Lamar Jackson pitches 4th perfect game as Ravens dominate Denver, 41-10

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said this week he wanted to take away the run and make Lamar Jackson beat Denver with the pass. That’s just what the Ravens’ quarterback did. Jackson led Baltimore to a 41-10 win against a defense that had allowed only 15.0 points per game.

Jackson completed 16 of 19 passes for 280 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, compiling a perfect 158.3 passer rating for Baltimore (6-3). With a minimum 15 attempts, Jackson now has four career games with a perfect passer rating, the most all-time. Per Tony Holzman-Escareno, Jackson broke a tie with Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner, who each had three. And speaking of three, Jackson on Sunday had just three carries for 4 yards, his lowest yardage in four years and the third-lowest of his career.

The Ravens didn’t need Jackson’s legs. His arm gave them six passes of 23 yards or more, including a 53-yard touchdown to Zay Flowers just before intermission that extended Baltimore’s lead to 24-10. Joseph’s defense had allowed only 16 plays of 23-or-more yards all season. Flowers finished with 127 yards on five receptions, two of which were touchdowns.

“If they want to take away the run, those guys did a great job of getting open and opening it up for everybody,” said Derrick Henry, who racked up 106 yards on 23 carries, with two touchdowns.

Those two touchdowns, Nos. 100 and 101 in Henry’s career, pushed him past Shaun Alexander and Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Marshall Faulk for eighth on the all-time list. And just before Henry’s second touchdown, he eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season. He’s now on pace to become only the fourth player in NFL history – joining Hall of Famers Earl Campell, Walter Payton and O.J. Simpson – to lead the league in carries, yards per carry, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in the same season. Head coach John Harbaugh said Henry’s ability to close games is something the Ravens haven’t seen in his tenure.

“It’s a big thing,” said Harbaugh, whose Ravens broke Pittsburgh’s 1974-77 NFL record by rushing for 100 yards in a 44^th consecutive game. “We have been really good at running the ball for a long time, but this is different. I mean, Derrick Henry is different. He is adding a dimension that we have not had before.”

Harbaugh said Sunday was the Ravens’ best and most complete of the season. However, in the postgame locker room, Henry told the team before it even left the stadium to start thinking about Thursday night.

It’s a short week for Baltimore, which hosts Cincinnati (4-5) in an important AFC North game on Thursday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video). Since a 41-38 overtime loss to Baltimore on Oct. 6, Cincinnati has won three of its last four, including Sunday’s 41-24 win over the Raiders.