Ravens def. Dolphins: Recap & analysis (2024)

By Jeff Zrebiec and Mike Jones

Lamar Jackson threw five touchdown passes resulting in a perfect passer rating to guide the Baltimore Ravens to a critical 56-19 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in Baltimore. With the victory, the Ravens clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a first-round bye and home-field advantage.

Jackson — who leads the 2023 NFL MVP race — threw three touchdowns in the first half, connecting with Justice Hill, Zay Flowers and Isaiah Likely. Flowers scored off a 75-yard TD pass from Jackson in the second quarter and surpassed Torrey Smith’s franchise rookie record of 841 receiving yards in the game.

Gus Edwards led the Ravens on the ground, rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown. Likely added his second touchdown in the third quarter, while Jackson found Patrick Ricard on a 4-yard TD pass in the fourth to extend Baltimore’s lead.

Jackson went 18-of-21 passing for 321 yards ending with a perfect 158.3 passer rating, while Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 22 of 38 passes for 237 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Tagovailoa exited late in the fourth quarter with a left shoulder injury and did not return.

This marks the first time the Ravens have won their division since 2019. Guided by that season’s MVP Jackson, Baltimore lost in the divisional round to the sixth-seeded Tennessee Titans. There were still two byes in the 2019 season and six playoff teams in each conference.

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The comparisons to 2019 had already started to pick up momentum for these Baltimore Ravens. The blowouts, Lamar Jackson’s emphatic MVP statements, a loss to the Cleveland Browns jump-starting a winning streak, and the surprising contributions up and down the roster.

On Sunday, the Ravens added another layer to those comparisons. With their 56-19 victory over the Miami Dolphins, the most points scored in history at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens secured the AFC North title and the conference’s No. 1 seed. Just like the last time they did that in 2019, the Ravens’ regular-season home finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers will have no impact on them in the standings. It’s all about getting ready for the playoffs.

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They also are the AFC's top seed for just the second time in team history.

Ravens will host the Steelers next week. There are quite a few Ravens who could use the two weeks off.

The Ravens extend their lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Patrick Ricard, Jackson’s fifth touchdown pass of the game.

The five TD passes match Jackson’s single-game career high he posted three times during his MVP-winning season of 2019.

Tua hits Achane for a 1-yard TD, but the Dolphins don't get the two-point conversion. It's 35-19 at the 13:57 mark of the fourth quarter.

Ravens offense needs to maintain a drive here. Defense was just on the field for nearly a 7-minute drive.

Ravens RB Gus Edwards coughed it up just past midfield and Tua Tagovailoa returned the favor on the next play.

Tua airmailed a throw that Geno Stone picked off. That's Stone's seventh interception of the season, second most in the NFL behind the Cowboys' DaRon Bland (eight).

The Ravens waste no time adding to their lead out of the half on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Isaiah Likely. The 78-yard kickoff return by Justice Hill set up the score.

The score gives Likely his first career multi-TD game and he now has four touchdowns in five starts since Mark Andrews was lost to a season-ending injury in Week 11.

The Ravens say that cornerback Marlon Humphrey is out for the rest of the game with a calf injury.

Baltimore is down to three corners: Ronald Darby, Rock Ya-Sin and Arthur Maulet. Daryl Worley can also move to corner, too.

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill had five catches for 70 yards in the first half giving him 1,711 yards for the season.

That not only tops his franchise-record 1,710 yards in 2022, it also makes Hill the first player in NFL history with multiple 1,700-yard receiving seasons.

With the Ravens shorthanded at cornerback and facing one of the NFL's most explosive pass offenses, it's the Baltimore offense that has picked up the slack. The Ravens scored touchdowns on three straight drives to take a 28-13 lead into intermission. Their final score of the half was a Lamar Jackson 35-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely on fourth-and-7 after Baltimore got the ball back on a Roquan Smith one-handed interception.

The score highlighted one of the Ravens' best offensive halves of the season. Baltimore had 313 yards of total offense in the first half and capitalized on frequent Dolphins coverage busts. Jackson finished the first half 12-of-14 for 255 yards and three touchdowns. He also had four carries for 25 yards.

Dolphins are forced to punt after their fourth-and-1 completion to Tyreek Hill is nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty.

It was Miami’s first offensive pass interference penalty of the season. The Dolphins entered Week 17 as one of three teams yet to be flagged for OPI this season along with the Giants and Browns.

That was a 4th-and-7 from Dolphins 35. Instead of kicking a field goal, Isaiah Likely makes a one-handed snag of a Lamar Jackson pass and scores a TD. It's 28-13 Ravens at the 1:24 mark of the second quarter.

Jackson is 12-of-14 for 255 yards and 3 TDs. Also has 26 yards rushing.

Baltimore tight end Isaiah Likely has been one of the best tight ends in fantasy football over the past month, as his touchdown against Miami gives Likely his third game with 10+ PPR points over the past four weeks.

For perspective, Likely has now scored 14.1 PPR PPG since Week 14, a pace that is fourth among tight ends in that span.

Make that six straight games for the Ravens in which they’ve scored in the final two minutes of the first half, this one a 35-yard TD pass from Lamar Jackson to Isaiah Likely on fourth-and-7.

Jackson has now thrown three TD passes in the first half, his most in an opening half since Week 2 of last season against… the Dolphins (also three).

Ravens LB Roquan Smith picks off Tua Tagovailoa and Baltimore is in business in Miami territory with less than two minutes to play in the half.

The Ravens have scored points (TD or FG) in the final two minutes of the first half in each of their last five games (two TD, three FG).