Lamar Jackson joins elite company, Ravens suffocate Chargers for tough road win

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Baltimore Ravens dynamic quarterback Lamar Jackson reached rare air in his team's 20-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday in a nationally televised game. 

The Louisville product finished with 39 rushing yards on 11 carries, becoming just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to reach 5,000 career rushing yards. He joins Michael Vick, Cam Newton and Russell Wilson in that elite 5,000-yard club. What's more, Jackson is the fastest QB to the mark, with 5,011 rushing yards in just 82 games, 22 fewer than Vick needed. 

But the smooth-as-silk runner offered a one-word response when asked what he thought of reaching the historic mark as he left the podium at his postgame presser. 

"Cool," Jackson said, cracking a wry smile. 

The 26-year-old signal-caller also finished 18-of-32 for 177 passing yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions.

While not playing their best football offensively, Jackson and the Ravens relied on the team's trademark defense and a grind-it-out running game to outlast the bumbling Chargers, improving to an AFC-best 9-3 heading into Baltimore's bye week.

The Ravens have won six of their past seven games and currently hold the top seed in the AFC. But Jackson has bigger objectives in mind for the season.

"Getting to the Super Bowl is the goal," Jackson said. "We're just going to take it one week at a time. That's all we can do. We can't worry about being the No. 1 seed or anything like that. It's the NFL. Anything can happen." 

With the loss, the Chargers dropped to 4-7 on the year, with the team's playoff hopes and head coach Brandon Staley's job status on life support. 

The Ravens defense forced a season-high four turnovers and held the Chargers to 279 total yards as Los Angeles looked disconnected and inept on offense. Entering Sunday's contest, the Chargers had a league-low eight turnovers. Baltimore kept L.A.'s offense, led by strong-armed quarterback Justin Herbert, under 17 points for the first time this season. 

As they have all season, the Ravens created havoc up front with disguised pressure and blitzes. According to Next Gen Stats, the Ravens pressured Herbert on 41% of his drop backs. Baltimore sent more than four pass rushers 27.5% of the time, finishing with three sacks and nine quarterback hits. When the Ravens blitzed, Herbert finished 4-of-13 for 33 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. 

"I've been saying it since last summer that we had a chance to be this kind of unit," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "And we've got five more regular-season games and whatever comes after that to really determine what the final chapters are going to be in the story of our defense. I'm pretty proud of those guys."

Chargers coach Staley had been under siege because of the struggles of his defense. But the Bolts offense was to blame for this loss, the team's third straight and fifth in its past seven games. And L.A.'s best players were at fault. Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler had back-to-back fumbles in the first half, while Herbert threw an interception on a Hail Mary at the end of the half. 

Then, early in the fourth quarter, Ravens edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney came up with a strip sack on Herbert and the fumble recovery at the Baltimore 24-yard line. 

"It's tough to win football games when you turn the ball over that many times," Herbert said. "We have to do a better job, as an offense, and I have to do a better job of protecting the ball, not turning the ball over like that. It's really tough to win games like that."

The Bolts could have put the game into overtime after the usually reliable Ravens kicker Justin Tucker missed a 44-yard field goal, giving the Chargers the ball on their own 34-yard line with 2:57 left and down 13-10. But L.A.'s drive stalled at Baltimore's 46-yard line when Herbert once again succumbed to pressure up front and was called for intentional grounding on fourth down. 

Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack continued his strong performance this season, finishing with two sacks and six combined tackles. The Buffalo product is tied for second in the league in sacks with 13.

For Baltimore, rookie receiver Zay Flowers had a breakout performance, reeling in a three-yard reception for a score and sealing the game on a 37-yard touchdown with 1:36 left. Flowers received some chiding from teammates for his touchdown celebrations, which included throwing an imaginary bouquet over his head on the first one. 

"I told him that was the worst celebration I've ever seen. But he scored," Jackson said, laughing. 

Flowers' second celebration was a penalty kick in homage to soccer players like Lionel Messi, a favorite of the Baltimore wideout in the FIFA video game.

And at the end of the game, some of the defensive players would have liked Flowers to get down so the Ravens could run the clock instead of running into the end zone.

"We worked on that, but nobody told me, so I just went to the end zone," Flowers said about the second touchdown. 

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.