NFL Week 11: Lamar Jackson’s dominance, Cardinals-49ers insanity

Lamar Jackson distinguished himself again in another impressive win for the Ravens, but Baltimore’s defense made sure Deshaun Watson couldn’t say the same in what turned out to be a lopsided battle of two of the best multi-threat quarterbacks in the NFL.

Jackson threw for four touchdowns and added 86 more rushing yards to his case for league MVP in a 41-7 rout of the Texans on Sunday, the rolling Ravens’ sixth straight victory to remain one game behind New England (9-1) for the best record in the AFC. This marks Baltimore’s longest winning streak since a seven-game surge in 2000, their first Super Bowl championship season.

“Anytime you are 8-2, you have a special group of guys. We have a goal of being champions,” said running back Mark Ingram, who caught two passes. “[Jackson] just keeps one-upping himself.”

With six games remaining, Jackson is on pace for 1,261 rushing yards for the season, which would easily surpass Michael Vick’s single-season record for quarterbacks of 1,039 yards in 2006. The former Heisman Trophy winner also became the first Ravens quarterback to have two games in the same season with at least four touchdown passes.

“I like that stat, I’d rather throw them than run them,” Jackson said afterward.

Still, the second-year breakout star’s highlight play against the Texans was when he broke several tackles on a weaving 39-yard run in the third quarter, especially on the heels of his 47-yard scoring burst last Sunday against Cincinnati.

“That was remarkable. That was incredible, I haven’t seen anything like it … since last week,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.

Just as important in the Ravens’ ascension to contention, their defense limited Watson to 169 passing yards, forced two turnovers and sacked him six times (of seven overall), including two apiece by Matt Judon and Tyus Bowser. Houston didn’t score until Carlos Hyde’s 41-yard touchdown run with 7:10 remaining in the fourth quarter made the score 34-7.

The Ravens opened the season by splitting their first four games, but their six-game win streak also features victories over two other 8-2 teams, Seattle and New England.

“Today was a little surprising to me. I hope no one on this team takes offense, but I didn’t think we would do them like that,” veteran safety Earl Thomas said. “I think Lamar definitely separated himself again against another Hall of Fame-type quarterback. We definitely want him to win the MVP award and that definitely was a motivation.”

The Ravens totaled 263 yards on the ground, including 112 from Gus Edwards, who became the first runner to reach at least 100 against Houston since Indianapolis’ Frank Gore in the final game of the 2017 season. The Texans (6-4) slipped into a first-place tie with the Colts in the AFC South ahead of Sunday’s head-to-head matchup in Houston.

“It didn’t go our way. They executed, we didn’t. That’s it,” Watson said. “Flush it and move forward.”

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A Minny Comeback

No NFL team had overcome a deficit of at least 20 points at halftime in more than five years, at least not until Kirk Cousins and the Vikings (8-3) stormed back from a 20-0 hole to pull out a 27-23 win over Denver.

Cousins finished with 319 passing yards and three touchdown passes, all in the second half, including a 32-yard strike to tight end Kyle Rudolph for the lead with barely six minutes remaining.

“We can’t count ourselves out. We had 30 minutes of football,” Rudolph said. “Was it going to take perfect football? Most likely.”

The previous team to blow a lead of that size was Atlanta in October 2014 against the Lions, who came back from a 21-0 deficit at intermission to win 22-21.
Broncos backup Brandon Allen, making his second start in place of Joe Flacco (neck), converted three fourth-down plays on the final drive and moved his team inside the 10-yard line. But he threw three incomplete passes in the end zone in the final 10 seconds.

No. 9 For The Niners

San Francisco finally lost last week to Seattle after opening the season with eight straight wins, but its ninth victory was an absolute thriller.

Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 424 yards and four touchdowns, including a 25-yarder over the middle to Jeff Wilson with 31 seconds remaining, as the Niners improved to an NFC-leading 9-1 with a 36-26 win over Arizona.

No. 1-overall pick Kyler Murray connected on two touchdown tosses and scrambled 22 yards for the go-ahead score with barely six minutes remaining for the Cardinals (3-7-1).

Completely Unbearable

Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was pulled in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s eyesore performance in Chicago’s 17-7 loss to the Rams with what the team later said was a hip injury.

Trubisky, the second overall pick in the 2017 draft, completed 24 of 43 passes (55.8 percent) for 190 yards Sunday night with one touchdown and one interception before he was replaced by Chase Daniel at quarterback with 3:19 remaining.

The Bears, who face the Giants on Sunday, dropped to 4-6 this season — 3 ¹/₂ games out of the second wild-card position — after going 12-4 and winning the NFC North in 2018.

Todd Gurley rushed for 97 yards on 25 carries, including a one-yard touchdown in the second quarter, for Los Angeles (6-4).

Houston, We Have a Problem

The Texans got smoked by Baltimore, but that didn’t stop head coach Bill O’Brien from complaining about another challenged pass interference call not being overturned by replay.

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey was not flagged for what appeared to be an obvious DPI call in the end zone against Houston wideout DeAndre Hopkins. O’Brien threw the red challenge flag, but the play on the field was not overturned.

