Lamar Jackson's two TD passes lift Ravens to win against Buccaneers
Tampa, Florida - The Baltimore Ravens' offense clicked into gear in the second half of their 27-16 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Thursday Night Football after only mustering three points in the first two quarters.
Baltimore grabbed an early lead just four minutes into the action, with their punt on the opening drive of the game bouncing off the chest of Buccaneers returner Dee Delaney to gift the Ravens a redzone opportunity.
The Buccaneers defense held, forcing a Justin Tucker field goal, and they took the lead just five minutes later when Leonard Fournette punched in a one-yard touchdown run to cap off a 75-yard drive.
A Tampa Bay field goal would give them a 10-3 lead at halftime, but the Baltimore offense would figure things out in the second half as a five-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Kenyan Drake tied the contest at 10-10.
After forcing a Buccaneers punt, the Ravens made it two touchdown drives in a row as Jackson was flushed out of the pocket and found rookie tight end Isaiah Likely along the back of the endzone in tight coverage.
They then made it three touchdown drives in a row when receiver Devin Duvernay was able to convert a third-and-one into a 15-yard touchdown run on a jet-sweep, widening the Ravens' lead to 24-13 with under seven minutes to play.
Tom Brady leads the Bucs into the redzone twice
Tom Brady was able to lead the Buccaneers back into the redzone twice, and was rewarded with a consolation eight-yard touchdown pass to the returning Julio Jones with under a minute on the clock.
Neither quarterback ended up committing a turnover as Jackson completed 27 of his 38 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns, while Brady was 26-of-44 for 325 yards and one score.
After star Ravens tight end Mark Andrews left with an injury, Likely led the Ravens in catches (six) and receiving yards (77), while Mike Evans caught six balls for 123 yards to lead the Buccaneers.
Cover photo: REUTERS