Lamar Jackson spent the first three quarters running through the Cleveland Browns – 124 yards and two touchdowns (at least once he got the right cleats, of course).
He then spent most of the quarter in the locker room – a lot of people were watching Naline watching on television and online Nalina wondering (and joking) whether he was out because of something running through him.
Jackson said he didn’t get what everyone was thinking, he was actually getting an IV to work with the stretch. That and some stretching.
“I didn’t pull Paul Pierce,” Jackson said. “I was spoiled.”
Pierce is a great Boston Celtics who, in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals, famously admitted to temporarily accepting injuries, including riding in a wheelchair, because “I just had to go to the bathroom” before returning to the game and becoming a hero.
The confusing story is more likely than the bathroom. And it makes sense, however in this game, this Monday night of entertainment between Lamar’s Ravens and Baker Mayfield Browns, everything made sense because nothing makes sense.
Finally, MFP, the NFL’s ruling MVP, was actually asked postgame about his bathroom schedule. Seriously.
“Reality is more unfamiliar than fiction,” said Ravens coach John Harbo.
Well, the reality of Baltimore here was a two-minute warning Monday.
He overtook Cleveland, 35-34. The loss will reduce the Ravens’ already shaken playoff chances. Jackson was doing whatever in the locker room. His backup, Trace Maxorley, was on the ground with a knee injury. The bottom and distance were fourth-and -5.
The situation is as horrible as the team gets.
“We’re like, ‘Well, what’s going to happen?'” Said J. Dobbins, running back.
Lamar star it has become.
“I’m catching the trend because it’s going to be the way we don’t want it to be,” Jackson said as he pulled into the locker room to watch the game. “[I decided], ‘I have to get out there.’
So on the right, Craps apparently took care, he came jogging out. This was a terrible situation to return to, but then again, this is Lamar Jackson.
He took a snap, leaned back to pass, avoided blinking, slipped out of his pocket and seemed to be able to get down easily.
Instead of just running, he pulled and hit an open marquee “Hollywood” Brown (who passed the dropping pass most nights) for a touchdown going forward for y 44-yards. Dobbins then survived a violent collision to convert a two-point game and give Baltimore a 42-35 lead.
“Like a movie,” Dobbins said.
Yes, Cleveland has its own storybook season underway. The Brows entered the game 9-9 with a chance to capture Pittsburgh (11-2) and win the first division championship since 1989. Cleveland was falling into such games. Not now.
“This team fights,” Mayfield said.
Baker & Co. Four plays, 75 yards and 47 seconds later and the Browns were tied at 42 when Karim Hunt scored on the game’s 12th touchdown.
Cleveland’s problem? He made it so fast that he left Jackson with a 1:04 and a timeout. He quickly completed four consecutive passes for y 38 yards and then saw the Ravens’ ultra clutch Justin Tucker score a 55 yard field goal with a 0:02 lead to give the Ravens a 45-44 lead.
It should be that, but of course it may not be that. Not in this game.
Cleveland occupied his own 25-yard line and played a frustrating game that included one full pass, two sided and four thunderous (all achieved by Brown). Every exchange keeps making them backward until Jarvis Landry is finally pulled out from behind the final zone for safety.
The final score, Baltimore 47, Cleveland 42, is the NFL’s most combined points this season.
The Ravens only got five points in two seconds of the game’s action (you don’t see it every day), and the NFL game ended with safety (you haven’t seen it since 2016) but that final unconscious two-point is an important gamble for many because gambling is the most common. The spread was either Ravens-3 or -3.5 (you can see that kind of bad beat every week on Scott Van Pelt’s “Sports Center” segments).
If there are a few extra gifts under the trees in Maryland (and a few less in Ohio), then you know why.
This also does not factor into the numerous fantasy matchups that scored 20 combined points in the final 1:51 of the game.
In real life, Baltimore is 8-5 years old and far behind in the playoff chase. It erupted Covid-19, a crazy schedule (including Wednesday afternoon’s game) and now a game in Cleveland where the Ravens’ top two quarterbacks dropped out of the game for at least a stretch.
They survived because Jackson was on a time trip, leaving a locker room visit, which may or may not be innocent. Really, who knows? At this point, who cares?
The night where the legends, and the legendary locker room speculation was made, was a show of fun, not an inquiry.
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