BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson ran around the Jets, past the Jets, threw in between Jets and over Jets and cemented his case for the NFL MVP award in a brilliant prime-time performance.

The Jets looked like extras in the Lamar Jackson Show. They were the Washington Generals to his Harlem Globetrotters as the Jets fell to Jackson’s Ravens, 42-21, on Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium.

“I’ve got to give it to him,” Jets linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “He’s the real deal.”

Gang Green came into this game as heavy underdogs and they looked the part for most of the night. There was a brief glimmer of hope in the second quarter that the Jets could make this a game, but that disappeared with two missed opportunities at the end of the first half and two Sam Darnold turnovers.


For most of the night, the undermanned and overmatched Jets looked like the JV facing the varsity.

“We knew coming into this game how we had to play on offense,” Jets coach Adam Gase said. “We had to be great with time of possession. We needed to make sure we did a great job with ball security and then when we get our opportunities in the red zone we had to score touchdowns. We just didn’t do it. We didn’t finish that one drive and then throwing the interception at the end of the half that could have helped us a lot.”

The Jets are now 5-9 with two more games left in this miserable season. The loss ensured their fourth straight losing season and fifth in the last six years. The Ravens improved to 12-2, winners of their last 10 games, and they clinched the AFC North title with Thursday’s victory.

Jackson showed the Jets what they were in for on the Ravens’ second play from scrimmage. He raced around the left side of the offense with Jenkins failing to set the edge. Jackson ran for 20 yards before being pushed out of bounds. That was the beginning of a long night for the Jets.

Jackson was 15 of 23 passing for 212 yards and five touchdown passes for a QB rating of 134.4. He also ran for 86 yards. Jackson broke Michael Vick’s record for rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback (1,039, set in 2006) in the first quarter. Jackson exited the game to chants of “MVP” in the fourth.

After the game, several Jets lined up to get an autographed jersey from him.

Gregg Williams’ defense that had been No. 2 against the run in the NFL entering this game gave up 99 yards rushing in the first quarter. The Ravens finished with 218 rushing yards and 431 total yards. The Jets looked shell-shocked at the speed of the Ravens offense.

“I think it’s just trying to figure out what’s going on sometimes,” Gase said. “Against this group, you don’t want to be unsure because they’re that fast. They run their offense well. You’ve got to pull the trigger. You’ve got to make a decision in real time and it’s not easy.”

The Ravens scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the game and had a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter. Jackson connected with Miles Boykin and Mark Andrews on touchdown passes in the first half and Mark Ingram scored a rushing touchdown.

The Jets offense moved the ball pretty well in the first half. After going three-and-out on their first drive, they put together drives of seven, eight and 13 plays. The problem was scoring points at the end of them.

The Jets reached the end zone at the start of the second quarter. Jamison Crowder caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Darnold after dropping an easy touchdown the play before. The Jets made it 13-7, but that would be as close as they would get.

Jets running back Le’Veon Bell rushed for a season-high 87 yards on 21 carries after missing last week’s game with the flu. Darnold went 18-for-32 for 218 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Down 21-7, the Jets put together their best drive of the night, going 67 yards on 13 plays and chewing up seven minutes and 49 seconds in the process. They got to the Ravens 7 and faced a fourth-and-1. Gase decided to go for it and opted to pass instead of giving the ball to Bell. Darnold’s pass to Robby Anderson fell incomplete.

“There’s not a lot of great calls in that situation,” Gase said. “They’re bringing everybody. You run it, they’re going to have some extra guys. I was trying to get him outside and see if he can get the ball to somebody.”

The Jets defense got a stop and gave the Jets the ball back with 1:03 left in the half at the Ravens’ 41. Darnold nearly hit a long touchdown pass to Jeff Smith, but Smith appeared to slow down on his route and the ball was incomplete. Then, Darnold threw an interception to Ravens safety Chuck Clark, ending any hope of the Jets scoring before halftime.

“I think there was a lot of good,” Gase said of Darnold’s game. “It’s just the way we had to play this game, we couldn’t turn it over. We had two turnovers. I’m sure we’ll go back and watch the film and there will be a lot of things he won’t like and he’ll get fixed.”

The Ravens blew the game open in the third quarter. The Jets defense stopped the Ravens twice to start the half. Then, Darnold fumbled after getting sacked by Tyus Bowser, who beat tight end Trevon Wesco. The Ravens recovered and Jackson took two plays to connect with Marquise Brown for a 24-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead and the game was effectively over.

Ref;nypost.com