After a sluggish first half, the Baltimore Ravens remembered the game plan and dominated Tampa Bay in the second half for a 27-22 win in Raymond James Stadium.
Rushing the ball seven times for only 24 yards in the first half, Baltimore flipped the script and pounded the Buccaneers on the ground, rushing 24 times for 206 yards in the final 30 minutes.
The Ravens played most of the game without quarterback Lamar Jackson’s top two targets, Mark Anderson and Rashod Bateman, but a grueling Baltimore ground game centered around run-pass options and Jackson’s ability to keep plays going was just too much for Tampa Bay.
As expected, the Ravens defense helped erase a 10-3 halftime deficit, pressuring Tom Brady on every snap. It was the defense that kept the Ravens in the game during an offensively miserable first half by Baltimore. Jackson struggled to get any traction, and to compound the situation, Mark Andrews suffered a shoulder injury and returned to the locker room.
The injury to Andrews as well as Bateman forced Baltimore to run the ball, and run the ball, and it was that ability to run that dictated Thursday’s outcome.
The game was a microcosm of the 2022 season for the Ravens. Tampa Bay’s opening drive made easy work of Baltimore’s defense, while the offense misfired drive-after-drive, especially in the red zone.
Jackson had a Jekyll-Hyde first-half performance, having some bad throws and reads, then just like that, Jackson would make a spectacular play. With the injuries piling up, the Ravens sideline took on the look of a MASH unit. But somehow Baltimore found its way to the break trailing only 10-3 at the half.
Considering everything in the first 30 minutes, the injuries, dropped passes, playing against a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, the second half belonged to Baltimore.
Sometimes having Jackson is enough, and Thursday night was one of those times. Jackson’s ability to scramble, to be poised in the pocket, and his increasing ability to understand when to run was the difference.
Finally getting the ball to one of their few remaining offensive weapons, Devin Duvernay, on an end-around for a late touchdown was huge. Tight end Isaiah Likely had his first career score and hauled in six catches for 77 yards.
The win gives Baltimore its first winning streak of the season and pushed the Ravens’ season mark to 5-3. The offense was all-but-perfect in the second half, scoring on all four of their second-half possessions, not including the final two Jackson kneel-downs.
Jackson turned in an MVP-level performance, finishing 27-for-38 for 238 yards, and was a perfect 8-of-8 in the second half. While Jackson’s numbers were anything but gaudy, it was his ability to create, to extend plays, that stifled the Tampa Bay defense all night.
Long second-half drives by the Ravens just emptied the Buccaneers gas tank on a night when the temperature was near 80 degrees and the humidity over 90 percent.
Baltimore’s second-half scoring drives were 77, 80, and 83 yards. The running game, all but forgotten in the first half, ignited the first two second-half scores while Jackson did damage through the air.
The Ravens have 11 days to heal up before another national spotlight contest, a Monday Night Football matchup against the New Orleans Saints.
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