Ravens Come Up Short in Clutch Quarterback Duel

Comparing Approaches

He could have been a bit more aggressive in deploying his one-of-one arsenal, sure. Even if he's still not at 100%, which remains likely after a season full of lingering injury questions, he left a few dash-worthy running lanes untouched as well as a few instances in which he held onto the ball for lengthy periods.

But here are some simple enough numbers. Three touchdowns on 11-for-18 passing. A 121.5 quarterback rating. A spotless 4-for-4 on downfield throws in the second half, including multiple Zay Flowers-capped trips to the end zone and his final act, a beam to Isaiah Likely to give his kicker what's usually been a guarantee at three points.

Rodgers held up himself, adding a 37th game-winning drive to his already-lengthy resume in feeding Calvin Austin III for a characteristically clean foray into Ravens' territory. And unlike Jackson, who now finds himself yet again out of the playoffs thanks to systematic shortcomings, his crunch-time prowess will be remembered.

This is, if nothing else, a fitting demise for these Ravens. They blew open chances at wins time and time again as fall wilted into winter, setting up the do-or-die situation that could have been avoided if they had taken care of business when they could. But whether you wanted to blame Jackson, who never seemed to recapture the best version of himself after going down with early injuries, his error-riddled band of playmakers or the offensive linemen who never gave the offense a fair shot at succeeding, they all went down together in another elite quarterbacking shootout.