It was only a matter of time before Mark Andrews found himself back home in the end zone.
After a tough game on "Monday Night Football," Andrews scored twice in the Ravens' 31-17 win over Washington, one from 25 yards out and another from 22 yards.
The scores gave the Ravens a healthy cushion in their win in Washington, which moved Baltimore to 3-1, and were a nice way to rebound after the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I think this league is all about not getting too up, not getting too down," Andrews said. "I'm confident in my ability, and today was good."
Andrews wants to prove he's the best tight end in the league, but he had as many drops as he did catches against the Chiefs. The week before in Houston, he had one reception for 29 yards.
Andrews was a Pro Bowler last year, so two down games are certainly not anything to be too worried about, but Andrews heard the grumbles.
"The criticism is fair," he said. "If you're going to be the guy, you've got to make those plays. I love the criticism and I feed off that. I'm trying to be the best. There's no one that's going to be more critical of me than me."
Andrews' first touchdown came with the usual "backyard" flair that has made the Lamar Jackson-Andrews connection so dangerous. Even if teams are game planning to take Andrews out of the game, they can always freelance to find each other.
Two Washington inside linebackers dropped deep over the middle to take away Andrews, but he kept running and Jackson, flushed to his left, flicked a perfect pass on the run to the front corner of the end zone.
On the second touchdown, Andrews showed off his speed, going vertical and racing past Washington linebacker Shaun Dion-Hamilton. The Ravens had multiple vertical routes on the play, and Jackson delivered a sharp pass down the seam for the 22-yard score.
After coming off the field following one of his touchdowns, Head Coach John Harbaugh had a slip of the tongue and called Andrews "Mark Jackson." Considering the connection the two have, it's quite understandable.
"It's really not that inaccurate, actually," Harbaugh said with a laugh. "Those guys played that way today."
The Ravens offense is so much more dangerous when the Jackson-Andrews connection is thriving. In Baltimore's six losses since Jackson took over as starter midway through 2018 (including the playoffs), Andrews has posted 17 catches on 39 targets for 138 yards and one touchdown.
"Our chemistry never really left," Jackson said. "It was just a hiccup in the game, I guess. We're good. It was great to have the chemistry going today."
"We're working hard in practice, and we're just hitting our stride," Andrews added. "We're just going to keep on getting better."
