BALTIMORE — They still don’t resemble those Baltimore Ravens, the version that has an otherworldly Lamar Jackson at quarterback, an unstoppable Derrick Henry at tailback and a sometimes overpowering defense and leaves you to wonder what could keep this team from getting to a Super Bowl.
It has never quite worked out for the Ravens with Jackson as the centerpiece. And when things came unglued for them this season, they faced a daunting task just to climb back into the AFC playoff race.
But here they are. They are the Ravens again, perhaps not dominant but winning and contending and trying to figure out how to be the final AFC team standing at season’s end. They pushed their record above .500 by beating the obliging New York Jets, 23-10, for their fifth straight win on a bright and mild Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.
“It feels great,” Jackson said afterward. “I wish we was in a better situation. But 5-0 — just keep going, man. It’s a tough division, tough league. Like I said, we just have to keep going.”
“What we’ve been through, got us through today.” @budlight pic.twitter.com/bm9ux6NG8L
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 23, 2025
Henry ran for a pair of second-half touchdowns as the Ravens shook off their grogginess from the first half. After a 1-5 start that John Harbaugh called as challenging a stretch as any during his Ravens coaching tenure, they moved into first place in the AFC North, even with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 6-5 but ahead by virtue of a superior division record.
They must come back quickly to host the Cincinnati Bengals here on Thanksgiving night. Then they will have a bit of time to rest for a demanding stretch drive in which they will face the Steelers twice, along with the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers.
“It feels great,” Harbaugh said. “But it’s just … halfway done. It’s not over. The season is not over. … We play the Steelers twice and we play the Bengals twice in the next few weeks. So that’s going to be it right there, starting Thursday night. We’ve got no time, really, to rest. We’ve got to go to work on the Bengals. And we know what that’s like, how challenging that is.”
It has been a season of struggles for the team that usually has ruled the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs. The conference’s other mainstay, the Buffalo Bills, likewise has had its issues. Newcomers such as the Patriots and Denver Broncos are vying for AFC supremacy. But the Ravens again are a team that must be reckoned with.
Jackson had another less-than-dynamic performance Sunday, completing 13 of 23 passes for 153 yards. He ran for only 11 yards. Over the past three weeks, he has completed just 57.1 percent of his throws while averaging 174 passing yards per game. For now, at least, that has been good enough.
“It’s great to see our defense playing great,” Jackson said. “But it’ll also feel great and look great when we’re playing as well to match their energy.”
Derrick Henry’s 115th career rushing TD NYJvsBAL on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/SUJAjbswQr
— NFL (@NFL) November 23, 2025
It was plenty good enough against the pitiable Jets, who fell to 2-9.
“He’s my guy,” Harbaugh said. “He’s our guy. He’s our quarterback. Lamar’s doing what he needs to do. He’s winning football games. It’s not always pretty. I don’t know how many times in the last however many years we’ve had wins like this where I’ve gotten up here and said: ‘It’s not pretty. It’s not perfect. But it’s us. It’s us competing and fighting.’ And that’s what Lamar is doing. The pretty games will be there. They’ll be there for Lamar Jackson. You can bet on that. But I’m proud of him right now. I’m really proud of him the way he’s fighting and winning football games.”
Jackson, the two-time MVP, missed three games this season because of a hamstring injury. He has continued to play through assorted injuries and has sat out Wednesday practices recently, beginning his practice week on Thursdays. Last week, the team listed him as did not practice with an ankle injury. The previous week, it was knee soreness.
Whether it is because of his various leg injuries or his lack of practice work, Jackson has not been as sharp as usual in the passing game. And he has been under pressure. When it was pointed out to him last week that he already had been sacked as many times this season as he was all of last season, Jackson told reporters he would have to discuss that with his offensive linemen.
“I’m out there,” Jackson said Sunday. “So I feel like I should still be able to do what I do.”
Meanwhile, the Baltimore defense held a sixth straight opponent below 20 points.
“I think we’re just on our way to where we’re going,” linebacker Roquan Smith said. “And it’s just another step in the road.”
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The Ravens trailed 7-3 after a first half Sunday in which they managed only 72 yards of offense. Their only points came on a 31-yard field goal by rookie kicker Tyler Loop 1:35 before halftime. The Jets reached the end zone on a second-quarter touchdown pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor to wide receiver John Metchie III.
The Ravens steadied themselves on their opening possession of the second half, finishing the drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Henry. They did it again on their next possession; Henry scored on fourth and goal from the 2-yard line after tight end Mark Andrews dropped Jackson’s third-down pass.
The Jets pulled within 17-10 on a 42-yard field goal by kicker Nick Folk in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. But the Ravens replied with a 35-yarder by Loop. The Jets reached the red zone but were thwarted when tailback Breece Hall fumbled at the Baltimore 2-yard line following a 10-yard run.
“I think it’s that faith and guts and the idea that … it makes you stronger and builds you into what you need to be,” Harbaugh said. “And hopefully that’s the type of team that we are becoming. We still have a whole bunch of games left to fight through, and they’re all going to be tough games. Every single one of them will be like this. The rest of the season is going to be tough. So we’re going to have to be tough also.”
The post The Ravens might not be dominant, but they are back atop the AFC North appeared first on Washington Post.
