The Ravens were down 19 points with about three minutes left in the third quarter and just about nothing was going right.
But they still had Lamar Jackson. And when that's the case, the Ravens always feel they have a chance.
As soon as the Ravens won the coin toss in overtime, they knew they were winning Monday night's game against the Indianapolis Colts. Jackson rallied them with four straight touchdown drives down the stretch for a 31-25 overtime victory – another triumphant victory that will be remembered for a long, long time.
"It's one of the greatest performances I've ever seen," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "And it wasn't easy."
For Jackson, it was another narrative crushed. Could he lead the Ravens back from a big deficit with his arm? Well, he threw for 442 yards and four touchdowns. Does that count?
"They can't say that anymore," tight end Mark Andrews said with a laugh.
Jackson topped Vinny Testaverde's franchise-record for single-game passing yards, which dated all the way back to 1996 (429).
Jackson is the first quarterback in the last 20 seasons to overcome a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter and finish with 400 yards passing and four passing touchdowns, per ESPN.
By completing 37 of 43 passes – a staggering 86 percent – Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history to ever top 85 percent and 400 yards. He also recorded the highest completion percentage in a 40-pass game in NFL history.
However, the only record Jackson cared about after the game was that he tied Dan Marino for the most wins (34) by a quarterback before he turned 25 years old. Drew Bledsoe had 33. That's really all Jackson cares about – winning.
"I'm up there with the guys – those legends," Jackson said. "I appreciate that. It's an honor to be up there with those guys, but I'm focused on winning."
What hurt Jackson was the mistakes that put the Ravens in a tough spot to behind with. In the first half, he was held in check by a good Colts defense and missed Brown for a touchdown.
Then, with the Ravens trying to claw back in the game in the third quarter, Jackson fumbled at the 1-yard line when he tried to keep the ball himself instead of handing it off to Latavius Murray. It looked like Jackson was trying to do too much to get the Ravens going.
"I was ticked off," Jackson said. "We needed that touchdown. I was just praying we'd get another opportunity in my head."
But Jackson got going with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Brown with less than a minute left in the third quarter, and from there he was rolling.
Jackson hit six straight passes to march the Ravens into the end zone on the next drive, capped by a 5-yard touchdown to Mark Andrews, and then went back to Andrews for the two-point conversion.
Jackson went back down the field on an 11-play, 75-yard drive, hitting Brown for 20 yards and scrambling twice, before finding Andrews again for a touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion.
The Ravens won the coin toss (Carson Wentz called heads) and Baltimore was too hot to be stopped. Asked if he had any doubt that he would score in overtime, Jackson said he had to be honest.
"No. There wasn't a doubt in my mind," Jackson said. "Our team, we hit that peak that we needed at the right time."
Jackson hit six straight passes on the drive in overtime and ran twice. The Ravens probably were in four-down mode on that drive, but they didn't even get to a third down the whole way.
"I was just locked in. I was just calm," Jackson said. "Everything was just moving slow, and I was just taking it a play at a time. That's what it was."
Jackson, the player who many questioned could throw, now sits fifth in the NFL in passing yards with 1,519 through five games this season. That's 29 more than Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes and 149 more than Buffalo's Josh Allen. Oh, and Jackson also has 341 rushing yards, ranking him 8th in the NFL.
"Man, it's special. He's just scratching the surface on how good he can be," veteran defensive end Calais Campbell said. "I think he's still 24 years old. I mean, this is crazy – what he's capable of doing. I know he's notorious for what he can do with his legs, and I feel like he got a lot of disrespect on his arm talent, and I think a lot of people are eating their words right now."
It was just Jackson's second overtime win of his career and he celebrated by throwing his helmet so high in the air in celebration that somebody else had to retrieve it. Outside of his fumble, it was perhaps his biggest regret of the night.
"I shouldn't have done that – for real," Jackson said. "I've got to have more [restraint], but I was just excited. We had an overtime win in the league and stuff like that. It was pretty cool."
