Lamar Jackson throws for 179 yards and an interception as well as rushing for a game-high 136 yards and a score as the Baltimore Ravens come out on top in a defensive battle with the Tennessee Titans, who saw Derrick Henry limited to 40 yards rushing.
Sunday 10 January 2021 21:22, UK
Lamar Jackson rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown as he recovered from an early interception to propel the Baltimore Ravens to a 20-13 Wild Card victory in a defensive battle against the Tennessee Titans and clinch the first playoff win of his NFL career.
Marcus Peters sealed the victory with two minutes to play when he intercepted Ryan Tannehill's pass intended for Kalif Raymond, prompting a satisfying moment for the Ravens as they stomped on the Titans logo in retaliation to Tennessee having done the same ahead of their Week 11 victory in Baltimore.
The Titans had responded bullishly to pre-game doubts of their 28th-ranked defense's ability to contain the Ravens as they picked off Jackson and sacked him four times in the first half.
Jackson eventually sparked into life with an electrifying 48-yard touchdown run amid a defining stretch of 17 straight points for Baltimore, who themselves excelled on defense by limiting 2,000-yard rushing champion Derrick Henry to just 40 yards off 18 carries.
AJ Brown gave the Titans an early lead when he won his end zone duel with Marlon Humphrey to haul in a 10-yard touchdown pass after Tannehill had gone a perfect six for six on the drive.
Jackson had unwelcome flashbacks to his interception on the first drive of last season's playoff defeat to the Titans as he was picked off by Malcolm Butler on deep ball intended for Miles Boykin. Tennessee were forced to settle for a 45-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski on the resulting drive.
After connecting well with Marquise Brown for a 29-yard pickup Jackson saw a promising drive stall in the red zone on a sack by Brooks Reed as the Ravens' first points came via Justin Tucker's 33-yard field goal.
Last year's league MVP then conjured a familiar moment of individual magic by abandoning the passing play and propelling himself beyond multiple tackle attempts before stretching inside the pylon for a 48-yard touchdown run.
Baltimore made it 17 unanswered points when rookie J.K. Dobbins followed the blocking of fullback Patrick Ricard, who was outstanding on the drive, to run in a four-yard touchdown.
Tennessee re-introduced the threat of Brown after a quiet period spell since his opening touchdown, but were held to a 25-yard Gostowski field goal to make it 17-13 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Their window of hope widened moments later when Tucker was wayward with a 52-yard field goal attempt.
Tucker made amends soon after with a 51-yard field goal with 4.23 on the clock after a fourth-down conversion had been pulled back for a soft offensive pass interference call on Willie Snead.
Having led the NFL with five fourth-quarter comebacks in the regular season, Tannehill's efforts to add to his tally came up short as he was picked off by Peters with two minutes to play, allowing the Ravens to chew down the clock for the win.
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