Lions sack Lamar Jackson seven times in 38-30 win over Ravens
Detroit tightens grip on Sunday night, leaning on a prolific ground game and a relentless pass rush to overwhelm Baltimore
The Detroit Lions sacked Lamar Jackson seven times and rushed for 225 yards in a 38-30 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night at M&T Bank Stadium, improving to 2-1. The Ravens drop to 1-2 despite Jackson throwing for 288 yards and three touchdowns.
Detroit jumped ahead on an 11-play, 67-yard opening drive, capped by Jahmyr Gibbs’s one-yard rushing score. Baltimore answered with a 28-yard touchdown run by Derrick Henry, who had only 23 yards rushing in the previous game. After a sequence of punts, Detroit crafted a 98-yard, 18-play march that consumed nearly 11 minutes of clock and ended with David Montgomery punching it in to make it 14-7.
The Ravens tied it with 24 seconds left in the second quarter when Rashod Bateman found space in the front of the end zone for a 6-yard score, making it 14-14 at halftime. Baltimore then opened the third with an 11-play, 73-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown pass from Jackson to Mark Andrews to reclaim the lead at 21-14. Detroit answered on the next snap of the quarter, with Jared Goff hitting Amon-Ra St. Brown for a long strike that tie it at 21-21 entering the fourth.
The fourth quarter featured a pivotal gadget play for the Lions. On fourth-and-1 from the Baltimore four, St. Brown flipped a backward pass to Gibbs, who sprinted into the end zone for a go-ahead score. Baltimore answered with a field goal to pull within four, but a fumble by Henry on the first play of the ensuing drive—punctuated by a facemask penalty that stalled Detroit’s potential sealing drive—kept the game within reach. Jake Bates added a field goal to push the lead back to seven before Montgomery broke a 31-yard TD run to extend the margin to 38-24.
Jackson and the Ravens would not quit. Baltimore mounted a late drive that produced a touchdown pass to Andrews and another late scoring opportunity, but Detroit’s pass rush continued to harass Jackson, and the defense delivered a critical stop on the final Ravens possession. Jackson finished 21-of-27 for 288 yards with three touchdown passes, two of which went to Andrews, who led Baltimore with 91 receiving yards on six catches. Henry was held to 50 yards on 12 carries.
Montgomery led Detroit with 151 rushing yards on 12 carries and added a 31-yard TD scamper for the game’s final score. Gibbs finished with 67 rushing yards on 22 carries and caught five passes for 32 yards, while Goff completed 20 of 28 passes for 202 yards. St. Brown led the Lions receivers with 77 yards on seven catches.
Detroit totaled 225 rushing yards as a team and controlled much of the tempo with its physical run game and pressure up front. The Lions also registered seven sacks as part of a dominating defensive performance against a Ravens offense that entered the night among the league’s most explosive.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said afterward that the win highlighted the team’s balance and resilience, especially in the fourth quarter when the defense tightened and the offense converted crucial plays to preserve the lead.
The result moves Detroit to 2-1 on the season, a strong start for a club expected to compete in a challenging NFC. Baltimore, meanwhile, drops to 1-2 and will reassess as it heads into the next game, looking to curb the turnovers and find more consistency from its ground game and passing attack.
