday night in Cincinnati. Then a Bengals fan interrupted. The unidentified woman could be seen on Flowers’ Instagram telling the group that the Bengals were going to “beat your a– tomorrow,” with Jackson smiling and responding multiple times “it’s her fault.” Less than 24 hours later, the two-time and reigning NFL Most Valuable Player delivered his signature performance of the season to date, passing for 348 yards and four touchdowns along with rushing for 55 yards as he rallied the Ravens from a pair of 10-point fourth-quarter deficits to a wild 41-38 overtime victory. For his performance, Jackson on Wednesday was named the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week. After Wednesday’s practice, he expounded on the interaction with the fan. “I almost cursed,” cracked Jackson, who said another woman had approached the table earlier and told him that she was a Louisville fan but also a Cincinnati fan, adding that she was “nice” about it. But the other fan apparently went a little too far in Jackson’s eyes. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Nobody has slowed down Ravens RB Derrick Henry. Can the Commanders? Baltimore Ravens | 3 Ravens starters miss Wednesday’s practice ahead of Commanders game Baltimore Ravens | Ravens bringing back former defensive coordinator Dean Pees in advisory role Baltimore Ravens | Photos show aftermath of I-95 crash involving Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins Baltimore Ravens | Ravens film study: Inside Lamar Jackson’s ‘fabulous play that will go down in history’ “I got mad,” he joked Wednesday. “She gonna be the reason we end up winning. I wonder how she felt after that? “Just be a fan next time. Just let us play. Let the [players] do the talking.” The victory was the third in a row for the Ravens and catapulted them into a first-place tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. Jackson’s latest performance has also launched him into the MVP conversation again. Through five games, he has 1,030 passing yards, four touchdown passes and two interceptions along with 265 rushing yards and four scores. Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article

ASHBURN, Va. — Who inside the Washington Commanders’ practice facility can replicate the size and skill of the Ravens’ 30-year-old All-Pro running back, who stands 6 feet 3, 247 pounds and treats oncoming NFL defenders like pesky school children? “Nobody,” coach Dan Quinn said, “to put it very bluntly.” Much of Sunday’s pageantry, when the Ravens (3-2) and Commanders (4-1) kick off at 1 p.m. in Baltimore, will spotlight the quarterback battle of reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson and rookie standout Jayden Daniels. But the Commanders, who are on a four-game winning streak, are fully aware of the challenge Derrick Henry presents. Through five weeks, Henry leads the league in rushing yards (572), is tied with the Los Angeles Rams’ Kyren Williams for the most rushing touchdowns (six) and has the second most carries (95). His 318 yards after contact also rank second. Each week’s performance has somehow outdone the previous one. According to Next Gen Stats, Henry has two of this season’s top-10 remarkable rushes — a statistic quantifying when a ball carrier greatly defies expectations using tracking data to predict how many yards a rush should gain at the moment of handoff. His 87-yard opener against Buffalo tops the list, and his 51-yard closer at Cincinnati is No. 9. The combined expected rushing yards of those two plays was only 12 yards. “Going through the scout team and going through the week and evaluating tape, how do you drill it? Is it the same as playing live? Hell no,” Quinn said. “There’s no one on our team that can simulate him for practice. But you can work the technique, and that’s what you have to do.” What makes Henry a unique case, in Quinn’s eyes, is the trifecta of ways he can knock defenders onto their backs, out of their shoes or leave them in his rearview mirror. Nearly a decade into his career, Henry can still stiff-arm tacklers into the grass (like when he open-palm thumped a Raiders defender in Week 2), bulldoze at the goal line (like his first-quarter score versus the Bengals) and use his jab step can drop a defender out of position (like his 87-yard burst). “When you’re thinking, ‘Hey, I’m going to go take my shot at him,’ he puts a foot in the ground to make you miss,” Quinn said. “And so that’s to me what makes part of his superpower. … You better have a really good tackling plan.” Commanders defensive lineman Daron Payne said what separates Henry is his use of speed and size in getting to the outside. If they can funnel him between the tackles, “that’s how we’re gonna contain him.” Cardinals running back James Conner is tackled by Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner, defensive tackle Daron Payne and others on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona. (Ross D. Franklin/AP) Bobby Wagner has had his fair share of run-ins with Henry when the former was in Seattle and the latter was with the Tennessee Titans. The preparation for Henry, according to the nine-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker, is different than any other running back in the league. He quipped that just watching film of all those stiff arms is how he’s preparing. Fellow linebacker Frankie Luvu added, “I feel like you just gotta pack all of your tools.” “He’s one-of-one,” said Wagner, Washington’s leading tackler. “He can do it all.” Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Lamar Jackson sheds light on exchange with Bengals fan who crashed his dinner Baltimore Ravens | 3 Ravens starters miss Wednesday’s practice ahead of Commanders game Baltimore Ravens | Ravens bringing back former defensive coordinator Dean Pees in advisory role Baltimore Ravens | Photos show aftermath of I-95 crash involving Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins Baltimore Ravens | Ravens film study: Inside Lamar Jackson’s ‘fabulous play that will go down in history’ The Commanders’ defense ranks in the bottom half of the league through five weeks. Pro Football Focus graded their run defense a 60.3 so far this season, which ranks 19th out of 32 teams. Before suffocating Cleveland on Sunday, they were the worst in the NFL in opponent third-down conversion rate. They had eight sacks over four games. Then against the middling Browns, the Commanders sacked quarterback Deshaun Watson seven times and forced Cleveland to punt on seven of 13 possessions, with a fumble and turnover on downs mixed in. “We knew we had some things we wanted to get exactly right,” Quinn said. “Tackling was right up at the top of the list for me. The best teams, defensively, you hear ’em before you see ’em. And I think communication has certainly ramped up. … We got a long way to go but in terms of them playing together and knowing the energy that we’re looking for and the physicality that we want, we’re definitely taking steps. We’re just getting warmed up. And we got a lot of work to do.” Games like Sunday’s come down to tackling and ball hawking, according to Quinn. Slowing down Henry will require every bit of that. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article

