CLEVELAND — — Lamar Jackson fended off cramps, returned to the field to help the Baltimore Raven secured a dramatic 47-42 win over the Cleveland Browns in Monday Night Football, and stayed in the playoff conversations.
Jackson missed most of the fourth quarter because of cramps, but the reigning NFL MVP came back to rally the Ravens (8-5) past Cleveland, which had won four straight entering this game.
In a wild game that went back-and-forth on Monday, Jackson returned from the locker room to throw a clutch 44-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown and before influencing the drive that set up Justin Tucker’s 55-yard field goal with two seconds left.
“It’s definitely good that we made that kick, given everything this team is going through right now,'” Tucker said. “It keeps us in the playoff picture.
“We definitely needed to have this one. What the world saw on Monday Night Football was a Ravens team playing with guts.”
Baltimore led 34-20 entering the fourth quarter but the Browns (9-4) scored back to back touchdowns when Baker Mayfield found Rashard Higgins with a 21 yard pass and then rushing for a five yard score to take a 35-34 lead with 6:33 left in the game.
Kareem Hunt scored from a 22-yard pass from Mayfield to tie the game at 42-42 with 1:04 remaining, but Jackson, who revealed that he received fluids in the locker room, helped to set up the winning field goal with a drive that included 6 plays and 38 yards.
“I’m still stretching and I’m like, ‘We gotta go out there,'” Jackson, who missed a recent game with COVID-19 said. “It was fourth down, my guys were making great catches and we came out with the victory. As soon as I saw him go down, I came out of the locker room.”
The two teams combined for nine rushing touchdowns, which tied a 98-year-old NFL record.
Jackson finished 11 of 17 completed passes for 163 yards and a touchdown and added 124 more yards on the ground from nine carries with two scores for Baltimore.
Gus Edwards ran for two touchdowns in the win as well.
Mayfield was 28 of 47 for 343 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while Nick Chubb ran 17 times for 82 yards and two scores for the Browns, who remain second behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North standings.
“That’s a really good football team with a lot of heart,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “It’s a game that’s going to go down in history. Our guys had faith and trust and belief and sometimes that’s what it takes.”
Scoring Plays and Box Score
First Quarter
Cle–Chubb 7 run (Parkey kick), 9:06.
Bal–L.Jackson 5 run (Tucker kick), 3:04.
Second Quarter
Bal–Edwards 11 run (Tucker kick), 7:49.
Cle–Chubb 14 run (Parkey kick), 4:16.
Bal–L.Jackson 17 run (Tucker kick), :30.
Third Quarter
Bal–Edwards 19 run (Tucker kick), 12:47.
Cle–Hunt 5 run (kick failed), 9:06.
Bal–Dobbins 1 run (kick blocked), 4:21.
Fourth Quarter
Cle–Higgins 21 pass from Mayfield (Peoples-Jones pass from Mayfield), 13:36.
Cle–Mayfield 5 run (Parkey kick), 6:33.
Bal–M.Brown 44 pass from L.Jackson (Dobbins run), 1:51.
Cle–Hunt 22 pass from Mayfield (Parkey kick), 1:04.
Bal–FG Tucker 55, :02.
Bal–safety, :00.
A–11,974.
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Baltimore, Jackson 9-124, Dobbins 13-53, Edwards 7-49, Hill 1-4, McSorley 2-1. Cleveland, Chubb 17-82, Hunt 6-33, Mayfield 5-23.
PASSING–Baltimore, Jackson 11-17-0-163, McSorley 1-4-0-13. Cleveland, Mayfield 28-47-1-343, Landry 1-1-0-12.
RECEIVING–Baltimore, Andrews 5-78, Snead 3-29, M.Brown 2-50, Boykin 1-15, Edwards 1-4. Cleveland, Hunt 6-77, Higgins 6-68, Landry 6-52, Peoples-Jones 3-74, Njoku 3-45, Bryant 3-18, Chubb 2-21.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–Cleveland, Parkey 39.
