Baltimore vs. New York

Back-to-Back! Ravens Clinch AFC North for Second-Straight Year by Cruising to Win over Heavy Underdog Jets

The Baltimore Ravens did it without the drama this time, but the result is the same—AFC North champions. A year ago, it took a run of winning six of their last seven games to win the division on the final play of the regular season by holding off a last-minute drive by Cleveland. In 2019, however, the Ravens have sewn up the division title in a comfortable 42-21 win over the New York Jets on Thursday night with two weeks to spare.

Now, the Ravens can set their sights on home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, which they will clinch with a victory either next week at Cleveland or home against Pittsburgh in Week 17.

On this night in front of over 70,000 fans at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore (12-2) entered as a 17-point favorite over the Jets (5-9), scored on touchdowns on their first three possessions, and never looked back in doubling up the Jets by 21 points. 

Lamar Jackson's shirt in his post-game news conference said it all with the words "THE NORTH IS NOT ENOUGH" emblazoned on it in all-capital letters. A sentiment that head coach John Harbaugh agreed with.

"[We] are the AFC North champs, and we're very proud of that; that's a great accomplishment," Harbaugh told reporters after the game. "It's a great division, and that's our first goal. It's not our top goal, but it's our first goal. That's done; we move on, and we'll get to work." 

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Jackson took another step toward becoming NFL MVP in his first full year of play, as he was 15-23 for 212 yards and five touchdowns through the air along with 86 rushing yards. The latter helped him break Michael Vick's single-season NFL rushing record for a quarterback by surpassing his total of 1,039 yards in 2006 with Atlanta. The passing touchdowns gave him 33 on the season, which leads the NFL and also tied the Ravens' franchise record set by Vinny Testaverde in the franchise's first year of play in 1996. 

Not surprisingly, after the game, Jackson mentioned how his favorite player to watch as a kid was Vick, and that the fellow Heisman Trophy winner was supportive in the potential MVP's pursuit of his record.

"My favorite player growing up; it's amazing and I'm going to cherish that forever and just got to keep it going," Jackson said. "Records are made to be broken, like he said. I heard him say that, and it's an honor for me to do it." 

There were reports prior to the game that Jackson was being slowed by a quadriceps injury, but there was no evident sign of that on the field. 

"You guys got to trust me; I told you it was good. It was good," Jackson chided to reporters. "I was sore [after the Buffalo game last week], that's all it was. Got a little maintenance and I was good." 

Mark Ingram II ran for 76 yards and a touchdown while five different receivers caught touchdown passes—Seth Roberts, Mark Andrews, Marquise Brown, Ingram, and Miles Boykin.

The best offensive stat, according to Harbaugh, was no turnovers. Something he says will be vital to keep up with the playoffs approaching.

"The turnover differential is the No. 1 stat that affects winning and losing," Harbaugh explained. "We had a goal for a really high number this year. We aren't where we wanted to be, but we're pretty darn good. Our defense has done a great job. Offensively, we've really protected the ball well the last number of weeks. That's big. We have to keep doing a good job of that."

GAME RECAP

The Ravens have been fast starters this year, and Thursday night was no exception. After a three-and-out by the Jets to start the game, Baltimore took over at their own 16 -yard line but only needed nine plays to march down the length of the field and score following a six-yard Ingram run into the end zone to make it 7-0 Baltimore.

The Jets made it to the Ravens' 31 on the ensuing possession, but Sam Ficken missed a 49-yard field goal attempt to hand the ball back to Jackson. It only took five plays this time to score, including a 29-yard run by Ingram and a 25-yard scamper by Jackson before the QB threw his first touchdown pass of the day to Boykin from five yards out. A rare Justin Tucker missed extra-point attempt left the score at 13-0.

The Jets responded with a touchdown drive after Sam Darnold found Jamison Crowder to cut the lead to 13-7, but the Ravens made it three-straight possessions with a touchdown after Jackson found Andrews from a yard out. Ingram then ran in a two-point conversion to make it 21-7, which was the score at halftime after the defense stopped the Jets twice in Ravens' territory—once on a turnover on downs and then from a Chuck Clark interception right before halftime.

The score remained the same until 5:14 left in the third quarter, which is when Jackson connected with Brown for a 24-yard score. After a three-and-out, Jackson threw his fourth TD pass of the day, a 33-yarder to Roberts to increase the lead to 35-7. 

Jackson wrapped up his day with his fifth touchdown pass of the game—this one to Ingram from 10 yards out—with around 10 minutes left in the game, and then he turned things over to Robert Griffin III the rest of the way.

UP NEXT

The Ravens get a few extra days of rest before they have to face the Browns in Cleveland in Week 16. It was the Browns who came into Baltimore in Week 4 and handed Baltimore a 40-25 defeat to send the Ravens to 2-2 on the season. As you are probably well-aware, the Ravens haven't lost since that game on Sept. 29, racking up a franchise-record 10-game winning streak in the process. 

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