Wide receiver Rashod Bateman, left tackle Ronnie Stanley and cornerback Marlon Humphrey were among six Ravens not practicing Wednesday as the team ramped up preparations to host the NFC East-leading Washington Commanders on Sunday. Bateman, who caught four passes for 58 yards and a touchdown in the Ravens’ overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, was listed with a groin injury on the team’s first injury report of the week. He missed the beginning of his rookie season in 2021 because of groin surgery. Stanley, who is performing at a Pro Bowl level and has played 99% of the team’s offensive snaps after an injury-filled 2023, was absent with a toe injury. Humphrey, whose late interception helped push the Bengals game to overtime, is dealing with an ankle injury. He wore a walking boot in the postgame locker room in Cincinnati. “They’re all normal after-the-game-type things they’re dealing with,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Lamar Jackson sheds light on exchange with Bengals fan who crashed his dinner Baltimore Ravens | Nobody has slowed down Ravens RB Derrick Henry. Can the Commanders? Baltimore Ravens | Ravens bringing back former defensive coordinator Dean Pees in advisory role Baltimore Ravens | Photos show aftermath of I-95 crash involving Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins Baltimore Ravens | Ravens film study: Inside Lamar Jackson’s ‘fabulous play that will go down in history’ Linebacker Malik Harrison with a groin injury, defensive tackle Broderick Washington with a knee injury and cornerback Arthur Maulet with knee and hamstring injuries also did not practice Wednesday. Returner Deonte Harty (knee), tight end Charlie Kolar (toe) and right tackle Roger Rosengarten (hand/ankle) were listed as limited participants. Guard Andrew Vorhees, who has missed the last two weeks with an ankle injury, was a full participant as was rookie running back Rasheen Ali, who’s coming back from a neck injury. For the Commanders, running back Brian Robinson Jr. (knee), defensive end Clelin Ferrell (knee) and outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. (illness) didn’t practice. Running back Austin Ekeler (heel), wide receiver Noah Brown (groin) and safety Quan Martin (neck) were limited participants. Have a news tip? Contact Childs Walker at daviwalker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6893 and x.com/ChildsWalker. View the full article

The Ravens are turning back the clock in an effort to spark their struggling defense. Baltimore has hired its former defensive coordinator, Dean Pees, for a senior advisor role, a source with direct knowledge confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. Pees, 75, is a longtime NFL assistant who was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017. While the Ravens have won three straight following an 0-2 start, their defense is 26th in points allowed per game (25.2) and 19th in yards allowed (340.6). Baltimore’s pass defense in particular has struggled, ranking 30th in passing yards allowed per game (280.2) and 31st in completion percentage (67.2). First-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr is also familiar with Pees, having played for him in Baltimore before a neck condition cut the linebacker’s career short. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Photos show aftermath of I-95 crash involving Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins Baltimore Ravens | Ravens film study: Inside Lamar Jackson’s ‘fabulous play that will go down in history’ Baltimore Ravens | New details emerge from Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins’ crash involving Lamborghini Baltimore Ravens | NFL winners and losers, Week 5: Ravens’ Lamar Jackson is the ‘best player in the league’ Baltimore Ravens | Joe Flacco reflects on 2018 season: ‘I did not want to let Lamar get out there’ Pees has spent 18 years in the NFL, beginning as linebackers coach for the New England Patriots in 2004 and most recently as defensive coordinator of the the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent two seasons before retiring for a third time following the 2022 season. He was also the head coach at Kent State from 1998 to 2003 and the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Miami University from 1983 to 1986 when Ravens coach John Harbaugh was a player there. Harbaugh is scheduled to speak with reporters Wednesday afternoon following practice. The Athletic was first to report the news. This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article

Photos released by Maryland Transportation Authority Police show Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins’ Lamborghini rolled onto its side on Interstate 95 after a September crash that prompted the cornerback to miss the team’s home opener in Baltimore. Police photos from the evening of Sept. 11 show Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins’ Lamborghini Ursa rolled over on northbound Interstate 95 ahead of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. (Maryland Transportation Authority Police) The package of photos released through a public records request by The Baltimore Sun also includes a brief witness statement written by Wiggins, who said he was driving and had been trying to get into the “last lane” before the crash caused his Lamborghini Urus to flip over. Wiggins’ passenger, fellow rookie Ryan “Bump” Cooper Jr., also wrote a witness statement but kept it to three words: “I was sleep.” A police photo shows damage to an Acura RDX that was hit by a Lamborghini operated by Ravens rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins in a Sept. 11 crash on Interstate 95. (Maryland Transportation Authority Police) The Sept. 11 crash on northbound I-95 just ahead of the Fort McHenry Tunnel caused “disabling damage” to both Wiggins’ vehicle and the Acura RDX that his vehicle struck. The photos show the Acura upright with some damage around its right-rear wheel, but Wiggins’ Lamborghini is seen resting on its side in the shoulder. Police wrote in a crash report that Wiggins’ vehicle had struck the Acura after the cornerback was “cut off by an unknown vehicle.” The 21-year-old had previously described that vehicle as an “18-wheeler” that “clipped” him, resulting in his Lamborghini being “totaled.” Police placed Wiggins at fault in the crash but did not issue any citations, according to the report. Authorities wrote in their report that Wiggins, Cooper and the four people in the Acura had suffered “no apparent injury” in the crash. Wiggins, however, was listed with a neck injury on the Ravens’ injury report following the crash, as he missed the team’s home opener against the Las Vegas Raiders and about a week of practice. Police photos from the evening of Sept. 11 show Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins’ Lamborghini Ursa rolled over on northbound Interstate 95 ahead of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. (Maryland Transportation Authority Police) View the full article

Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard has three inches and 60 pounds on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Down the stretch Sunday in Cincinnati, it didn’t matter. “There’s nobody in the world that moves like him,” Hubbard said. “I chased him down. He’s stiff-arming me in the face. [Linebacker] Germaine [Pratt] is coming to hit him. He launches the ball across the field to somebody. How do you make that up?” It was more than just another dazzling if not unbelievable play in a six-plus year career full of them for the NFL’s two-time and reigning Most Valuable Player. Jackson’s stiff-arm of Hubbard — bookended by a dropped shotgun snap and a touchdown pass across his body to tight end Isaiah Likely — helped lift Baltimore to its improbable and spectacular 41-38 come-from-behind overtime victory over the Bengals. The win was the Ravens’ third in a row, propelled them into a tie atop the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers and has them once again part of the Super Bowl conversation after an 0-2 start had temporarily squashed that talk. A day later, the superlatives were still flowing. “It’s an amazing play,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “I just thought it was an incredible, fabulous play that will go down in history.” But how did he pull it off, what was actually supposed to happen and what does it mean? Trailing by 10 for the second time in the fourth quarter and facing second-and-goal from the Bengals’ 6-yard line, Baltimore was in familiar 12 personnel (two tight ends, one running back) with Jackson in the shotgun and back Justice Hill to his left. Receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman were split left and right, respectively, while Likely lined up next to Mark Andrews tight to the left then motioned across the formation before the snap. Had Jackson caught center Tyler Linderbaum’s snap cleanly, he had options. Andrews ran an in-route with cornerback Jalen Davis trailing him, Bateman crossed underneath to further clog the middle, Likely continued into the right flat, Flowers ran an inside curl on cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and Hill flared out to the left flat. Both Flowers and Andrews had good position if an accurate pass was made, while Likely and Hill were both open as check-downs, too. But as Jackson fumbled with the ball, everything started to break down. Hubbard pushed right tackle Roger Rosengarten back, then beat him inside and closed in on Jackson. That meant throwing to Flowers or Hill was out. Jackson, who began to scramble right, incredibly stiff-armed Hubbard. Then he did it again, this time sending the defensive end to the Paycor Stadium turf. “He doesn’t look as strong as he is,” Hubbard said of Jackson. “He’s one of the strongest.” With Hubbard down, Jackson, who dropped 15 pounds in the offseason to be faster, kept rolling and at one point pulled the ball down as if to run, but then slowed as Pratt closed in and he neared the sideline. Andrews had worked back to the front right corner of the end zone but was blanketed. That left only Likely, who had thrown his right hand up as he drifted behind the defense, first in the back right corner then back toward the middle, where he leaped and hauled in the pass. