Lamar Jackson flexes MVP form and 5 more takeaways from dominant win over Giants

Some questions were answered while others came into focus on Sunday afternoon.

Coming off a long-awaited bye week, the Baltimore Ravens notched a much-needed confidence-building 35-14 win over the sputtering New York Giants in Week 15. Offensively, the Ravens did the bulk of their damage through the air fueled by another sensational performance by the reigning league MVP. Defensively, Baltimore struggled with discipline at times which aided both of the Giants’ touchdown drive via penalties.

The win keeps the Ravens in the lead to secure the top Wildcard spot while still keeping them just one game back of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North division standings after their rivals lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the Sunday late window. There were several encouraging performances by players and units on both sides of the ball that were vital in securing this victory to improve the Ravens’ overall record to 9-5.

Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s overwhelming victory at MetLife Stadium.

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Lamar Jackson was Lamarvelous yet again

The reigning league MVP took his mother’s words to heart heading into the bye week and in his first game back in action, unleashed his dual-threat skill set on the Giants as he threw and ran all over their defense. Jackson was responsible for 355 of the Ravens’ 445 yards of total offense and accounted for all five of the team’s touchdowns which came through the air. He didn’t throw his first incompletion until there was a minute and 55 seconds left in the second quarter and had more touchdowns than incompletions, finishing 21-of-25 for 290 passing yards and a near-perfect passer rating of 154.6.

Jackson made history with his arm and legs on Sunday, becoming just the second quarterback to eclipse 6,000 career rushing yards, joining his idol Michael Vick as the only other to achieve that feat. The three-time Pro Bowler also became the first quarterback in NFL history to record a completion percentage of 80-plus, throw for 250-plus, throw for five touchdowns and run for 50-plus rushing yards.

“He’s been locked in. He’s been locked in all season, he was locked in all week,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “He was on the guys – meetings, walkthroughs, everything, just keeping it about football and getting the football right.”

Penalty issues persist on defense especially

One of the main focuses for the Ravens heading into the bye week was to cut down on penalties after leading the league through the first 14 weeks despite having last week off. While some of the flags the officials called them for on Sunday were ticky-tack and even soft at times, that wasn’t the case on all of the season-high 12 for 112 yards.

The majority of their infractions occurred on defense where they consistently showed the most lack of discipline especially in coverage. There were numerous pass interferences and holdings were called against them and the front seven wasn’t exempt either with illegal hands to the face, roughing the passer and offsides penalties. Both of the Giants’ scoring drives were extended by penalties with the first one being the most egregious. They were flagged four times for 38 yards, accounting for nearly half of the yards they gave up on the 18-play possession that ate up over eight and a half minutes off the clock.

“Their drives were penalty inspired,” Harbaugh said. “If it wasn’t for the penalties, those drives wouldn’t have happened. So, its obviously something that’s very important.”

Rashod Bateman’s breakout campaign continues

The 2021 first-round pick keeps proving the Ravens right for investing in him this offseason with a contract extension with the most productive season of his career to date. Bateman had already surpassed his previous career-high total in receiving yards and touchdowns coming into this game and added to those totals by hauling in three of his five targets for a team-leading 80 receiving yards and the first two-touchdown game of his career. His first scoring reception came on a 49-yard catch-and-run where he put a corner in a blender with crisp route running to get wide open and then cut on a dime to make two defenders miss as he strutted into the end zone to give the Ravens a two-score lead. His second capped off a two-minute drive at the end of the first half to put the team back up by double digits after the Giants made it a one-score game late in the second quarter. In 14 games, Bateman now has 38 receptions for 654 receiving yards and seven touchdowns—both second-most on the team.

“‘Bate’ is that guy,” Jackson said. “We call him ‘Batman’ for a reason, and that’s just amazing. It was long overdue, I believe. There have been plenty of times that I felt he should’ve had multiple touchdown games, but things happen in the backfield. We can’t get to him sometimes, but he’s just working. He’s grinding. [He keeps his] head down and is just trying to win.”

Ravens come out healthy ahead of divisional clash

Almost just as important as notching the bounce-back win comfortably was emerging from this interconference matchup in good health without sustaining any injuries because of what lies ahead. The Ravens will return home this week to host their archrival Steelers who are coming off a physical regional rivalry on Saturday evening with first place in the division on the line. While Pittsburgh is nursing some notable injuries that may now include Defensive Player of the Year candidate TJ Watt who left their Week 15 game early with an injury, Baltimore came out of the bye week healthy and is heading into Week 16 the same way.

“We came out here and did what we should do. We handled business,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “We play the way we should play and we’ll always be happy with the results.”

Rookie class flashes impressive potential

The Ravens got some notable contributions from several members of their 2024 rookie draft class on both sides of the and in all three phases of the game on Sunday. First-round cornerback Nate Wiggins had some great reps against Giants standout rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers including back-to-back forced incompletions in the end zone. Second-round offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten played well again in both run and pass blocking in his 11th straight start.

Fourth-round wide receiver hauled in a 21-yard touchdown and showed off some excellent body control in the back of the end zone on his first career regular-season reception and also made a nice solo tackle on special teams that prevented a long kickoff return. Fifth-round running back Rasheen Ali showed some nice all-purpose ability as well, ripping off a 36-yard kickoff return on his lone opportunity that was reduced to 22 yards by penalty and got his first carries on offense of the regular season and finished with eight for 32 rushing yards—third-most on the team.

Justice Hill is a dangerous all-purpose weapon

The sixth-year veteran running back has been one of the best stories, key contributors, unsung heroes and most explosive playmakers for the Ravens this season and that continued on Sunday starting from the very first play. He opened the game with a 59-yard kick return to set the offense up in Giants territory for its first possession. Hill finished the game with 127 all-purpose yards between offense and special teams after adding 61 receiving yards on five catches and seven rushing yards on two carries to his total. Even though he didn’t lead all Ravens skill players in total touches, he finished first all-purpose yards. While he was left wide open as a result of a blown coverage on his 27-yard catch and run touchdown, Hill had to go low to pluck the ball before it could hit the ground first.