“I don’t know. I have no idea. I have no idea what pass interference is anymore. No idea,” O’Brien said after the game.

Arizona actually had a pass-interference challenge overturned in its favor against San Francisco. It was ruled that 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman interfered with Christian Kirk at the 3-yard line on a long first-quarter pass from Murray.

Bad Beat

The wild final play of the Niners-Cardinals game resulted in a push on the 10-point spread, as Larry Fitzgerald’s failed lateral — and a couple of ensuing rugby-style scrums — led to a 4-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by cornerback D.J. Reed and moved the final score from 30-26 to 36-26. … The Lions were getting 6.5 points against Dallas and drew within 35-27 on backup QB Jeff Driscoll’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones with 5:58 remaining. But the two-point conversion – and a six-point game — failed when Driscoll’s pass for J.D. McKissic fell incomplete.

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The Hurt Locker

Colts running back Marlon Mack suffered a fracture in his hand in Indianapolis’ 33-13 win over Jacksonville. Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson suffered a concussion in the second quarter against the Patriots and didn’t return. Cowboys right tackle La’el Collins injured his knee in the fourth quarter of Dallas’ 35-27 win over Detroit.

Post Patterns

Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Dorsett with just under 11 minutes remaining as New England came out of its bye week after its first loss of the season to Baltimore with a 17-10 win over Philadelphia. … Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan passed Warren Moon for 10th place on the NFL’s career passing yardage list as Atlanta won its second straight game after a 1-7 start with a 29-3 shutdown of Carolina. Ryan now has 49,383 passing yards after throwing for 311 yards and one touchdown to wide receiver Calvin Ridley (eight catches, 143 yards). … Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey totaled 191 yards from scrimmage but was held without a touchdown for the first time since Week 2 against Tampa Bay. … Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (27 years, 164 days) became the second-youngest player in NFL history to reach 600 career receptions, behind only Larry Fitzgerald. … Cowboys QB Dak Prescott had 444 passing yards and three touchdown passes as Dallas (6-4) moved alone into first place in the NFC East with a 35-27 win over Detroit. … Colts running back Jonathan Williams had 116 rushing yards and Mack added 109 before leaving the game as the Colts (6-4) moved into a first-place tie with Houston atop the AFC South. … Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles threw for 296 yards and two TDs for the Jags (4-6) in his first game since suffering a broken collarbone in Week 1. … Bills quarterback matched a career-high with three touchdown passes and ran for another score as Buffalo (7-3) remained firmly in wild-card contention with a 37-20 win over Miami (2-8). … Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas caught eight passes for 114 yards from quarterback Drew Brees in New Orleans’ 34-17 win over Tampa Bay to become the first player in NFL history with 90 or more catches in the first 10 games of a season (94). … Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 313 yards but was intercepted four times for Tampa Bay (3-7). … Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw a short touchdown pass and scrambled for another score as Oakland improved to 6-4 with a 17-10 win over Cincinnati. … Bengals rookie quarterback Ryan Finley completed just 13 of 31 passes for 115 yards for winless Cincinnati (0-10).

Three Stars

1. Dak Prescott, Cowboys QB
Prescott completed 29 of 46 passes for a season-high 444 yards and three touchdowns with no INTs as Dallas rebounded from last week’s home loss to Minnesota with a 35-27 win over Detroit.

2. Lamar Jackson, Ravens QB
Jackson’s weekly spot in this category continues by completing 17 of 24 passes for 222 yards with four TD passes and no picks, plus 86 rushing yards, in Baltimore’s 41-7 crushing of Houston.

3. John Brown, Bills WR
Brown hauled in nine catches from Buffalo QB Josh Allen for 137 yards, including touchdown receptions of 40 and 9 yards, as the Bills improved to 7-3 with a 37-20 win over Miami.

He Said What?

“It definitely feels better than losing, I’ll tell you that. I like when adversity hits and you see what kind of guys you’ve got.”
— Vikings WR Stefon Diggs, after Minnesota overcame a 20-0 halftime deficit to defeat Denver, 27-23.

Fantasy Insanity

• Sam Darnold finally gave us some evidence that he might be a trustworthy fantasy option under the right conditions. His 293-yard, four-touchdown, one-interception dissection of the Redskins was good for 25.4 fantasy points. The next three weeks feature the Raiders, Bengals and Dolphins. That kind of schedule provides a nice step stool for a fantasy playoff push.
• Derrius Guice got his first action of the season. The oft-injured second-year, split carries with Adrian Peterson with neither delivering flattering results (9-for-25 for Peterson, 7-for-24 for Guice). Guice did add an impressive 43-yard TD catch-and-run, which delivered the bulk of his 13.9-point fantasy outing. Consider this minimal Guice. He should get more use in the weeks to come, just don’t expect efficiency in a dysfunctional offense.
• Those D.J. Chark owners who were worried the return of Nick Foles might funnel more targets toward Dede Westbrook, rest easy. Chark got a whopping 15 targets, converting those into eight catches, 104 yards and two TDs. Westbrook had just four catches on six targets for 32 yards, a role in the passing game equal to or less than Leonard Fournette, Chris Conley and Keelan Cole.