Take-home points from Baltimore Ravens win over the Rams

We’re starting to run out of superlatives for this 2019 Baltimore Ravens team, and their star quarterback, Lamar Jackson.

On the road, facing off against the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams underneath, the national spotlight of Monday Night Football, Jackson and his merry band of Baltimore Ravens demolished the home team to the tune of a 45-6 pasting. The Ravens posted 480 yards of total offense, while the Rams totaled 221. This was not a score that was inflated by special teams scores and an avalanche of turnovers. It was a clean destruction.

Let’s get rolling with some quick thoughts from this game:

• Jackson went 15-20 passing, for 169 yards and five touchdowns. This is to go along with 95 yards on eight carries, and yet another thrill-inducing scramble for the ages that fell just short of another touchdown. His passing rating was 139.4, and ESPN gave him a QBR of 99.7. For the season, Jackson has thrown for 24 touchdowns and just five picks, and earned a rating of 111.4. This is insane.

• Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill each contributed to the ground damage against the Rams, with Ingram leading the way with two touchdowns and 118 total yards. Jackson opens up things for these backs with the mere threat of his legs, but don’t think for a second that these backs don’t also open things up a bit for Jackson.

• Marcus Peters returned to face his old team, and showed up with a pick, sticky coverage and a war of words with Rams corner Jalen Ramsey. He has helped make this defensive backfield elite, and they are leading the way on defense right now.

• Matt Judon recorded his seventh sack of the season, and forced a fumble that was nearly recovered by safety Chuck Clark. Judon, Tyus Bowser and Jaylon Ferguson are doing a nice job of solidifying an edge position group that was of critical concern to Ravens fans leading up to the season, and through those first several weeks.

• This Jackson-Marquise Brown–Mark Andrews trio is an excellent foundation for this offense to grow around, and that aforementioned stable of running backs is everything the team could want. Lost in the shuffle a bit is the job done all season by this offensive line. The injury suffered by center, Matt Skura, is one to keep an eye on as more information becomes available.

• Aaron Donald, for my money, is the best all-around football player in the world. The two-time defending NFL Defensive Player of the Year is a force that destroys opponents’ game plans week after week. He can blow up an offense from the inside out every single play. Not on this night. The ravens line doubled him with great success all night. Look, it’s easy to say you’re going to double somebody. Donald gets doubled every game, in fact. But the Ravens did it well, and the star lineman had one tackle for the night.

• Miles Boykin… my goodness, sir. That was a great catch along the sideline. He also had a nice fourth-down reception to extend a drive. If Boykin can make a big leap going into his second season, this offense might have to register itself as a deadly weapon.

• The Ravens-49ers match up next weekend will be must-watch television. It also might not be the last time these two teams meet.