With 1:05 left in the game and fourth-and-1 upcoming, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had a question for his quarterback, Lamar Jackson.
The Sunday Night Football broadcast showed Harbaugh on the sideline yelling, “Lamar! Do you want to go for this?”
Jackson apparently responded yes. So, the Ravens inserted Trystan Colon as an extra offensive lineman. Jackson fielded a shotgun snap and ran up the middle for 2 yards, getting past the sticks to defeat the Chiefs.
It was the final big run for Jackson in a game that featured many of them, as the Ravens came away with a 36-35 victory in Week Two.
Jackson ended up with 107 yards rushing with two rushing touchdowns on 16 carries. He also passed for 239 yards and a touchdown with two picks.
But the Ravens only had the chance to convert that fourth-and-1 because rookie outside linebacker Odafe Oweh created a key turnover.
After the Ravens scored to go up by one with just over three minutes in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs’ ensuing drive had entered Baltimore territory. And the Ravens only had one timeout remaining, so Kansas City could run down the clock before attempting a game-winning field goal.
But on second-and-3 from the Baltimore 32, Oweh poked the ball out from running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Oweh dove on the ground, recovering his own forced fumble to give his team the ball with an opportunity to ice the game.
Though the Chiefs had all three of their timeouts remaining, Baltimore’s offense did its job and got the needed first down.
The Ravens ran the hell out of the football all night, recording 251 yards on the ground, averaging 6.1 yards per attempt. Ty’Son Williams had 77 yards, Latavius Murray racked up 36 with a touchdown, Devonta Freeman had 29, and even fullback Patrick Ricard had 2 yards on a handoff.
But the Ravens’ receiving corps had a solid night, too, with Marquise Brown catching six passes for 113 yards with a 42-yard touchdown. Tight end Mark Andrews had five catches for 57 yards and Sammy Watkins caught four passes for 44 yards.
For the Chiefs, quarterback Patrick Mahomes played well but made a critical mistake for a third-quarter interception. With Oweh about to bring him down for a sack on third-and-12, Mahomes let go of an ill-advised pass to tight end Travis Kelce on the left side. But cornerback Tavon Young caught the ball instead for Mahomes’ first career September interception.
Mahomes finished 24-of-31 passing for 343 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Kelce caught seven passes for 109 yards with one of those TDs, becoming the fastest tight end to 8,000 career receiving yards in the process.
Safety Tyrann Mathieu also played his first game of the season, recording a pair of interceptions — one of which he returned for a touchdown.
But this night was about the Ravens, and Jackson recording his first career victory over Kansas City. The Chiefs had defeated the Ravens in three straight regular-season games since Mahomes and Jackson became the starters for their respective teams in 2018.
The Ravens head to Detroit next week to take on the Lions. The Chiefs will be back at home to face their division-rival Chargers.