Lamar Jackson returns in style as Ravens rout Dolphins

Miami Gardens, Florida — If in doubt, Baltimore Ravens quarterback lamar jackson Made sure the football world knew he was back.

In his first game in 32 days, Jackson threw four touchdown passes in a 28–6 win. miami dolphins On Thursday night. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player had missed the past three games with a hamstring injury, but his return showed no significant changes.

Jackson completed 18 of 23 attempts for 204 yards as he once again celebrated in South Florida, where he grew up. Of Jackson’s 13 games with four or more touchdown passes, three of them have come against the Dolphins – his most against any team.

By winning their second game in five days, the Ravens improved to 3–5 and appeared poised to advance. Baltimore’s next four opponents – at the Vikings and Browns and at home against the Jets and Bengals – are a combined 9-22 (.290). The Ravens are now 1.5 games back of first place pittsburgh steelers (4-3), who play host indianapolis colts (7-1) on Sunday.

Here are the most important things to know from Thursday night for both teams:

What does QB performance mean?: There was a question about how much running Jackson would do after a hamstring injury. He only had five rushing attempts, but his 13-yard run in the third quarter turned a third down into the go-ahead touchdown drive. Jackson was elusive in the pocket and threw three touchdown passes under pressure, the most by any quarterback this season.

trend of viewing: The Ravens have held a team to 17 points or less in three straight games, the longest streak by any team this season. This is a major change for a Baltimore defense that was heavily criticized after allowing an NFL-worst 35.4 points per game in the first five weeks of the season. This could be designed to get the Ravens defense healthy and not have to face guys like these josh allen, patrick mahomes And Jared GoffWhich he did in the first month of the season. With two forced fumbles and an interception, the Ravens recorded their most turnovers since three in their last meeting against the Dolphins in 2023.

Statistics to know: Andrews certainly enjoyed Jackson’s return, catching touchdown passes of 2 and 20 yards in the first half. It was Andrews’ 12th career game with multiple touchdown catches, the most of any tight end since entering the league in 2018. Andrews has caught 48 touchdown passes in Jackson’s 90 starts and has totaled five touchdown receptions in 21 games when Jackson has been sidelined. — Jameson Hensley

Next game: But minnesota vikings (1 p.m. ET, Nov. 9)

Even if Thursday night was the first Dolphins game you watched all season, don’t worry — you’ve essentially seen them all.

The Dolphins outshot Baltimore in the first half, winning the time of possession battle, averaging nearly 6 yards per play. lamar jackson– Gained only 109 yards of offense – but still trailed 14-6 at halftime due to a series of all-character mistakes.

There were a few things that were their fault: a false start on fourth and second that missed a 35-yard field goal, an incomplete pass on fourth and two deep in the red zone, and a lost fumble at their own 18 that set up the first touchdown of the night for Baltimore. There was also one that wasn’t his fault – a questionable tripping call at running back. Ollie Gordon II Who wiped out a 36-yard catch.

The despair on the sidelines wasn’t just palpable – it was filmed in high definition. Coach Mike McDaniel and Gordon were both shown mid-outbursts in the first half, while the Ravens looked like the team was ready to turn around its sub-.500 start to the season. Miami now entering a 10-day mini-bye before hosting buffalo bill Travel to Madrid to play more in Week 10 Washington Commanders In week 11. With the trade deadline approaching on Tuesday and a 2-7 record dampening any optimism for this season, it’s fair to wonder how different this roster – or coaching staff – will look the next time Miami takes the field.

QB Breakdown: A week after holding the Falcons’ league-leading pass defense to 4 touchdowns, tua tagovailoa Came down to earth a bit against Baltimore.

its relationship with the receiver jaylen waddle Looked sharp in the first half, and showed budding chemistry with a tight finish Greg DulcichBut Miami struggled to stretch the field beyond Waddle and the Ravens largely kept the ball in front of them. Tagovailoa got the ball out quickly, but struggled when his first read was missed. On pass attempts within 2.5 seconds of snapping the ball, Tagovailoa completed 17 of 23 passes for 197 yards. On attempts that took more than 2.5 seconds, he completed only 5 of 11 passes for 35 yards, a higher-than-expected -23.2% completion percentage. He completed 25 of 40 passes for 261 yards with no TD and pick.

The biggest hole in the gameplan: The Dolphins ran the ball 37 times in last week’s win over the Falcons; Obviously, the game script affected its play on Thursday night but Miami ran the ball 20 times against the Ravens D’Von Achane Handling 14 of those attempts. Before the game got out of control, the Dolphins failed to set the tone at the line of scrimmage as they did in Week 9, turning the ball over three times without punting, and returning empty-handed on three red zone trips. This is an almost guaranteed recipe for losing the game.

Most Amazing Performance: All this. Miami put together a complete effort last week that players and coaches called one of its best supplemental games under McDaniel. He talked about being consistent all week and not letting that win become one-sided. But on Thursday all three stages fell flat. Miami didn’t look like a team that was ready to turn a corner; It looked like a 2-7 team.

turn: On second-and-1 early in the second quarter, Tagovailoa found Waddle for a 36-yard gain, giving Miami the ball at the Ravens’ 7-yard line – but any celebrations were cut short by a flag in the backfield. Gordon was penalized for throwing down the Ravens linebacker mike greenBut it appeared that he slipped and accidentally fell into the green. The Dolphins played two games later and Gordon was seen angry on the sideline. Miami managed to cut its deficit to 14–6 on its following drive, but failed to convert on fourth down from the Ravens’ 13-yard line just before the half. The Dolphins felt lifeless after that and failed to put points on the board for the rest of the night. -Marcel Louis-Jacques

Next game: versus buffalo bill (1 p.m. ET, Nov. 9)