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NFL: Lamar Jackson leads Ravens back to overtime win over Colts

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looks to pass.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looks to pass during a game against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday in Baltimore.
(Larry French / Associated Press)
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Lamar Jackson threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown on the first possession of overtime to give the Baltimore Ravens a 31-25 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night.

Jackson threw for a career-high 442 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of short TD passes to Mark Andrews in the fourth quarter as the Ravens rallied from a 25-9 deficit. Andrews also caught the two 2-point conversions during that furious comeback.

The Ravens had to withstand a 47-yard field goal attempt by Rodrigo Blankenship on the final play of regulation, but the Indianapolis kicker missed, sending the teams to overtime.

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“That was exciting,” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. “Everybody get your money’s worth tonight?”

The Ravens had their record-tying streak of 43 straight 100-yard rushing games snapped, and it looked like they were in big trouble after Jackson fumbled near the goal line in the third quarter. But after that turnover, Baltimore scored a touchdown on each of its final four possessions.

The Indianapolis kicking game was a big reason the game got to overtime. Blankenship missed an extra point in the third quarter, and with the Colts up 25-17, he had a 37-yard kick blocked by Calais Campbell with 4:29 remaining, giving the Ravens a chance to tie the game.

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Oct. 11, 2021

“Tough loss. Proud of the way our guys fought. We have to learn from our mistakes and learn how to finish games,” Colts coach Frank Reich said. “No one is going to feel sorry for us. We have to learn from it and get better.”

Jackson directed an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andrews with 39 seconds remaining. Then the star quarterback flipped a 2-point conversion pass over the middle to Andrews to tie it.

The Colts (1-4) made it back into field goal range, with the help of an unnecessary roughness penalty on Baltimore’s Tavon Young with 13 seconds left, but Blankenship’s kick sailed wide left.

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Carson Wentz threw for a career-high of his own, 402 yards and two touchdowns. Jonathan Taylor scored on a 76-yard swing pass early in the first quarter, then added a rushing touchdown in the third as the Colts took a 22-3 lead.

The Ravens (4-1) took over sole possession of first place in the AFC North after Cleveland and Cincinnati lost Sunday.

The first half was fairly uneventful, but the Ravens started and finished it poorly. On third-and-15, Taylor took a swing pass, slipped into the Baltimore secondary and outran everyone for a touchdown just 2:01 into the game.

There was no more scoring until late in the second quarter, when the Ravens settled for Justin Tucker’s 23-yard field goal. The Colts had enough time to drive back the other way, and after converting on fourth-and-11, they set up for a field goal.

The kick was missed, but Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey had jumped offside. Blankenship made the re-kick from 37 yards for a 10-3 lead at the half.

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Oct. 11, 2021

Indianapolis got the ball first in the second half and took a 16-3 lead on Wentz’s 42-yard scoring pass to Michael Pittman Jr. Jackson drove the Ravens back the other way, but on first-and-goal from the 1, Jackson lost the ball and Darius Leonard picked it up for the Colts.

Leonard ran it back to about the Indianapolis 25-yard line, then lateraled to Isaiah Rodgers, who went the rest of the way for an apparent touchdown. It was ruled a forward lateral after a review, so that part of the play was negated, but the Colts still got the ball and quickly drove for a TD. Taylor’s 4-yard run made it 22-3.

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Jackson threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Brown late in the third.

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