Rushing attack, pass rush help Lions defeat Ravens on road

BALTIMORE — The Detroit Lions used a revitalized pass rush and a punishing rushing attack to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 38-30 at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday night.

David Montgomery ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions (2-1), who rushed for 224 yards. Detroit also had two touchdown drives of at least 96 yards and sacked Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson seven times.

Jackson threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns for the Ravens (1-2), who saw veteran running back Derrick Henry have another costly fumble.

Here are the most important things to know from Monday night for both teams:

In their four previous trips to Baltimore, most recently in 2023, the Lions had never won — or come within nine points of victory. But that changed Monday, as the Lions’ offense started quickly, spearheaded by veteran QB Jared Goff, and Detroit’s playmakers put on a show.

Running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and Montgomery, along with All-Pro WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, each had touchdowns. It marked the 10th game in which they each recorded at least one scrimmage TD, the most such games by any trio of teammates in NFL history, per ESPN Research.

After dropping their Week 1 game in Green Bay, Detroit has won its past two games impressively.

Most surprising performance: DE Al-Quadin Muhammad. Hours before kickoff, the Lions placed starting defensive end Marcus Davenport on injured reserve because of a chest injury. Muhammad stepped up against the Ravens with 2.5 sacks, boosting a Detroit pass rush that registered a league-low 19.2% pass rush win rate in the first two weeks. Muhammad, 30, is on his fifth NFL team and in his second season with the Lions after working his way up from the practice squad in 2024.

Trend to watch: The Lions have allowed an opening-drive touchdown in all three games this season under new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. Henry ran for a 28-yard TD with 5:47 left in the first quarter. Per ESPN Research, this is the first time Detroit has allowed an opening-drive TD in three consecutive games under coach Dan Campbell, dating to 2021. It also marked the first time in the past 25 years that the Lions allowed an opening-drive touchdown in the first three games of a season. The defense regrouped after the opening-drive score, sacking Jackson a career-high seven times.

Stat to know: When Montgomery capped a 98-yard scoring drive with a goal-line touchdown at 5:57 in the second quarter, he and Gibbs each recorded a touchdown in the same game for the 11th time, breaking a tie with the Packers’ Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor and the 49ers’ Hugh McElhenny and Joe Perry for the most such games by any running back tandem. — Eric Woodyard

Next game: vs. Cleveland Browns (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Henry’s uncharacteristic poor ball security cost the Ravens again. Henry fumbled midway through the fourth quarter, which proved to be biggest mistake in the Ravens’ loss to the Lions. He showed his frustration by slamming his helmet into the bench. Henry has lost the ball in the fourth quarter in both of Baltimore’s losses this season. This has been unlike Henry, who had lost two rushing fumbles in the fourth quarter or overtime in his previous nine seasons.

Defensively, the Ravens allowed touchdown drives of 98 and 96 yards to the Lions, but this isn’t the first time Baltimore has given up these types of marathon drives. The last team to allow multiple 95-yard touchdown drives on Monday Night Football was the Ravens, who did so against the Texans in 2010, according to ESPN Research.

Baltimore has a losing record after three games for just the third time in coach John Harbaugh’s 18 seasons as head coach. The Ravens, whose 111 points are the most in the first three games for a team with a losing record in NFL history, now head to play at Kansas City (1-2), where they have never beaten Patrick Mahomes. Since 2008, Baltimore is 0-3 at Arrowhead Stadium, allowing an average of 29 points per game.

Trend to watch: Lamar Jackson’s touchdown passes of 3 yards to wide receiver Rashod Bateman and 14 to tight end Mark Andrews helped the quarterback set a team record. This marked Jackson’s ninth straight game with two or more touchdown passes, which surpasses Vinny Testaverde’s streak of eight in 1996. It’s also the longest active streak of multiple touchdown-pass games in the league.

Most surprising performance: Andrews looked like Jackson’s favorite target again after the slowest start to a season in his eight-year career. Andrews caught six passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns. It had been a struggle this season for Andrews, who totaled two receptions for seven yards in the first two games. That slow start followed the playoff loss in Buffalo, where he dropped a late 2-point conversion pass that would have tied the game.

Stat to know: Jackson had little room to scramble and got sacked seven times, the most of his career. Baltimore has lost three of the four games in which Jackson has been sacked at least five times. — Jamison Hensley

Next game: at Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET)