If the rare late-season matchup between the top teams in the NFL was a statement game, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens delivered a loud one to the rest of the league.
Jackson on Monday threw two touchdown passes in a span of 18 seconds in the third quarter, while the Ravens intercepted Brock Purdy four times in a 33-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
“Our guys work hard. They compete hard. Everybody wants to be respected,” coach John Harbaugh said. “There’s one way to be respected, and that’s to go out there and earn that.”
Photo: AP
Jackson and the Ravens (12-3) turned a highly anticipated matchup between the league’s top teams into a lopsided win with strong performances on both sides of the ball.
Kyle Hamilton and the defense set the tone early by intercepting Purdy on three of the first four drives of the game for the 49ers (11-4) before Jackson started to take over.
He scrambled 30 yards to set up a field goal on the final play of the first half to give the Ravens a 16-12 lead and then helped put the game away early in the third quarter.
After Baltimore forced a punt on the opening drive of the second half, Jackson capped a drive by throwing a six-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor.
Purdy then was intercepted by Patrick Queen on the next play from scrimmage. Jackson immediately turned that into another score with a nine-yard TD pass to Zay Flowers that made it 30-12.
“I thought Lamar had an MVP [Most Valuable Player] performance tonight,” Harbaugh said. “It takes a team to create a performance like that, but it takes a player to play at that level, to play at an MVP level. It takes a player to play that way. Lamar was all over the field.”
Jackson threw for 252 yards, ran for 45 more and vaulted past Purdy to become the MVP favorite, FanDuel Sportsbook said.
His only real mishap came when he got called for intentional grounding in the end zone after nearly tripping over the umpire, leading to a safety in the first quarter.
“We got the W,” Jackson said. “I don’t really care about performance. I just want to win. That’s what happened tonight. On Christmas, I got my gift.”
The Ravens remained a game ahead of Miami for the best record in the American Football Conference and can clinch the No. 1 seed with a win next week against the Dolphins.
Baltimore improved to 6-1 this season against teams currently in playoff positioning, outscoring them by 16.4 points per game.
“We play a brand of football that people don’t want to play,” Queen said. “Everybody wants to be out here cute playing basketball on grass. We’re not with all that. If you do that stuff, you’re just going to get hit in the mouth every play.”
Elsewhere, the Las Vegas Raiders held off the Kansas City Chiefs 20-14, while the Philadelphia Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak with a 33-25 victory over the New York Giants.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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