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Jackson ran 33.4 yards before making the throw, the most of any touchdown pass in the league so far in 2024. The completion probability? Just 31.4%. “It really was incredible,” Andrews said. “I went to him and I said, ‘I’ve never seen anybody throw anything like that in my entire life.’ That’s just the type of player he is. The play’s never dead. He’s so special, and that was a really cool one.” Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | New details emerge from Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins’ crash involving Lamborghini Baltimore Ravens | NFL winners and losers, Week 5: Ravens’ Lamar Jackson is the ‘best player in the league’ Baltimore Ravens | Joe Flacco reflects on 2018 season: ‘I did not want to let Lamar get out there’ Baltimore Ravens | A day later, Ravens coach John Harbaugh raves about the heroics vs. Bengals Baltimore Ravens | 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals In many ways, it was not all that dissimilar to the play Jackson made at the end of the game in Week 1 in Kansas City, where he twice eluded Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones to throw what he thought was a potential game-tying touchdown pass to Likely in the back of the end zone. Only this time, his perhaps new go-to target when things hit the proverbial fan easily got both feet down in bounds. “That boy different, man,” Flowers said of Jackson. “We talk about it every game. He just proves it every game, so I’m just wondering when we’re going to stop talking about it.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw four touchdown passes Sunday against the Bengals. One stood out above the rest. (Jeff Dean/AP) View the full article

New details have emerged from the rollover car crash that Ravens rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins was in last month. According to an accident report from the Maryland Transportation Authority that was obtained by The Baltimore Sun, the incident took place on Interstate 95 northbound in Baltimore at 5:50 p.m. on Sept. 11 near Exit 52. Practice squad cornerback and fellow rookie Ryan “Bump” Cooper Jr. was riding in the passenger seat of Wiggins’ Lamborghini Urus. Wiggins’ car clipped the right rear corner of an Acura RDX after being cut off by another vehicle, according to the report, rolled over and came to rest on the passenger side. Both Wiggins, 21, and Cooper, 23, were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash and did not report having any injuries. The driver of the Acura, along with its three passengers, were also all wearing seat belts and did not report any injuries. Wiggins, whom the Ravens drafted 30th overall in April, was listed with a neck injury on the team’s injury report and checked for a concussion before missing Baltimore’s home opener that week, a 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Wiggins returned to practice the following week and spoke with reporters about the crash. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | NFL winners and losers, Week 5: Ravens’ Lamar Jackson is the ‘best player in the league’ Baltimore Ravens | Joe Flacco reflects on 2018 season: ‘I did not want to let Lamar get out there’ Baltimore Ravens | A day later, Ravens coach John Harbaugh raves about the heroics vs. Bengals Baltimore Ravens | 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has only one thing left to prove | COMMENTARY “It was scary,” he said. “It’s always scary to get in a car accident.” Wiggins is at least the third Ravens player to have gotten into an accident this season. Tight end Mark Andrews and linebacker Josh Ross were also involved in crashes. On Friday, the NFL Players Association named Wiggins its Week 5 community MVP for his volunteer work, which included his foundation donating wigs and setting up stylings for 35 breast cancer patients and survivors during an event at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens (3-2) host the 4-1 Commanders on Sunday. Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will recap the best and worst from around the league. Here are our winners and losers from Week 5: Winner: Lamar Jackson Just when we think we’ve seen it all, Jackson does that. That, of course, is accounting for 403 total yards and four touchdowns in the Ravens’ 41-38 overtime win over the Bengals on Sunday. It featured perhaps the best play of the star quarterback’s career, turning a would-be sack into a touchdown pass after dropping the snap, stiff-arming defensive end Sam Hubbard twice and throwing across his body just before going out of bounds to hit Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone. “Lamar Jackson is the best to ever do it,” Pro Football Network analyst and TikTok personality Theo Ash posted on X just after the play. That was one of just many comments on social media Sunday expressing a mix of admiration and awe for Jackson, who keeps surprising viewers with his rare talent. Have we reached a turning point in terms of where Jackson ranks among his peers? He’s a former Heisman Trophy winner and a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, and yet because of his underwhelming postseason record, untimely injuries and the misfortune of playing at the same time as Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady, he’s rarely been considered the league’s best player. In the annual NFL Top 100 list chosen by players, Jackson has ranked No. 1 (2020), No. 24 (2021), No. 36 (2022), No. 72 (2023) and No. 2 (2024). Most quarterback and player rankings from the media have put Mahomes at the top since his breakout 2018 season, and that has only calcified with the Chiefs star winning three Super Bowl titles over the past five years. But if we’re just considering pure talent, the imperfect science of recognizing the best player on the field in any given game, Jackson might stand alone. “[He’s] the best player in the league; [he’s] the G.O.A.T for a reason,” said Ravens running back Derrick Henry, himself a transcendent player who surpassed 10,000 career rushing yards and 100 career touchdowns Sunday. He might know a thing or two about greatness. Of course, in our championship-obsessed sports culture, Jackson will never get G.O.A.T. status until he wins a Super Bowl ring. And to pass Mahomes and Brady, he’ll need to win more than one. But at 27 years old, he’s far from the finish line. And right now, nobody in the league is playing better than him. Loser: San Francisco 49ers It’s worth stating the obvious: The 49ers miss Christian McCaffrey. In the NFL, there are few running backs who are true difference-makers. Because of what he can do as both a runner and a receiver, McCaffrey is one of them. Without him in the lineup, San Francisco’s offense simply isn’t as effective. That’s not to disparage backup Jordan Mason, who ranks second in the league in rushing yards (536) through five games. But he’s not nearly as dynamic as a pass catcher, and defenses don’t respect that part of his game. That’s making it harder for coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Brock Purdy to get their playmakers the ball in space. That was evident in Sunday’s 24-23 loss to the Cardinals in which San Francisco was shut out in the second half. The Niners scored just one touchdown in six trips to the red zone, and while an injury to kicker Jake Moody robbed them of a chance to extend their lead late in the third quarter, Purdy also threw two interceptions and Mason fumbled inside the 10-yard line. Even the 49ers’ defense struggled Sunday, allowing Kyler Murray and company to march down the field on back-to-back scoring drives of 73 and 75 yards late in the game. James Conner bullied his way to 86 yards on 19 carries, while Murray picked up 83 yards on just seven attempts. “In the second half, we kind of melted down,” 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner said. “Too much leaky yardage, missed tackles, not fitting it right.” At 0-2 in the NFC West and 0-3 in the NFC, this is far from the juggernaut that has dominated in recent seasons. The Niners have to hope that McCaffrey can find an answer to his Achilles tendonitis before it’s too late. Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has led Washington to an improbable 4-1 start. (Patrick Smith/Getty) Winner: Rookie quarterbacks In Week 1, things looked bleak for the rookie quarterbacks. Now, the sun is starting to peek through. Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix all have a winning record through five weeks, going a combined 10-5. According to ESPN, those 10 wins are the second-most by rookie quarterbacks in the first five weeks of a season since 1970, trailing only the 13 wins in 1987. It’s a small sample, but it speaks to how pro-ready each young player is. Daniels has been the biggest revelation, putting himself in the MVP conversation by leading Washington to an improbable 4-1 start. Williams is coming off his best game as a pro, completing 20 of 29 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns in the Bears’ win over the Panthers. Nix threw for 206 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in the Broncos’ blowout of the Raiders. It hasn’t all been easy, of course. Daniels was not at his best Sunday, completing just 56% of his passes and throwing an interception, but Washington still scored 34 points and amassed 298 of its 434 total yards on just eight plays. Williams and Nix have largely benefitted from playing behind two of the league’s best defenses, with their offenses ranking 26th and 25th, respectively, in efficiency as measured by DVOA. Nix even got into a spat with Sean Payton on the sideline Sunday, with the coach bemoaning how much “Ferris Bueller” there is in his rebellious young starter. No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye could also be making his pro debut soon, assuming Patriots coach Jerod Mayo has seen enough of Jacoby Brissett after a dreary 15-10 loss to the lowly Dolphins on Sunday. This was considered a potentially transformative quarterback class, and so far the rookies are exceeding expectations. Loser: New York Jets In a surprise move, the Jets fired coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday, ending his tenure in the middle of his fourth season. Davante Adams to the rescue? Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Joe Flacco reflects on 2018 season: ‘I did not want to let Lamar get out there’ Baltimore Ravens | A day later, Ravens coach John Harbaugh raves about the heroics vs. Bengals Baltimore Ravens | 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has only one thing left to prove | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s report card: Position-by-position grades for Ravens’ 41-38 win over Bengals | COMMENTARY The Jets certainly need a spark after a 23-17 loss to the Vikings in London in which they fell behind 17-0. Aaron Rodgers showed flashes of his old self, but he mostly looked old as he threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, and hobbled around after being sacked three times and hit 11. The 40-year-old was no match for coordinator Brian Flores’ aggressive defense. Perhaps most concerning is the lack of contributions from anyone other than Garrett Wilson, who had 13 catches on a whopping 22 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown. Wilson, Allen Lazard and tight end Tyler Conklin seemed to be the only receivers Rodgers trusted Sunday as running back Breece Hall once again disappeared from the game plan. That brings us back to Adams. The price for the three-time All-Pro wide receiver might be steep in terms of draft picks and salary, but do the Jets have any other choice? They’re all-in on Rodgers this season, and Adams was his favorite target during their time together in Green Bay. For this offense to function as intended under coordinator Nate Hackett, who was hand-picked for the job because of his relationship with Rodgers, the Jets need a receiver who operates on the same wavelength as their mercurial quarterback. Given everything that’s at stake in this make-or-break season, acquiring Adams from the Raiders might be the only button left to push after changing coaches. Clearly owner Woody Johnson wants to do everything he can to appease Rodgers, whose relationship with Saleh was the subject of much scrutiny after some awkward interactions on the sideline and an apparent disagreement in the use of Rodgers’ presnap cadence. For all that’s gone wrong during this 2-3 start, a win over the Bills on Sunday would put the Jets in first place in the AFC East. It’s now or never. Have a news tip? Contact C.J. Doon at cdoon@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/CJDoon. View the full article

When Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson injured his oblique, his backup, former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, felt a bit of deja vu to his time in Baltimore. The Colts drafted Richardson fourth overall in 2023, pegging the former Florida star as the next franchise cornerstone. He suffered a concussion in his second career game. Shortly after he returned to the field last October, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery. Fast forward to Sunday, and the 22-year-old was again ruled out, missing his 14th out of 22 possible games. “I was kind of just the guy that was like, ‘I’m here. I’ll be ready if need be,'” Flacco, the 39-year-old backup, said after the Colts’ 37-34 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. He was in a similar position in 2018 — his last with the Ravens and Lamar Jackson’s rookie year — when Flacco’s hip injury gave Jackson his first career start. “Man, I did not want to let Lamar get out there, that’s for sure,” Flacco said. “That was my team. And that was very hard mentally for me. I pushed it as far as I could in terms of trying to let them convince me to go out there and play. But at the same time, you don’t want to put your future career in danger.” Baltimore’s changing of the guard came in Flacco’s 11th season. He was traded to the Denver Broncos that offseason. He’s now in Year 17, hoping he can share the wisdom of virtuous patience with Richardson, even knowing how much that “may hurt in the moment.” Flacco has reshaped his career since ceding control of the Ravens to Jackson, who has blossomed into a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and is now working on his case for a third. Flacco threw for 359 yards and three touchdown passes against Jacksonville. Combined with his four starts last year with the Cleveland Browns, he’s the oldest player in league history with at least 300 yards and two touchdown passes in five consecutive starts. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | A day later, Ravens coach John Harbaugh raves about the heroics vs. Bengals Baltimore Ravens | 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has only one thing left to prove | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s report card: Position-by-position grades for Ravens’ 41-38 win over Bengals | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Jaguars hold off Colts, 37-34, after Joe Flacco leads late comeback bid When he scrambled out of the pocket in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss, Flacco notched a top speed of 18.76 mph, per Next Gen Stats, which is his fastest speed as a ball carrier since tracking began in 2016. Pro Football Focus gave him the highest grade (90.0) of any Colt with a minimum of 25 snaps in Week 5. “I’m trying to stay in that routine of being the guy,” Flacco said. “Obviously you can’t quite get to that spot. Like I wish there was something that you could take and turn the blinders on and you just thought you were starting all week and then all of a sudden you showed up right before the game and they told you you weren’t, because there is a little bit of a difference. “Getting back in the role where you’re getting practice reps and you’re probably going to play, that’s the easy part, to be honest with you.” Colts coach Shane Steichen said Monday that when Richardson is healthy, he will return to his starting role with Flacco as his backup. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article

