Baltimore Ravens Beat Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-22 on TNF

The Baltimore Ravens posted a big win in Tampa Bay over the Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. Lamar Jackson and the boys were better 27-22 and now have five wins and three losses, getting back in the playoff picture big time.

Tampa Bay was up at halftime, 10-3, but their obvious struggle to make their game consistent and fluid took a toll in the second half, and the Ravens knew how to utilize that. The third quarter saw the guests from Maryland posting two touchdowns, one by Kenyan Drake and the other by Isaiah Likely, both on Lamar’s pass. The Bucs tried to come back, and they did score, but only through field goals because Brady couldn’t warm his arm.

With 49 seconds left, he found Julio Jones, to set the final score, yet that wasn’t enough for the home unit to flip the game, as there was no time for a miracle.

“Until you win ball games consistently, and play four quarters consistently, it is going to be dark,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles told the media. “That doesn’t mean we can’t get out of it. We just have a lot of work to do, as coaches and as players.”

When looking at the stats, Brady wasn’t that bad, having 325 yards and one TD pass, 26-for-44. His primary target was Mike Evans who ended the night with 123 receiving yards in six receptions. Chris Godwin had the same number of catches for 75 yards.

What was the main problem for the Bucs on the offensive side was their running productivity. Bowles’ crew racked just 44 rushing yards on 15 carries, and even though Leonard Fournette delivered a TD, his 24 yards are miserable, and overall, he failed to show up in this one.

On the other side, the Ravens were in the mood for a heavy-run game, and they had 33 rushes for 231 yards. Devin Duvernay had a TD on the ground, rushing twice for 33 yards, Gabe Edwards posted 65, Drake 62 and Lamar 43. Justice Hill reached 28 yards on the ground in four snaps.

The star of the receiving corps was Isaiah Likely, who had one catch for a TD and 77 yards received. He was ready each time Lamar aimed in his direction, and this guy stepped up big time here.

This is the second win in a row for the Ravens, their third in the past four, and it appears that the team is slowly improving its form. Lamar admitted that he and his teammates are aware of all the small things they need to correct in their game and intend to remove them quickly.

“We’re right there, but there’s still room for improvement … the little mistakes we’re still making out there,” the Ravens quarterback added. “We change those and I feel the sky is the limit.”

Up next, the Ravens are heading for New Orleans to meet another NFC South rival, the New Orleans Saints. After that, they have one more matchup against the franchise from that division, the Carolina Panthers; only this one is at home.

The Bucs are 3-5, sinking down in the standings. Brady is frustrated, but he claims that Tampa Bay has the quality to come out stronger from this crisis. Their next rivals are the Super Bowl champions, the LA Rams, at home, and after that, the Bucs meet the fired-up Seahawks also at the Raymond James Stadium.