Lamar Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in multiple seasons while leading the Ravens to their third straight AFC playoff berth with a 38-3 win over the host Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The Ravens (11-5) enter the postseason as a wild card on a five-game winning streak, while Cincinnati ends the season 4-11-1. Baltimore, a No. 5 seed, faces the fourth-seeded Tennessee Titans in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Jackson rushed for 97 yards on 11 carries to give him 1,005 yards for the season. He also went 10-for-18 passing for 113 yards and three touchdowns and an interception before being pulled late in the third quarter.
The Ravens finished with 404 rushing yards, which was the fourth most by a team since 1950, trailing only the New York Giants (423 on Nov. 19, 1950), Cincinnati (407 on Oct. 22, 2000) and Chicago (406 on Nov. 6, 1955).
Rookie J.K. Dobbins scored on touchdown runs of 4 and 72 yards en route to rushing for a career-high 160 yards on 13 carries, while Gus Edwards and Mark Ingram added 60 and 39 yards on the ground, respectively.
Marquise Brown had five catches for 41 yards and two touchdowns.
Cincinnati quarterback Brandon Allen was 6-for-21 passing for 48 yards and two interceptions. Trayveon Williams rushed for 74 yards on four carries and Samaje Perine had nine carries for 51 yards.
The Ravens took control early. After Justin Tucker’s 34-yard field goal gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead on its first possession, the Ravens found the end zone on their next one when Jackson threw a 43-yard touchdown strike to Miles Boykin for a 10-0 lead with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
The Ravens extended the lead to 17-0 when Jackson found Brown over the middle for an 18-yard touchdown with 4:30 left in the half.
The Bengals pulled to within 17-3 on Austin Seibert’s 38-yard field goal with 36 seconds left before intermission.
Baltimore extended its lead to 24-3 when Dobbins’ 4-yard run capped a five-play, 70-yard drive with 9:55 left in the third quarter.
Brown found the end zone when he caught a 9-yard pass from Jackson with 3:44 left in the third quarter and Dobbins provided an exclamation point with a career-long 72-yard touchdown run with 1:45 left in the third quarter for a 38-3 lead.
Jackson rushed for an NFL quarterback-record 1,206 last year in his first full year as a starter. The mark eclipsed Michael Vick’s record of 1,039, which he set in 2006 — the only season in which he broke 1,000 yards.
–Field Level Media