During the broadcast of the Ravens’ roller coaster overtime win on Sunday, cameras zoomed in to a relatively mellow Justin Tucker, who had just nailed a game-tying 56-yard field goal in the final two minutes of regulation. He appeared to merely hug his teammates and gracefully point toward the sky before the cameras left him. Ravens coach John Harbaugh met with reporters in Owings Mills on Monday and helped fill in the details that followed one of several clutch moments from the 41-38 win over the Bengals in Cincinnati. Tucker entered the game 5-for-8 on field goals this season. His long through four weeks was 48 yards. He was unsuccessful on two previous tries from beyond 50 yards, which many deemed a slump for the NFL’s most accurate kicker. Harbaugh said he ironing out a “technique issue.” After his farthest and most consequential kick of the year on Sunday, Tucker let all the pent-up emotion pour out. He ran right up to Harbaugh, meeting his coach nose-to-nose on the sideline. “A little uncomfortably close,” Harbaugh laughed, before switching to a hushed scream for his Tucker impression. “And he said, ‘Let’s go win the game! Let’s win the game!’” “I’m for that!” Harbaugh added. “I am for winning the game. I am on board with that, and I think for him to get the opportunity to finish it with a game-winner, that means a lot.” After Lamar Jackson fumbled and a poor hold sent Bengals kicker Evan McPherson’s potential game-winner wide left, Tucker got another chance. That one, a 24-yard chip shot that closed one of the NFL’s most exhilarating games of the year, was set up by running back Derrick Henry. The man often described as Baltimore’s closer took a handoff on the first play of the game’s final drive and bulldozed 51 yards down the left sideline. “It was a point in time of the game where fatigue was a big part of everything that was going on,” Harbaugh said. Still, the 30-year-old Henry clocked in at 21.46 mph, the second fastest of any Week 5 ball-carrier, according to Next Gen Stats, and his fastest play since Week 6 in 2021 (his career high is 21.80). Sunday’s mark came, as Harbaugh pointed out, “in overtime, a hot day like that, toward the end of the game, after he’d been tackled a number of times. That kind of speaks for itself.” Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, left, made two clutch field goals Sunday against the Bengals. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) Earlier in the AFC showdown, Henry became the fifth player in NFL history with at least 10,000 rushing yards and 100 touchdowns from scrimmage in his first 125 career games. He’s been everything the Ravens could have hoped in signing him over the offseason and is now helping define their bullish identity. Henry deflected much of the praise afterward, instead lauding Tucker as the greatest of all time and crowning quarterback Lamar Jackson the best in the league. Even Harbaugh had a hard time ranking Jackson’s lengthy resume of scrambles that have led to mystifying plays. “Like my dad always says, ‘You’ve never had a better win. There’s probably never been a better play today.’” Harbaugh said. “It’s an amazing play. And the thing about Lamar is he’s not even happy about it. He’s mad about it. Because it’s definitely not in the playbook that way. But a lot of times you gotta find ways to win.” No play from Sunday — in which the Ravens scored in all six trips to the red zone in the red zone with four touchdowns – better exemplifies the two-time MVP’s ability to resuscitate a blown play with some improvisation. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has only one thing left to prove | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s report card: Position-by-position grades for Ravens’ 41-38 win over Bengals | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Jaguars hold off Colts, 37-34, after Joe Flacco leads late comeback bid Baltimore Ravens | Ravens win OT thriller over Bengals, 41-38, behind Lamar Jackson, Justin Tucker Baltimore trailed by 10 with 5:34 left in the fourth. Jackson bobbled the snap at the 7-yard line but vacuumed it up and retreated to his right. That’s where he stiff-armed 265-pound Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard. Twice. Or as play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Harlan put it, he threw Hubbard away “like a rag doll.” Jackson wound up 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage fleeing toward the boundary. He leaped up before taking a hit and fired the ball across his body to a streaking tight end Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone. It was certainly not how the play was drawn up. But that’s how Jackson will be remembered. “I just thought it was an incredible, fabulous play that will go down in history,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll watch that play for years to come on NFL Films.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article

The Ravens outlasted the Cincinnati Bengals, 41-38, in an absurd, miraculous overtime fireworks show that seized pole position for NFL game of the year. Here are five things we learned from the game: The greatest games transcend analysis We’ll get to the defensive shenanigans, the misbegotten clock management, the gut-twisting turnover that probably should have sent the Ravens home defeated. That stuff matters when we assess where the Ravens stand as an aspiring championship contender. It matters a whole lot less when we try to capture the ridiculous wonder of what we watched Sunday afternoon as two bitter rivals trafficked in the sublime and the preposterous for more than 60 minutes of football. Be honest; how many times did you think the Ravens were cooked? Certainly after Ja’Marr Chase caught a simple pass on the sideline and eluded four defenders to sprint 70 yards and make it 38-28 with 8:54 to play. Probably as Joe Burrow drove his offense into Baltimore territory with a chance to build his lead and the two-minute warning fast approaching. Certainly, again, after the Ravens had to settle for a game-tying field goal, leaving Burrow more than enough time to answer back with a game-winning score. For sure after Lamar Jackson looked away for a fraction of a second and dropped a shotgun snap to hand Cincinnati the ball in reasonable field goal position in overtime. Somehow, the Ravens — with a healthy assist from those impish football gods overseeing this battle — spit in the eye of each doomed scenario. Burrow torched the Baltimore defense for most of the second half, but Jackson kept answering, keeping the Ravens within shouting distance. When he dropped a snap, picked it up, scrambled urgently away from two defenders and winged a touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely, he might as well have left the stadium to walk on the surface of the nearby Ohio River. Even so, Jackson would have run out of chances had his defense not finally answered the bell. With the Bengals up three and driving, Marlon Humphrey stepped in front of Chase for an interception. The Ravens could not answer with a go-ahead touchdown. Justin Tucker, with his legion of fans fearing a faith-shattering miss, steered a 56-yard attempt left to right and perfectly through the uprights: 38-38. Justin Tucker’s 56-yard field goal in the fourth quarter was his longest made kick of the season. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) Burrow had more than 90 seconds of game time to answer, but another Ravens defensive star, Nnamdi Madubuike, stepped up with a sack, and the Bengals had to accept overtime as their reward for an afternoon of brilliant offense. It seemed the fates rode with them when Jackson could not handle Tyler Linderbaum’s on-target snap (he was still furious with himself amid the postgame celebration). The Bengals didn’t have to move an inch to put their generally clutch kicker, Evan McPherson, in range for a game-winner. But a bad snap and hold undid him. Given a seemingly impossible reprieve, Ravens running colossus Derrick Henry, bottled up most of the day, busted through Cincinnati’s tired front for 51 yards. Tucker finally closed out the insanity with a 24-yard field goal, the equivalent of a tap-in to win the Masters. We don’t normally spend a lot of words on play-by-play in this space, but when the Ravens wiggle off the hook that many times, in increasingly heart-stopping fashion, how can we not take a few extra paragraphs to relive the details? This was an important win for AFC North positioning and for putting their 0-2 start further in the rearview and for proving they could play from behind. More than all that, however, it was a spectacularly entertaining game. Sometimes, that is the main thing. The Ravens’ offense can win a game without dictating its flow This seemed like a matchup in which nosing ahead would be everything. In their previous two victories over the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, the Ravens had stampeded from the gate, outrushing their opponents by a combined 413 yards as they built insurmountable leads. On paper, it seemed they might do the same against a porous Bengals defense that ranked 25th against the run coming in. The Bengals had other ideas, frequently loading the box with eight defenders and daring Jackson to beat them over the top. The Ravens averaged just 3.1 yards per carry in the first half and fell behind. The game would be played on Cincinnati’s pass-happier terms. Jackson, who had attempted all of 33 passes against Dallas and Buffalo, was up to the task, completing 16 of 23 for 242 yards and three touchdowns when the Ravens were trailing, per Pro Football Focus. So were his receivers, who often face more questions about why they’re not getting the ball than about what they do when they have it. Zay Flowers led the team with seven catches for 111 yards. Rashod Bateman made an eye-popping full-extension catch to set up his own touchdown in the second quarter. All three tight ends popped off the screen. Charlie Kolar presented an effective downfield target on early downs. Likely scored twice. And Mark Andrews emerged from his game-plan cocoon to make vital catches when the Ravens needed to keep moving in the fourth quarter. Charlie Kolar, middle, caught three passes for 64 yards against the Bengals despite usually being the team’s third receiving option at the tight end position. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) Jackson had expressed great confidence in his targets all summer and through the recent lean-target weeks. When he needed them, they posted. This had to be a sobering watch for defensive coordinators who were already popping antacids at the thought of having to deal with Henry’s ageless power-speed combination and Jackson’s once-in-a-generation elusiveness. The Ravens arrived in Cincinnati with a league-best offense built on ground force. The Bengals sought to counter their greatest strength and gained an upper hand. The Ravens turned to the air out of necessity and matched their (elite) season average of 6.8 yards per play, scoring 41 points in the process. We saw the Ravens thrive on coordinator Todd Monken’s script on their opening touchdown drive — 32 rushing yards from four ball carriers, a chunk gain off play-action, a sharp, quick throw to Justice Hill to neutralize pressure. They had to adjust from there and kept rolling. In other words, we might be watching a legit great offense. The Ravens lost control of the game with a series of forehead-slapping mistakes A special teams miscue put the Ravens in a bad spot in the second quarter when Tylan Wallace, filling in for injured returner Deonte Harty, failed to field a punt and let it trickle down to the Baltimore 2-yard line. A mysteriously unblocked Sam Hubbard dropped Henry for a safety on the very next play. Next up in the parade of follies: clock mismanagement. Harbaugh called timeout when they faced third-and-10 with less than a minute to go in the first half. Jackson threw incomplete on the ensuing play, leaving the Bengals time to drive for a touchdown, knowing they would also get the ball back to start the second half. Why didn’t the Ravens, facing low-upside field position, simply let the clock run down (or at least force Cincinnati to blow a timeout to stop it)? “At that point in time, I just felt like l, ‘Let’s go for it here and see if we can get it done,’” Harbaugh said of his reasoning. “Was it a little over-aggressive? You could probably already argue that — looking back I probably would argue it. I felt like we needed it, and I thought we’d have a chance to get it.” Ravens coach John Harbaugh questioned his own clock management at the end of Sunday’s first half. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) The Bengals led 17-14 at the break, and when they got the ball back, Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith could not pull in a deflected pass for an interception that would have immediately swung the momentum back to Baltimore. Instead, Burrow hit Tee Higgins to convert on third-and-14 and made it count with two more third-down completions to set up another touchdown. In less than six minutes of game time, the Ravens went from in control to down 10. None of it needed to happen. These errors did not lead to defeat but did force them to play from behind the entire second half. If they had lost, that stretch of ragged playing and coaching in the second and third quarters would have been the reason the game slipped from their grasp. Potent as they are, the Ravens still need plenty of refinement. Defensive coordinator Zach Orr could not find the right formula to flummox Joe Burrow After Burrow torched them twice in 2021, the Ravens became his antidote the past two seasons. Former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald kept him continuously off-balance with shifting coverages and simulated pressure. He seemed disinclined to look downfield, even with Chase and Higgins as big-time targets. That wasn’t the case Sunday. Orr got him early when he blitzed safety Kyle Hamilton on third-and-long. But from early in the second quarter to late in the fourth, Burrow settled into an impeccable rhythm. The Ravens sent extra pass rushers but rarely got home. They flooded his field of vision with extra defensive backs, but again and again, Burrow picked on the right matchups or found gaps in the Baltimore zone. Befuddled Joe was gone. This was the wonderfully decisive passer who won the Heisman Trophy at LSU and led the Bengals to the Super Bowl three years ago. Burrow is a great player, and great players make any defense look bad when they’re on. But the Ravens, after playing four quarters of splendid defense against Buffalo, are back to facing harsh questions about their coverage. How could they let Chase, the most dangerous Bengal on the field, streak by them for a touchdown in the waning seconds of the second quarter? How could multiple Ravens — with safety Marcus Williams the chief culprit — take such dreadful tackling angles on Chase’s 70-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter? The Ravens’ defense had no answer Sunday for Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase, who had 193 receiving yards. