WASHINGTON: Baltimore's Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another Tuesday as the Ravens beat Dallas 34-17 in an NFL game rescheduled from last Thursday due to COVID-19 issues. Jackson, coming back from a COVID-19 layoff, completed 12-of-17 passes for 107 yards and ran 13 times for 94 yards as the Ravens improved to 7-5, one game out of the last AFC playoff spot.
The Cowboys fell to 3-9, two games behind NFC East division co-leaders Washington and the New York Giants. After throwing an interception that set up a 31-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal for Dallas, Jackson drove the Ravens downfield and scored on a fourth-down 37-yard run up the middle. Jackson made the longest touchdown run ever surrendered by the Cowboys to a quarterback, lifting Baltimore ahead 7-3 late in the first quarter.
Tony Pollard answered with a 66-yard kickoff return for Dallas to set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton to Michael Gallup just 41 seconds into the second quarter for a 10-7 Cowboys' lead. Baltimore's Patrick Queen intercepted a Dalton pass and on the next play, Jackson connected with Miles Boykin on a 38-yard touchdown pass to put the Ravens ahead 14-10.
Justin Tucker added a 50-yard field goal with 50 seconds remaining in the second quarter to lift the Ravens ahead 17-10 at half-time. Jackson found Marquise Brown in the back left corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass to boost Baltimore's lead to 24-10. The Cowboys came away empty on their next drive thanks to a third missed field goal kick by Zuerlein and the Ravens drove for a 22-yard Tucker field goal to seize a 17-point advantage.
Dalton flipped a 2-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 3:59 remaining but Baltimore, which ran for 294 yards, answered on a 5-yard touchdown run by JK Dobbins with 2:08 remaining to create the final margin. Former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant did not play for Baltimore against his ex-teammates after testing positive for COVID-19 just before kickoff. "I'm going to go ahead and call it a quit for the rest of the season," Bryant tweeted after being benched. "I can't deal with this." - AFP