Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson threw four touchdowns each Thursday, but it was the Baltimore Ravens coming out victorious in a 35-34 thriller against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Ravens held on after the Bengals elected to go for a game-winning two-point conversion with under 40 seconds remaining instead of playing for overtime. Cincinnati’s two-point play fell short after Burrow’s pass to Tanner Hudson was incomplete.
The Bengals looked to be in control, holding a 21-7 lead midway through the third quarter before Marlon Humphrey’s forced fumble on running back Chase Brown swung momentum.
Jackson said postgame that Humphrey’s takeaway woke up Baltimore’s offense, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec.
The Ravens quarterback engineered four straight touchdown drives to end the game. Three of Jackson’s four touchdown passes came in the fourth quarter, including an 84-yard score to Tylan Wallace. He recorded 290 passing yards and a 141.4 passer rating.
The reigning MVP’s performance was enough to hold off an onslaught from Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. The Bengals’ star duo connected on three touchdown passes, including the team’s last score in the final minute.
Burrow finished with 428 passing yards and four touchdowns. Chase accumulated 264 yards and three scores on 11 receptions.
Jackson said he knew the game would be a back-and-forth affair and tried to rally his teammates on the sideline.
“I was telling my guys on the sideline, ‘We gotta score. If they score, we gotta score. That’s the type of game it’s going to be,'” Jackson told reporters, including ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
The victory moves the Ravens to 7-3 and gives them the sweep in the season series against their division rivals, while the Bengals plummet to 4-6.
