Jackson leads rally, and Ravens stop 2-point attempt to hold off Bengals 35-34

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson scores a two-point conversion during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)(AP/Nick Wass)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Facing his largest deficit in three years, Lamar Jackson led Baltimore back with another dazzling display.

He danced along the sideline on one scramble, turning a potential 20-yard loss into a 10-yard gain. He left his feet while throwing the winning touchdown pass, finding Rashod Bateman in the end zone with a flick of a wrist and a follow through that looked almost like a basketball player’s.

Jackson threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes, and the Ravens stopped Cincinnati on a 2-point conversion with 38 seconds remaining to hold off the Bengals 35-34 on Thursday night. The Ravens rallied from a 21-7 third-quarter deficit, overcoming a huge game from Cincinnati receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

“It starts with Lamar, and oftentimes it ends with Lamar,” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. “But in between Lamar and Lamar, there’s a lot of great players out there that are surrounding him. I think that’s kind of where our offense is at right now.”

Baltimore had 231 of its 389 total yards in the fourth quarter.

Chase finished with 11 catches for 264 yards and three touchdowns, including a 5-yarder in the final minute to bring the Bengals (4-6) within one. Cincinnati — which lost to Baltimore in overtime last month — decided to go for 2 and the lead, and Joe Burrow’s pass for Tanner Hudson sailed high.

“We had our opportunity,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “We got down there, went for two and just didn’t work out for us. This team is going to continue to put us in good positions, and there’s going to be a point in the season where that turns.”

The 14-point deficit was the largest for Baltimore (7-3) since the finale of the 2022 regular season at Cincinnati — a game Jackson missed because of an injury. The last time the Ravens trailed by 14 with Jackson on the field was exactly three years earlier. On Nov. 7, 2021, Baltimore rallied from a 24-10 deficit to beat Minnesota 34-31.

Cincinnati actually had the ball while up 14 in the third, but a fumble by Chase Brown gave the Ravens a short field, and a nifty scramble along the sideline by Jackson set up Derrick Henry’s 1-yard touchdown run. With the ball at the 11, Jackson dropped back and retreated all the way to the 30 before outrunning a couple rushers to the sideline, turning upfield and managing to stay in bounds all the way to the 1.

“Just trying to make something happen. That’s all that was,” Jackson said. “I was going to throw the ball away, but when I turned I had room.”

In the fourth, Tylan Wallace turned a short pass into an 84-yard touchdown, barely staying inbounds himself as a couple of Cincinnati defenders failed to stop him. Justin Tucker missed the extra point, but the Ravens were within one.

Cincinnati drove into Baltimore territory, but on both third-and-2 and fourth-and-2, Burrow threw incomplete deep. Jackson gave the Ravens the lead with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews, and then the two-time MVP-winning quarterback ran himself for a 2-point conversion.

Chase beat Baltimore deep for a 70-yard touchdown that tied the game at 28 with 5:37 to play, but the Ravens answered with Jackson’s 5-yard scoring toss to Rashod Bateman with 1:49 remaining to go ahead 35-28.

Jackson threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns. Burrow threw for 428 yards and four TDs.

The Ravens lost All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton to an ankle injury late in the first half.

Cincinnati scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Brown on the game’s first drive. The Ravens thought they’d stopped the Bengals on fourth down near the goal line, but a holding call on cornerback Brandon Stephens gave Cincinnati a new set of downs.

Baltimore also burned two timeouts on that first drive, one on an unsuccessful challenge.

Jackson threw a 6-yard scoring pass to Nelson Agholor in the second, but the Bengals took the lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to Tanner Hudson shortly after Hamilton’s injury.

The Ravens got back to around midfield at the end of the half, but by then they were out of timeouts and the clock ran out on them.

Burrow threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Chase early in the third.

No answer

Chase had 457 yards receiving in two games against the Ravens this season, an NFL record for one player against another team.

“Honestly man it’s just two great football teams going at it,” Chase said. “Every time we play Baltimore it’s a dog fight, the game’s always close to the end.”

Snapped

Jackson’s kneel-down on the game’s final play knocked the Ravens back to 99 yards rushing. The Ravens had run for at least 100 in 42 straight games, one shy of the NFL record.

Injuries

The Bengals needed a big game from Chase because receiver Tee Higgins was out with a quad injury. … Harbaugh said Hamilton has a sprained ankle and the injury isn’t too serious.