Lamar Jackson went into the bye ticked off, vowing to come out firing against the Giants.
He did that and more in Sunday's 35-14 blowout win, throwing five touchdowns and accomplishing an all-around performance that no quarterback has ever done.
Jackson became the first quarterback in league history (regular season) to hit minimums of an 80% completion rate, 250 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, zero interceptions, and 50 rushing yards.
Jackson threw more touchdowns than incompletions (four). He threw for 290 yards and ran for 65. It was an injury-depleted Giants defense, but the Ravens took full advantage.
It was his fifth career game with at least five touchdown passes and fewer than five incompletions.
"He's been locked in. He's been locked in all season, he was locked in all week," Head Coach John Harbaugh said of Jackson. "He was on the guys – meetings, walkthroughs, everything, just keeping it about football and getting the football right."
It was an inauspicious start, as Jackson fumbled on the second offensive play from scrimmage and the Ravens punted on their second possession. They scored five straight touchdowns after that.
"I felt I started off slow with that turnover. I was hot about that," Jackson said. "Just had to lock in and play Raven football and that's what we did."
Jackson completed passes to eight different receivers and even hit rookie Devontez Walker with his first catch and touchdown of his career. Jackson was pulled from the game midway through the fourth quarter.
Baltimore's top-ranked offense hadn't been as explosive the three weeks before the bye, averaging just more than 21 points per game. They were heavily favored to blow out the Giants and they did, in a game they hope gets them rolling again heading into a critical AFC North rematch next Saturday against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens' win didn't set off raucous postgame celebrations. And what else do you say about Jackson? Left tackle Ronnie Stanley said another five-touchdown day for Jackson was "pretty normal."
"We came out here and did what we should do. We handled business," Stanley said. "We play the way we should play and we'll always be happy with the results."
