Baltimore Ravens squash Cincinnati Bengals: 3 game balls

CINCINNATI, OHIO - JANUARY 03: J.K. Dobbins #27 of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on January 03, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO - JANUARY 03: J.K. Dobbins #27 of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on January 03, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

The Baltimore Ravens closed out the 2020 season in dominating fashion with a 38-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Time to hand out three game balls.

Lamar Jackson:

It gets boring to give Jackson a game ball every week for both myself and the fans. It’s predictable, but what do you want me to say? The man is good at football and he’s the biggest reason the Baltimore Ravens are winning football games.

Sunday’s performance against the Cincinnati Bengals wasn’t just a good day, however. Jackson actually made NFL history, becoming the first quarterback to ever rush for multiple 1,000-yard seasons. All the more impressive is that he accomplished this in back-to-back seasons. To earn this mark, Jackson rushed for 97-yards on 11 carries. Jackson simply looked like his usual self on the ground.

Jackson was doing it through the air, too, throwing three touchdown passes on just ten completions. Jackson also threw this dime to Miles Boykin for the game’s first touchdown. SHow this to the “Lamar Jackson can’t throw” camp and let me know what they say. Some will call the performance underwhelming, but those people clearly didn’t watch the game.

Simply put, Jackson put on his weekly stellar performance and gifted Baltimore with its fifth-straight win and punched their ticket to the post-season for the third straight year. Jackson gets our first game ball as per usual.

J.K. Dobbins:

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Dobbins was outstanding in his final regular-season game as a rookie, going off for 160-yards on just 13 carries. Dobbins also scored twice, including this beautiful 72-yard scamper late in the third quarter. Those two touchdowns also gave Dobbins the franchise’s rookie record for touchdowns at nine. To call it dominating would be an understatement.

As the season has progressed, Dobbins has been getting more and more looks. He’s had no fewer than 11 carries each game dating back to week 10 against the New England Patriots. Dobbins has earned every touch he’s gotten, too, and there’s no reason to stop going to him now.

The combination of Dobbins and Gus Edwards has been outstanding each and every week. Dobbins was a little flashier this week, and for his efforts, he gets our second game ball.

Marquise Brown:

Don’t look now but the man dubbed “Hollywood” is getting hot at just the right time.

Against the Bengals, Brown hauled in five passes for 41-yards and two touchdowns. Cincinnati was struggling to locate Brown throughout the game and he made the offense a little more open than usual. It was far from a perfect performance, as Brown did have an absolutely awful drop early in the game, but it was undoubtedly one of his better games of 2020.

Brown now has six touchdown catches in as many games to end the year and it’s looking like he’s going to keep that streak up into the post-season. Don’t forget that Brown absolutely torched the Tennessee Titans in last year’s playoffs for 126-yards. There’s reason to believe that he can bring that same success back for the rest of the year.

For Brown’s efforts against the Cincinnati Bengals, we give him our final game ball. Here’s hoping he stays as hot as he is for the Baltimore Ravens as we enter the post-season.

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