Lamar Jackson was in no hurry to exchange pleasantries after taking the Baltimore Ravens to their first playoff victory in six years – and their first playoff victory since becoming Ravens’ starting quarterback. Jackson ran off the field and into the locker room as the clock expired in Baltimore’s 20-13 victory over the Tennessee Titans, a victory for which Jackson was largely responsible.
Jackson didn’t even bother to shake hands with his opponents, still upset about the Titans’ players stepping on the Ravens logo for the regular season victory in November. The Ravens returned the favor this time, something Jackson did not share – but his teammates ensured that Tennessee got the message.
“I feel like it was just disrespect to see what happened before the game the last time we played with those guys, and they were on our logo and seeing them get into it with our [head] coach, “Jackson told reporters after the game.” That was just disrespectful because we treated all of our opponents with respect. It was no reason to shake hands and things like that. We’ll be the biggest guy, so we get off the field. I feel like we’re being the biggest guys. “
Jackson put on a show against the Titans’ defense by winning his first game with a 10 point lead. He finished 17 from 24 to 179 yards with no touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 74.8 in the win – while running for 136 yards and a touchdown. Since he started 1 for 3 for seven yards with an interception (and Baltimore went down 10-0), Jackson made 16 for 21 for 172 yards with a score of 99.7 and had 14 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown.
Jackson’s 48-yard run touchdown in the second quarter was the second longest touchdown performed by a quarterback in playoff history, behind Kaepernick’s 56-yard touchdown in the 2012 playoffs against the Green Bay Packers (NFC divisional round) . Jackson’s 143-yard run is the second most for a quarterback of all time in the playoffs, which provided many great runs throughout the afternoon.
The last one happened to be the best of the day – for obvious reasons.
“My favorite race was to kneel,” said Jackson. “I didn’t really have a favorite race [other] than kneeling at the end. “