BALTIMORE (AP) — It takes more than a couple missed practices to slow down Lamar Jackson.
And the much-anticipated matchup between Baltimore's offense and Denver's defense? That was no contest.
Jackson threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns to finish with a perfect passer rating, Derrick Henry surpassed a few more rushing milestones, and the Ravens scored on seven consecutive possessions on their way to a 41-10 victory over the Broncos on Sunday.
Jackson missed practice Wednesday and Thursday. He and coach John Harbaugh described it as rest, although the team listed him with back and knee issues. He looked plenty ready on game day.
“I knew what the assignment was,” Jackson said. “I definitely studied those guys.”
Baltimore's beleaguered defense didn't force a punt until the third quarter, but a couple early fourth-down stops helped the Ravens (6-3) build a lead as they rebounded from last weekend's surprising loss at Cleveland. Zay Flowers had five catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns, and Henry rushed for 106 yards and two TDs.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix caught a touchdown pass on a trick play for Denver, but the Broncos (5-4) looked outclassed at the beginning of a tough two-game stretch on their schedule. They visit Kansas City next weekend.
Henry scored the 100th and 101st rushing touchdowns of his career, and he surpassed 1,000 yards on the ground on the season for the sixth time. Henry has scored in every game this season, and he is the third player to manage at least 10 rushing TDs in seven consecutive years, joining LaDainian Tomlinson (2001-09) and Adrian Peterson (2007-13).
“We have been really good at running the ball for a long time, but he is different. Derrick Henry's different,” coach John Harbaugh said. “He is adding a dimension that we have not had before. I don't know. You go back to Jamal Lewis maybe.”
Jackson completed 16 of 19 passes. The perfect 158.3 passer rating was the fourth of his career — the most of any player in games with at least 15 pass attempts.
“He’s a phenomenal football player, throws the ball really well. Hard to do what he does on a consistent basis,” Nix said. “He missed some practice this week and came out and looked very sharp. Props to him. He’s a phenomenal player. That’s why he gets all the accolades that he does. It’s special to be able to share a field with a guy like that.”
Baltimore led 17-10 after a Denver field goal with 54 seconds left in the first half. Then the Ravens struck on both sides of halftime. Flowers caught a pass over the middle, eluded a tackler and raced to the end zone for a 53-yard TD with 16 seconds left in the second quarter. Baltimore got the ball to start the third and made it 31-10 on a 6-yard run by Henry.
“It’s a big swing,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “You know when you play a good team like this on the road you want to get into the fourth quarter and we weren’t able to do that.”
Denver had allowed only two teams to reach 20 points this season, but the matchup with Baltimore's powerful offense did not go well. The Broncos' defense held after Nix threw an early interception, but after Denver was stopped on fourth-and-1, the Ravens drove 57 yards and opened the scoring on Henry's 7-yard run.
Another fourth-down failure — Nix overthrew an open Troy Franklin deep — was followed by a Baltimore field goal that made it 10-0.
The Broncos finally converted on fourth down from the Baltimore 2 with a reverse pass from receiver Courtland Sutton to Nix. The Ravens defended it decently, but Nix was able to make the catch at the goal line for a touchdown.
Jackson answered with a 7-yard scoring pass to Flowers to put Baltimore up 17-7.
Fullback Patrick Ricard caught Jackson's final TD toss of the day, a 3-yarder in the third.
Consolation
Nix threw for 223 yards. That brought his season total to 1,753, surpassing Mickey Slaughter (1,689) for the most yards passing by a Broncos rookie quarterback. John Elway threw for 1,663 in his debut season of 1983.
Streaks
Baltimore has rushed for at least 100 yards in 42 consecutive games, one shy of the NFL record the Ravens share with Pittsburgh. ... Baltimore also has at least one sack in 47 straight.
Injuries
Baltimore CB Marlon Humphrey returned from a knee injury that kept him out last weekend.
Up next
Broncos: At Kansas City on Sunday.
Ravens: Host Cincinnati on Thursday night.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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This version has been corrected to show Henry ran for 106 yards, not 107.
Noah Trister, The Associated Press