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) “He was just putting the [ball] up and giving his guys a chance, and they were winning their one-on-one matchups,” Smith said. “There was definitely a call or so that maybe he got us in, but that’s part of it. He gets paid a lot of money, just like their offensive coordinator as well as our coaches. So, they’re going to make plays; this is the NFL at the end of the day. But also, at the end of the day, we have to be better at our jobs, and that goes back to each and every person doing their one-[of]-11 [matchup].” As mentioned, the Ravens averaged 6.8 yards per play on offense. They also gave up 6.8 yards per play on defense, with Burrow completing 30 of 39 passes and leading five touchdown drives. That’s the formula for a thrilling watch in October but not a sustainable one if the Ravens hope to play deep into January. Only Humphrey’s terrific read and catch on his interception and Madubuike’s sizzling charge toward Burrow on the last drive of regulation redeemed a defensive performance that would have gone down as disastrous. “It says everything you need to know about character and their ability to get the job done,” Harbaugh said of his defense. “It also says that we have a lot of work to do, and we have to continue to improve. … They made a lot of tight throws. I mean, all those stop throws were well covered in the first half. Then there were times where guys were a little more open than we needed them to be, and that’s something we have to work on. We’re not there with our pass defense yet, but they made the stops when they needed to, to get the win.” Most of the other craziness couldn’t have happened if Justin Tucker had missed The Ravens gave their all-time-great kicker a pleasant respite from his troubles in their 35-10 thrashing of the Bills and through most of the afternoon in Cincinnati. Score touchdowns every time you reach the red zone and you don’t need history’s most reliable leg. But we knew they’d need No. 9 eventually, and his moment came with the game’s tension approaching its peak. Would the “technique issue” Harbaugh described after Tucker missed from 46 yards in Dallas resurface on this most important of tries? Would he hook it left, like he had his previous three misfires? His 56-yard attempt fluttered in the Cincinnati breeze, appearing to start outside the left upright but working its way relentlessly right until it reached dead center, soaring over the crossbar with at least 5 yards to spare. Tucker did not win the game at that moment, but he kept the possibility of a win alive. He was Rembrandt, back in command of his brush. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has only one thing left to prove | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s report card: Position-by-position grades for Ravens’ 41-38 win over Bengals | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Jaguars hold off Colts, 37-34, after Joe Flacco leads late comeback bid Baltimore Ravens | Ravens win OT thriller over Bengals, 41-38, behind Lamar Jackson, Justin Tucker Baltimore Ravens | Instant analysis from Ravens’ 41-38 OT win over Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5 “I would have 5, 10, 20 good kicks in a row, and then one of them, I would let just get away from me,” Tucker explained of his struggles. “I wouldn’t be as technically sound, and it’s not necessarily a discipline thing. It’s not necessarily a physical thing. It just sometimes a feel thing, and while you’re working through it, you hope that you’re continuing to make kicks.” Whether the team’s brain trust would ever put it this way or not, Tucker’s make had to produce immense relief. The last thing they wanted to worry about was fixing (or contemplating the uncertain future of) one of the greatest and most popular players in team history. “Just so proud of Justin,” Harbaugh said. “That’s not an easy kick by any stretch, and he drilled it. You saw later [it was] not an easy kick — there was a lot of wind up there.” Have a news tip? Contact Childs Walker at daviwalker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6893 and x.com/ChildsWalker. View the full article

CINCINNATI — The only thing left for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to do is to win a Super Bowl title. Anything less is all about cosmetics. If he wins another NFL Most Valuable Player Award, his third since 2019, it will cement his place as the best running quarterback in league history. If he wins a Lombardi Trophy, there will be some who say he is the best, surpassing New England’s Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, as the greatest of all time. Who cares? It’s now all about winning the title. In the past two weeks, Jackson, in his seventh season, has beaten two of the league’s most glamorous signal-callers in Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. Burrow was exceptional Sunday, completing 30 of 39 passes for 392 yards and five touchdowns. Let’s repeat that. Burrow had five touchdown passes, but Jackson was better. After a subpar effort in the first half, according to Jackson’s standards, he finished the game completing 26 of 42 passes for 348 yards with four touchdowns and a passer rating of 119.9. It’s not the statistics that are so mind-numbing but the way Jackson took over the game. The Ravens’ defense, especially the secondary, couldn’t cover an ant with a quilt in the second half. Burrow and receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase were slicing up cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey, Brandon Stephens and Nate Wiggins. At one point, the Bengals had scored on four straight drives and twice went ahead by 10 points, the last time on a 70-yard touchdown pass to Chase with 8:54 left. But Jackson wouldn’t let the Ravens surrender. As Burrow heated up, so did Jackson. He was lukewarm in the first half, completing 9 of 17 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, but simply willed his team to win in the second. He was elusive and improvised and did his best imitations of teammate and running back Derrick Henry with some great stiff-arms. With the score tied at 7, Jackson rolled to his right and outran a defender around the corner to throw a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver Rashod Bateman. On his touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely with 6:38 left in the third quarter, Jackson rolled right, ran through two defenders, used a Henry-like stiff-arm and threw to Likely in the back of the end zone. “It really was incredible. I went to [him], and I said, ‘I’ve never seen anybody throw anything like that in my entire life,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. “That’s just the type of player he is. The play’s never dead. He’s so special, and that was a really cool one.” CINCINNATI, OHIO - OCTOBER 06: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens runs the ball as Sam Hubbard #94 of the Cincinnati Bengals runs to tackle during the first quarter at Paycor Stadium on October 06, 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looks on before running a play against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean) Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) is tripped off by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean) Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, left, runs a route as quarterback Lamar Jackson throws a pass against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle B.J. Hill (92) is blocked by Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten, center, while rushing in on quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean) Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) avoids the tackle by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) and defensive tackle B.J. Hill (92) in the first half during an NFL football game on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Emilee Chinn) Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, center, runs with the ball against Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, left, and safety Jordan Battle during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Show Caption1 of 7CINCINNATI, OHIO - OCTOBER 06: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens runs the ball as Sam Hubbard #94 of the Cincinnati Bengals runs to tackle during the first quarter at Paycor Stadium on October 06, 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) Expand There were countless times Sunday when Jackson made plays from nothing. It was clear that if he wasn’t in a Ravens uniform, they don’t win. “That was like [a] third MVP level,” Henry said. “It was a one-of-a-kind game, especially the [play] where he was getting sacked, got out of the pocket, kept running down, almost went out of bounds and threw that ball back to [Isaiah Likely], that’s why Lamar is … ”]the best player in the league; [he’s] the GOAT for a reason.” There have been several stories the past few weeks about how Jackson has adapted to the offense and is calling his own plays. No one knows that unless you’re an offensive assistant coach or you’re one of several quarterbacks in the meeting room. He’s not just a special talent and great athlete but a player driven to win a Super Bowl title. Sometimes, that might be getting in his way. He is 2-4 in the postseason, and that self-imposed pressure might be causing him to short-circuit in big games. It was on display in the Ravens’ 17-10 loss to Kansas City in the AFC championship game, and there was the fumble Sunday. He mishandled a snap that would have won the game for the Bengals if Evan McPherson had not missed a 53-yard field goal attempt midway through the overtime period. At least in the Kansas City game, it appeared the Ravens got caught up in trying to keep pace with the Chiefs and Jackson tried to outduel quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Few players take losing harder than Jackson, but that’s also what motivates him. He has made steps to advance in the postseason every year, but there’s always something that gets in the way. Some years, it was the Bills or the Titans. Last year, it was Mahomes and the Chiefs. