Lamar Jackson said earlier in the week he wanted the Ravens new-look offense to be the best offense people had ever seen.
The Ravens followed up that statement with the best offensive performance in team history.
They totaled over 600 yards, scored eight touchdowns and blew out Miami 59-10 at Hard Rock Stadium to open the season.
“We’ve been working so hard, through OTAs, through camp,” Jackson said. “Grind together and we shine together. And that’s what we did today."
The Ravens offense broke record after record Sunday, as the offense kept Miami guessing all afternoon.
Baltimore had 643 yards, the most in an NFL game since 2012 when Houston had 653 yards against Jacksonville.
The Ravens also set the team record for points with 59, Jackson set the franchise record for completion percentage and now holds the only perfect passer rating in team history. Also, the 42 first-half points were the most an NFL team has ever scored to open a season.
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And it began on the first play of the game, when Mark Ingram broke off a 49-yard run to set the tone early.
“When you run the ball for 40-something yards on your first play from scrimmage, that’s a statement,” coach John Harbaugh said.
From there, the Ravens offense took off.
With a mix of long pass plays and pounding run plays, the Ravens scored 21 first quarter points. Marquise Brown had two touchdowns, one of which was an 83-yard bomb from Jackson to give the Ravens their 21-0 lead.
Willie Snead caught a 33-yard pass to set off the second quarter, Miles Boykin notched his first career touchdown and Ingram added another to run away with the game early.
For an offense that was a secret for the lead-up to the game, the unveiling was certainly worth it.
“I told those guys, ‘Now people are going to mark you now,’ Harbaugh said. “They’re going to look for ways to stop our guys, what they do well and how they do it.”
Seemingly the only negative news was the fact that Jimmy Smith left the game with a knee injury. Even that came with a silver lining.
“It’s not a season-ending injury, as far as we know right now,” Harbaugh said. “It does not look like that at all. I’m sure he’ll get an MRI tomorrow.”
But the star of the day was Jackson, who finished 17-of-20 for 324 yards and five touchdowns. The five touchdowns tied the team record, which was set in 2000.
“Offensive line did a great job, I barely had pressure,” Jackson said. “Receivers did a great job of getting open, scoring touchdowns.”
After just one game, it’s far too early to proclaim the offense the best anyone had ever seen. But it’s fair to realize that Jackson, criticized for his seemingly one-dimensional style, can air it out when he needs to.
As of the end of the 1 p.m. games, Jackson had the only perfect passer rating across the NFL.
“Not bad for a running back,” he said.
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