Lamar Jackson did everything to lead the Baltimore Ravens to victory during their Monday Night Football showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders.
He completed 19 passes for 235 and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown in the second quarter to give Baltimore a 14-0 lead.
Jackson also gained 86 yards on 12 carries to keep the chains moving.
But all of his efforts were not enough to stop the Raiders from stealing the game in overtime, 33-27.
Stealing is the appropriate term to describe the victory because the Ravens recovered the ball after an interception by Anthony Averett at the Raiders end zone.
The fourth-year cornerback from Alabama dropped to the ground for a touchback, giving the Ravens a 20-yard head start.
Jackson was developing a good rhythm when he completed a 10-yard pass to Sammy Watkins on second down.
On the next possession, he handed the ball to Latavius Murray, who completed a three-yard run.
Unfortunately, Jackson’s third fumble of the game cost them an opening weekend win.
On third-and-seven from their 33-yard-line, Jackson lined out of the shotgun with Ty’Son Williams to his right.
However, the running back failed to account for Carl Nassib, who hid behind teammate Maxx Crosby on the pre-snap formation.
Nassib delayed his movement before going on a blitz towards Jackson.
Meanwhile, cornerback Carl Hobbs beat offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley and nearly sacked Jackson.
But it was Nassib who got to the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player and forced a fumble.
Worst, defensive end Darius Philon recovered the ball and gave the Raiders another lease on life.
All Jackson could do was watch from the sideline as Derek Carr threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Zay Jones against a Cover Zero defense.
The Ravens could have won if not for that turnover.
Baltimore Fell To The Ground
That game was historical to the Ravens, but for the wrong reason.
It was the first time during the John Harbaugh era that they lost a game after leading by at least two touchdowns.
They were 81-0 in such games and tasted their last defeat of this nature on December 5, 2004.
On that day, the Ravens held a 20-3 lead against division rival Cincinnati Bengals.
But Carson Palmer, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Rudi Johnson led the Bengals to a 27-26 win.
Now that the streak is over, it’s easy to pin the blame on both Williams and Stanley.
It wouldn’t have happened if they were able to block their assignments.
However, Jackson takes the blame as well because he was sloppy with the ball.
Taking the sack while protecting the ball would take the Ravens to third-and-13 on their 27-yard-line.
That’s a better situation than giving the Raiders the ball and a short field to cover.
The Ravens converted just three of their 12 third-down attempts throughout the game.
But a breakdown on the Raiders’ coverage gives Jackson an easy pass or a clear path to dash for another first down.
Jackson cannot afford to commit such errors again, especially next week against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Otherwise, Patrick Mahomes and company will make them pay like what they did to the Cleveland Browns in Week 1.
Likewise, J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards will not play this season.
Therefore, their running game might falter at some point, and he has to exert more effort with his feet and his arm.
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