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston’s report card: Position-by-position grades for Ravens’ 41-38 win over Bengals | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | Jaguars hold off Colts, 37-34, after Joe Flacco leads late comeback bid Baltimore Ravens | Ravens win OT thriller over Bengals, 41-38, behind Lamar Jackson, Justin Tucker Baltimore Ravens | Instant analysis from Ravens’ 41-38 OT win over Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5 Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Bengals October 6, 2024 | PHOTOS Some thought Jackson could have run more against Kansas City instead of trying to win the game with his arm. Others have noticed that opposing teams take away the Ravens’ running game and force Jackson to beat them with his arm. It doesn’t really matter. Jackson is aware of the albatross he carries around. Former Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino had the same burden and never won a Super Bowl title despite playing in the NFL for 17 seasons. It’s great to win the awards and all the honors that come with them. One day, Jackson will be enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, but it’s all about winning the Lombardi Trophy. That’s all that’s left for Jackson. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article

Here’s how the Ravens (3-2) graded out at every position after beating the Cincinnati Bengals, 41-38, in overtime in Week 5 on Sunday at Paycor Stadium. Quarterback It was a tale of two halves for Lamar Jackson. In the first two periods, he fluttered some passes and never gained a rhythm with the offense. By the third quarter, Jackson knew he had to carry the team and delivered, completing 17 of 25 passes for 235 yards in the final two quarters and finishing 26 of 42 for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Jackson had a couple sensational scrambles and at times his stiff arm was as good as running back Derrick Henry’s. Jackson carried the Ravens on Sunday. He was the best player on the field. Grade: A Running backs On the Ravens’ opening possession of the game, they came out strong in power formations but still ran wide. But somewhere in the second quarter, the team got away from its strength of running the ball and mixing it with the play-action passes. Henry took over the game in overtime, as his 51-yard run with 3:36 left in the 10-minute extra period secured the win for the Ravens. He finished with 92 yards on 15 carries. The Ravens got little rushing production from backup Justice Hill, who had only 17 yards on five attempts, but he pass protects extremely well. Grade: C+ Offensive line The Ravens were strong running the ball inside, but they struggled in pass protection, especially tackles Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten. There were times when the Ravens stepped out flat instead of back and gave up too much ground off the snap. Overall, it was a decent effort by a group playing without injured left guard Andrew Vorhees and then temporarily losing Rosengarten early in the game with an ankle injury. Jackson made this group better. He was sacked only once but hit seven other times. Grade: C Receivers Zay Flowers does a great job of finding holes in the defense, and he can turn short receptions into big plays. He can play inside or outside and almost came close to turning short screens into long receptions. He was targeted 12 times and had seven catches for 111 yards. The Ravens, though, tried to establish the running game early, and when that doesn’t happen they aren’t a good comeback team. Fellow wideout Rashod Bateman had four catches for 58 yards, and he got more involved in the game plan as it went on. Jackson found both his top tight ends in the final quarter and they were essential to pulling over the victory. Isaiah Likely had three catches for 13 yards, including two touchdown receptions. Mark Andrews had four catches for 54 yards. Both played key roles in the fourth quarter. Grade: B+ Defensive line The Ravens held Cincinnati’s running game in check with 71 yards on 23 carries, but the Bengals had some success in the second and third quarters mixing the run with the play-action pass. End Nnamdi Madubuike led the linemen with four tackles but needs to cut down on those roughing the passer penalties. They might be questionable, but still carry a heavy price. Madubuike stepped up with a sack late in the fourth quarter. He also had two hurries on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Grade: C Linebackers As well as the Ravens played a week ago against Buffalo, they were in total disarray vs. Cincinnati. The linebackers were lost in coverage, especially over the middle, and at times didn’t get deep enough drops when it came to defending the Bengals’ running slants. The outside linebackers didn’t get much pressure on Burrow, especially starters Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh. When a team throws five touchdown passes, that team is supposed to win. Middle linebacker Roquan Smith, though, might have played his best game of the season leading the Ravens in tackles with 15. Grade: C- Secondary It was tough to determine which team, the Bengals or the Ravens, had a tougher time covering on the back end. Cornerbacks Brandon Stephens and rookie Nate Wiggins had trouble stopping receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on those stop routes, and nickel corner Marlon Humphrey couldn’t slow Higgins down on slants inside the red zone. Humphrey, though, might have had the play of the game, intercepting Burrow on a slant to Higgins late in the fourth quarter to set up Justin Tucker’s game-tying 56-yard field goal with 1:40 left in regulation. Strong safety Kyle Hamilton had four tackles, but the Ravens didn’t get many big plays from free safety Marcus Williams, who several times failed on the last line of defense. Grade: D- Special teams Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Jaguars hold off Colts, 37-34, after Joe Flacco leads late comeback bid Baltimore Ravens | Ravens win OT thriller over Bengals, 41-38, behind Lamar Jackson, Justin Tucker Baltimore Ravens | Instant analysis from Ravens’ 41-38 OT win over Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5 Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Bengals October 6, 2024 | PHOTOS Baltimore Ravens | Ravens RB Derrick Henry joins elite company with career milestones Jordan Stout averaged 56 yards on three punts, but Chris Collier fumbled a kickoff out of bounds and the Raven also allowed one kickoff return of 27 yards. Overall, there is still something missing from these units. The Ravens need to occasionally get a big play from this group, but so far it hasn’t contributed much. Tucker did hit a clutch 56-yard field goal and also had a 24-yarder to win the game. That will ease some concerns about his leg strength. Grade: C Coaching It’s hard to believe the Ravens won a game allowing 442 yards of total offense. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken used Henry well to wear down the Bengals in overtime, and it was good to see Bateman involved in the offense. Defensively, the Ravens made plays late in the game, and that’s critical for this team going forward. But coach John Harbaugh’s clock management was poor, especially late in the first half, and it’s been that way for years. The Ravens might need to consider getting some type of game manager to help influence Harbaugh when critical decisions need to be made. It might eventually cost this team. Grade: C- Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article