Jackson shines as Raven’s Hand Brady, Buc’s third loss in a row – TSN.ca

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens are finally on a winning streak.

Lamar Jackson threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, and the Ravens rallied to a 27-22 win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday night, giving Baltimore a straight win for the first time this season.

Brady, on the other hand, finds himself on a three-game skid for the first time since 2002 — the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s first year as a full-time starter for the New England Patriots.

Jackson completed all eight of his passes after halftime, and the Ravens (5-3) finished with 231 yards after running the ball just seven times in the first two quarters.

“I feel like we’re very close,” Jackson said when asked if he felt Baltimore’s offense was getting closer to hitting all cylinders.

“We’re right there, but there’s still room for improvement…the little mistakes we still make out there,” the Ravens quarterback added. “We’re changing these and I feel the sky’s the limit.”

The Bucs (3-5) lost for the fifth time in six games after a 2-0 start.

“We just didn’t play well enough to win,” said Brady, who avoided playing a second straight game without a touchdown pass by throwing an 8-yarder to Julio Jones in the last minute.

“Until you’re winning ball games consistently and playing four quarters consistently, it gets dark,” said Bucs coach Todd Bowles. “That doesn’t mean we can’t get out of there. We just have a lot to do, as a coach and as a player.”

Jackson beat 45-year-old Brady for the second time in as many career meetings, directing TD drives for 77, 80 and 85 yards after Baltimore stuttered early and were 10-3 down at halftime.

The Ravens (5-3) rushed for 27 of their 231 yards in the second half while Jackson completed 27 of 38 passes without an interception, including TD throws of 5 yards to Kenyon Drake and 10 yards to Isaiah Likely in the third quarter.

Baltimore scored after halftime with their first four possessions, with Justin Tucker starting a 30-yard field goal to make it 27-16 with just over two minutes left.

Brady threw his TD pass to Jones with 49 seconds left and finished 26 of 44 for 325 yards without an interception. He was fired three times.

Leonard Fournette hit on a 1-yard run and Mike Evans had six receptions for 123 yards for the Bucs.

Fournette’s TD was the first the Bucs scored in the opening quarter this season. Brady spoke earlier in the week about how playing with a lead can help, but the offense did little to extend the early advantage after Ryan Succop’s 31-yard field goal made it 10-3.

The Ravens, meanwhile, missed a couple of opportunities to take control early and opted for a 22-yard field goal after recovering a fumble at the Bucs 6 on a punt return and walking away with no points when Jackson at 4th and incomplete into the endzone threw -3 from the Tampa Bay 10 late in the second quarter.

Another chance to close the 10-3 deficit was thwarted when Tucker’s 61-yard field goal attempt was deflected off the line after halftime.

RUN WITH AUTHORITY

The Ravens averaged 7 yards per carry and surpassed 150 yards in their seventh straight game, the longest active streak in the NFL.

THE DROUGHT CONTINUES

The Tampa Bay defense, which ranks among the best in the league when it comes to forcing turnovers, was without a snack for the fourth straight game.

INJURIES

Ravens DE Calais Campbell (illness) was inactive. … Ravens TE Mark Andrews (shoulder) left the team in the second quarter and did not return. …CB Marlon Humphrey (hamstring) missed time in the first half but came back early in the third quarter. … WR Rashod Bateman (foot) sat out most of the second half. … Edwards (hamstring) departed late in the fourth quarter and finished the team with 65 yards on 11 tries.

Buccaneers: Played without three starters in secondary — S Antoine Winfield Jr (concussion) and CBs Carlton Davis (hip) and Sean Murphy-Bunting (square). Also inactive were WR Russell Gage (hamstring), G. Luke Goedeke (foot), TE Cameron Brate (neck) and DL Akiem Hicks (foot). … LB Shaquil Barrett (ankle) hobbled off the field early in the third quarter and rode into the dressing room on a trolley.

NEXT

Ravens: Travel to New Orleans to face off against Saints on Monday, November 7th.

Buccaneers: Host the defending Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams, on Sunday, November 6th.

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