By Colton Pouncy, Jeff Zrebiec and Lauren Merola
David Montgomery took off for a 31-yard touchdown rush to put the Detroit Lions up 38-24 on the Baltimore Ravens. That would be the deciding factor in Detroit’s 38-30 victory over Baltimore on Monday night in a true heavyweight bout.
With the win, the Lions improve to 2-1 and the Ravens fall to 1-2.
The Ravens and Lions traded touchdowns in each of the first three frames.
Coming out of halftime knotted at 14, quarterback Lamar Jackson led the Ravens on an 11-play, 73-yard drive to hit tight end Mark Andrews in the end zone for the lead. On the ensuing drive, the Lions matched with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. After forcing a three-and-out, Detroit had the ball back and took a 28-21 lead to start the fourth quarter. Baltimore responded with a field goal to make it 28-24.
With 8 1/2 minutes to go, Aidan Hutchinson knocked the ball out of Derrick Henry’s arms on the Baltimore 22. D.J. Reed recovered it for the Lions, who scored a field goal. Then Montgomery put the game away.
Goff completed 20 of 28 passes for 202 yards and one score. Montgomery had 151 rushing yards and two rushing TDs. Jahmyr Gibbs also added two scores on the ground.
For the Ravens, Jackson finished 21-of-27 for 288 yards and three touchdowns. Henry added 50 rushing yards and one touchdown. Andrews caught six passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
A heavyweight bout
That was a fight between two heavyweights. Hard to describe it as anything else. A wonderful game to witness if you’re a football purist, and even better if you reside in Detroit. The Lions took on the challenge of facing Jackson, Henry and this Ravens team head-on. They remembered the taste of their 38-6 loss in the building and used it as fuel.
They took care of the football. They got off the field. They capitalized in the red zone. They sacked Jackson seven times. They went for it on fourth down and converted routinely. One of those conversions, capped by a Montgomery 31-yard TD run, put the game away. They did everything they needed to do to beat the Ravens. It wasn’t easy, but they got it done. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer
Ravens got dominated physically and got what they deserved
The Ravens pride themselves on dominating the line of scrimmage and being the more physical team upfront. So do the Lions. The Lions were the more physical team Monday, and it wasn’t particularly close. Detroit’s offensive line manhandled the Ravens’ defensive front. The Ravens couldn’t get off blocks. They couldn’t stop the run, and they didn’t sack Goff once. They allowed two touchdown drives of 11 plays or more and surrendered scoring drives of 67, 98, 60 and 94 yards. Offensively, they couldn’t score from three consecutive plays from the 1-yard line in the second quarter. Jackson was sacked seven times and harassed on a number of other plays.
It was a one-possession game on the scoreboard, but a physical mismatch throughout. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens beat writer
A statement win for the Lions
The Lions are 2-1 after a well-earned victory in Baltimore. This was a statement win for Dan Campbell’s club. Many doubted this team because of its coordinator turnover, but John Morton had calls for every moment, and Kelvin Sheppard’s defense bulldozed Jackson en route to one of the best wins of the Campbell era.
This victory should ease any concerns from the Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Lions shook off the rust, took down former coordinator Ben Johnson last week, and then beat the Ravens in Baltimore. They get the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at home for a chance to make it 3-1. They’re back on track. — Pouncy
Ravens should probably get a pass rusher
There were already questions about whether the Ravens had enough of a pass rush with outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike healthy. Van Noy is now expected to miss a few weeks with a hamstring injury.
Madubuike’s long-term status is uncertain as he’s being evaluated for a neck injury. A big part of the Ravens’ undoing in Week 1 at the Buffalo Bills was an inability to get to Josh Allen. On Monday, they didn’t do anything to make Goff uncomfortable. Regardless of how much talent a team has in the secondary, no defensive backfield is going to hold up when the quarterback has all day to run the ball. — Zrebiec
(Photo: Junfu Han / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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