Lions run over the Ravens, sack
Lamar Jackson 7 times in a 38-30 win over Baltimore
[September 23, 2025]
By NOAH TRISTER
BALTIMORE (AP) — Punishing all night — and tricky when they had to
be — the Detroit Lions battered the Baltimore Ravens with a
performance that epitomized everything they've become under coach
Dan Campbell.
Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery ran for two touchdowns apiece, and
the Lions bullied their way to a 38-30 win over Baltimore on Monday
night. Detroit sacked Lamar Jackson seven times and outrushed the
Ravens 224 yards to 85.
“I just thought it was an outstanding team effort, man. I was proud
of the players, I was proud of the coaches,” Campbell said. “It's
just a huge win.”
Detroit scored on drives of 98 and 96 yards against a Baltimore
front that was without defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike and showed
little ability to handle the Lions physically.
Up 31-24 at the two-minute warning, Detroit converted on
fourth-and-2 from its own 49 when Jared Goff completed a 20-yard
pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown.
“I got a tremendous amount of trust in those guys, and that's been
built up now in five years,” Campbell said.
Then Montgomery raced for a 31-yard touchdown with 1:42 to play,
capping a 151-yard night on the ground for the running back.
Jackson threw his third touchdown pass of the night, a 27-yarder to
Mark Andrews with 29 seconds remaining. A failed 2-point conversion
and a failed onside kick later, the Lions could kneel out the clock.
“The biggest problem is we didn’t play good defense,” Ravens coach
John Harbaugh said. “There’s nobody in that locker room that thinks
that’s good enough. That’s not who we are. It cannot be who we are.
It’s not good enough, it’s not acceptable.”
This was quite a statement for a Detroit team that lost offensive
coordinator Ben Johnson in the offseason and began the season with a
dud at Green Bay. After rebounding in Week 2 against Chicago, the
Lions looked very much like Super Bowl contenders against the
Ravens.
The hallmarks of Campbell’s tenure were all there. Detroit was
aggressive on fourth down, converting all three of its attempts. One
of those was a gadget play that went for a touchdown and gave the
Lions the lead for good.
And at the line of scrimmage, Detroit was overpowering at times.
“That's what happens when good coverage marries good rush,”
pass-rushing star Aidan Hutchinson said. “Today was that.”
Jackson did some damage in the passing game, especially in the first
half, but by the end, the Lions had him out of sync. And when he
tried to escape the pocket, they kept him under control.
“Those guys were very disciplined,” Campbell said. “We didn't have
anybody jumping up in the air, diving — ill-advised diving. They all
bottled him up, they were disciplined, and guys made huge plays. And
he had nowhere to go.”
It was a jarring sight to see the Ravens (1-2) pushed around on
their home field, where they lost for only the fourth time in 26
prime-time games under Harbaugh. When Gibbs and Montgomery weren't
running through the Baltimore defense, Goff had plenty of time to
pick the Ravens apart as Detroit methodically advanced down the
field.
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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) is brought down by
Detroit Lions linebacker Trevor Nowaske, right, and defensive end
Aidan Hutchinson, bottom, during the second half of an NFL football
game Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie
Scarbrough)
With the score tied at 21, the Lions faced
fourth-and-1 from the Baltimore 4 on the first play of the fourth
quarter. St. Brown took the ball on what initially looked like a jet
sweep, then pitched it back to Gibbs, who scored easily.
After a field goal made it 28-24, the Ravens got a defensive stop,
but Derrick Henry lost a fumble in a huge fourth-quarter spot for
the second time in three weeks, giving Detroit the ball at the
Baltimore 16. Still, the Lions couldn't put the game away, settling
for a field goal when that drive was derailed by a facemask penalty
on Christian Mahogany.
But the Ravens couldn't move the ball and punted on fourth-and-9.
Then Montgomery made it a 14-point game.
This matchup started as advertised, with the Lions — fresh off a
52-point performance against Chicago — breezing down the field for
an early 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Gibbs. Then the Ravens — who
reached 40 points in each of their first two games — quickly tied it
on a 28-yard touchdown run by Henry.
The Lions retook the lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Montgomery,
which capped an 18-play, 98-yard drive that took 10:48 off the
clock. The Ravens, down two of their top pass rushers with Madubuike
(neck) and Kyle Van Noy (hamstring) out, did little to trouble Goff
in the pocket.
Baltimore wasted a second-and-goal situation from the 1-yard line
later in the second quarter when Henry was stopped twice. On
fourth-and-goal from the 2, Jackson fumbled and the ball rolled all
the way back to the 20, but when the Lions took over there,
Baltimore’s defense held, and Jackson threw a 3-yard touchdown pass
to Rashod Bateman to tie it at 14 with 24 seconds left in the half.
Baltimore took a 21-14 lead when Jackson threaded a 14-yard scoring
pass to Mark Andrews in the third quarter, but Goff answered with an
18-yard touchdown strike to St. Brown.
Quite a change
The last time the Lions faced Baltimore, the Ravens won 38-6 in
2023. Baltimore led 28-0 before Detroit even managed a first down
that day.
This was Detroit's first win over the Ravens in Baltimore and
snapped an overall five-game losing streak in the series.
On the march
The Lions were the first team with two touchdown drives of at least
95 yards in a game since New England against Cleveland on Nov. 14,
2021.
Injuries
Detroit RB Sione Vaki left the game with a groin injury.
Up next
Baltimore plays at Kansas City on Sunday in another marquee matchup
between Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. Detroit hosts Cleveland.
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