Football is a game of inches, but sometimes it’s a game of sheer, unadulterated momentum shifts. If you watched the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers clash on Monday Night Football in late 2024, you saw exactly how quickly a season’s trajectory can pivot. One minute, Baker Mayfield is carving up the secondary. The next? The Bucs are losing their two best players to devastating injuries while Lamar Jackson puts on a clinic that felt more like a video game than a professional sports broadcast.
It was a 41-31 final. That score looks competitive on paper. It wasn’t.
Honestly, the "competitive" part ended somewhere in the second quarter. The Ravens basically flipped a switch, scoring 34 unanswered points. You’ve probably heard people talking about Lamar Jackson’s MVP case that year, and this game was the crown jewel of that argument. Five passing touchdowns. Zero interceptions. A near-perfect passer rating of 158.1. He was 0.2 points away from perfection. Think about that.
The Moment the Air Left the Stadium
The Buccaneers actually started hot. They jumped to a 10-0 lead. Raymond James Stadium was rocking. Mike Evans caught a 25-yard touchdown, his 100th career receiving score, putting him in a stratosphere occupied by names like Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.
Then, the script flipped.
Evans tried to haul in a second touchdown, but his hamstring gave out. He dropped the ball and stayed down. While he was being helped off, Marlon Humphrey—who was having a career night—picked off Baker Mayfield in the end zone.
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That was it. That was the game.
From that point on, the Ravens’ offense looked like a freight train. Derrick Henry started doing Derrick Henry things, including a soul-crushing 81-yard run where he hit 21.72 mph. Seeing a man that size move that fast is terrifying. He finished with 169 rushing yards on just 15 carries. If you’re a defensive coordinator, how do you even plan for a team that has a quarterback who can throw five touchdowns and a running back who treats 80-yard runs like a light jog?
Why This Game Still Stings for Tampa Bay
The loss was bad, but the injuries were catastrophic. We can’t talk about the Baltimore Ravens Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup without mentioning Chris Godwin. With less than a minute left in a game that was already decided, Godwin suffered a gruesome dislocated ankle.
It felt unnecessary. People were questioning why the starters were even still in the game. Todd Bowles stood by his decision, saying his players want to fight until the end, but the optics were brutal. At the time, Godwin was leading the NFL in receptions. He was the heart of that offense. Losing Evans and Godwin in the same four-hour window? That’s not just a loss; that’s a season-altering tragedy.
Lamar Jackson: The NFC's Worst Nightmare
There’s a stat that sounds fake but isn't: Lamar Jackson is essentially invincible against the NFC. After this win, his record against the opposite conference moved to 23-1.
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Why?
NFC teams don't see him enough. They aren't used to the speed. They play zone, and Lamar carves it up. According to Next Gen Stats, he went 14-of-16 against Tampa’s zone coverage. He wasn't just running; he was a surgeon. Rashod Bateman had a career-high 121 yards, catching a 49-yard bomb that basically acted as the exclamation point for the Ravens' dominance.
Breaking Down the Numbers
To understand the gulf between these two teams that night, you have to look past the yardage.
- Baltimore Total Yards: 508
- Tampa Bay Total Yards: 481
- The Difference: Efficiency and Turnovers.
Baker Mayfield actually threw for 370 yards. On any other night, that’s a winning stat line. But he threw two picks to Marlon Humphrey, and the Bucs couldn't stop the Ravens on third down when it mattered. Baltimore averaged 10 yards per play for most of the middle of the game. That’s absurd. It’s the kind of math that breaks a defense's spirit.
Historical Context: A One-Sided Rivalry?
The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers don't play often, but when they do, Baltimore usually walks away smiling. Before this 2024 blowout, the Ravens had won five straight against the Bucs. You have to go all the way back to 2002—the year of the legendary "Tampa 2" defense and a Super Bowl ring—to find the last time the Buccaneers actually beat the Ravens.
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That 2002 game was a 25-0 shutout. Since then? It’s been all purple and black.
Actionable Insights for Football Fans
If you’re looking back at this matchup to understand the current state of the NFL, there are a few things to take away:
- Don't bet against Lamar in Primetime. His record on Monday Night Football is now 20 touchdowns to zero interceptions. He doesn't just play well under the lights; he becomes a different animal.
- Derrick Henry is the ultimate "closer." The Ravens lead the league in rushing because they wear teams down. If you aren't leading by 10 in the fourth quarter, Henry will eventually find a gap and ruin your night.
- Depth at Wide Receiver is everything. The Bucs went from a top-five offense to a struggling unit in a matter of quarters because they were top-heavy. When Evans and Godwin went down, the "next man up" philosophy was put to a test it couldn't pass.
The October 2024 meeting between the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wasn't just another Week 7 game. It was a demonstration of the Ravens' peak form and a reminder of how cruel the injury bug can be. While Baltimore marched toward a top seed, Tampa was left picking up the pieces of a shattered receiving corps.
Moving forward, keep a close eye on the Ravens' defensive secondary. While they won big, they did surrender a lot of late yards to Mayfield. If there's a "blueprint" to beating them, it involves high-volume passing, but you have to be perfect to outscore Lamar when he's in this kind of rhythm.