BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson had just thrown three more touchdown passes, giving him a career-high 37 for the season. His Baltimore Ravens had just beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers for only the second time in 10 games. And, to top it all off, they clinched a playoff berth and moved into a tie atop the AFC North.
But he wasn’t in a mood to celebrate. At all.
“I’m just mad,” Jackson said after the Ravens’ 34-17 win over the Steelers. “I was mad until the game was over.
“I’m lying. I’m still mad.”
His anger was all because of one throw — an interception at the Steelers 8-yard line early in the fourth quarter, right when he had a chance to put the game away. But that was really just one bad moment in an otherwise stellar performance that might have even moved Jackson — the reigning league MVP — back into the 2024 NFL MVP conversation.
He completed 15 of 23 passes for 207 yards, throwing three touchdown passes to go with that one interception. He also ran nine times for 22 yards. And he made so many clutch throws in important moments that FOX Sports analyst Tom Brady named him his LFG Player of the Game.
Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game: Ravens’ Lamar Jackson | Week 16 DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE
“Clutch throws,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh. “Especially against man, tight coverage. Him just dotting people on the run in man coverage. I thought Lamar was just fantastic.”
It really was one clutch throw after another for Jackson. Some were easy, like his game-opening 9-yard touchdown pass to wide-open tight end Isaiah Likely. But he also showed off his pinpoint accuracy with a 14-yard touchdown pass to the corner of the end zone for Rashod Bateman in the second quarter. And he split the defense with a dart to the back of the end zone for tight end Mark Andrews in the third.
Tom Brady breaks down Lamar Jackson’s TD pass to Mark Andrews to give Ravens lead vs. Steelers | NFL Highlights
His best throw, though, was his last. Backed up on their own 13-yard line as they tried to run out the clock, the Ravens (10-5) faced a third-and-5 with eight minutes remaining. But with the pocket collapsing around him, Jackson stood in and fired a picture-perfect pass down the field to a tightly covered Zay Flowers, 49 yards away.
That throw helped the Ravens melt away the clock so the Steelers (10-5) couldn’t mount a miracle comeback. But that throw was also emblematic of the ones that Harbaugh said he watched Jackson make all game long against one of the tougher defenses in the league.
“This was with a little bit of pressure,” he said. “He’s under pressure against this group. He stood in there and made some throws, man. He always does.”
Jackson was so good, especially when it mattered, that he overshadowed two other strong contenders for the LFG award. Ravens running back Derrick Henry, at times, seemed to be powering his way toward what would have been his second LFG award of the season — which would have made him the first to win it twice. He ran 24 times for 162 yards — his third-highest total of the season, and one that included six carries of at least 10 yards.
And then there was cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who bailed Jackson and the Ravens out after the quarterback’s untimely fourth-quarter interception. Two plays later, Humphrey stepped in front of Steelers tight end MyCole Pruitt and picked off a pass from Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (22 of 33, 217 yards, two touchdowns, one interception). He returned it 37 yards for a pick-six touchdown that gave the Ravens an insurmountable 31-17 lead with 13:15 remaining.
That earned him a game ball from Harbaugh, which was actually presented to his baby boy, born earlier in the week.
“That was a big momentum swing,” Henry said. “But it’s complementary football. And the defense had our back.”
“It was massive,” Harbaugh said. “For Marlon to do that, it just means so much.”
It all meant a lot to a Ravens team that hasn’t had a lot of luck against the Steelers in recent years. They had been 1-8 in their last nine games against them, including a difficult 18-16 loss in Pittsburgh last month. Jackson had been particularly terrible against his AFC North rivals. He had a career 1-4 record against them with eight interceptions and three lost fumbles and only five touchdown passes.
But this win turned everything around, even though Jackson insisted, “I feel like I could’ve played better.” That’s because he was still stewing about the one mistake he made.
“That interception really got me mad,” he said. “If you don’t turn the ball over, in almost any game, you’ll win the game. That one turnover could’ve been the difference.”
But it wasn’t, and now there is virtually no difference between the Steelers and the Ravens as they head down the stretch of the regular season. They are tied for first in the AFC North with two games to go, and the Ravens (with games left against the Texans and Browns) have a huge schedule advantage over the Steelers (who have to play the Chiefs and the Bengals).
The Ravens clinched a playoff berth with this win, but this might be the game that ends up winning them the division, too.
“It means a lot,” Jackson said. “We’ve been busting our behind all season long. We’ve had our ups and downs, but to clinch against a great team like that, it’s great. It means we’re moving in the right direction.”
They certainly are. They’ve now won three of their last four as they head toward the postseason. So they’re getting hot.
And their MVP-caliber quarterback is heating up, too — even if he’s not as happy about it as he probably should be.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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