Jamison HensleyCloseJamison HensleyESPN Staff WriterJamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.Follow on XMarcel Louis-JacquesCloseMarcel Louis-JacquesESPNMarcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.Follow on XOct 30, 2025, 11:09 PM ET
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — If there had been any doubt, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson made sure the football world knew he was back.
In his first game in 32 days, Jackson threw four touchdown passes in a 28-6 win over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player had missed the past three games with a hamstring injury, but he didn’t show much rust in his return.
Jackson completed 18 of 23 attempts for 204 yards as he once again celebrated in South Florida, where he grew up. Of Jackson’s 13 games with four or more touchdown passes, three have come against the Dolphins — his most against any team.
Stat to know: Tight end Mark Andrews certainly enjoyed Jackson’s return, catching touchdown passes of 2 and 20 yards in the first half. This was Andrews’ 12th career game with multiple touchdown catches, the most by any tight end since he entered the league in 2018. Andrews has caught 48 touchdown passes in Jackson’s 90 starts and has totaled five TD receptions in 21 games when Jackson was sidelined. — Jamison Hensley
Even if this was the first Dolphins game you watched all season, don’t worry — you’ve essentially seen them all.
The Dolphins outgained Baltimore in the first half, winning the time-of-possession battle, averaging nearly 6 yards per play and holding a Lamar Jackson-led offense to 109 yards — but still trailed 14-6 at halftime thanks to a series of all-too-characteristic miscues.
There were the ones that were their fault: a false start on fourth-and-1 that set up a missed 35-yard field goal, an incomplete pass on fourth-and-2 from deep in the red zone, and a lost fumble on their own 18 that set up Baltimore’s first touchdown. There was also the one that wasn’t their fault — a questionable tripping call on running back Ollie Gordon II that wiped out a 36-yard catch.
QB breakdown: One week after carving up the Falcons’ league-leading pass defense for four touchdowns, Tua Tagovailoa came down to earth against Baltimore.
The frustration on the sideline wasn’t just palpable — it was filmed in high definition. Coach Mike McDaniel and Gordon were shown mid-outburst in the first half, all while the Ravens looked like the team destined to turn around their sub-.500 start to the season. Miami enters a 10-day mini-bye before hosting the Buffalo Bills in Week 10 and traveling to Madrid to play the Washington Commanders in Week 11. With the trade deadline coming Tuesday and a 2-7 record weighing down any optimism for this season, it’s reasonable to wonder how different this roster — or coaching staff — will look the next time Miami takes the field.
His connection with receiver Jaylen Waddle looked sharp in the first half, and Tagovailoa showed a burgeoning chemistry with tight end Greg Dulcich. But Miami struggled to stretch the field outside of Waddle, and the Ravens largely kept the ball in front of them. Tagovailoa got the ball out quickly but struggled when his first read wasn’t there. On pass attempts within 2.5 seconds of snapping the ball, Tagovailoa completed 18-of-25 passes for 209 yards; on attempts that took longer than 2.5 seconds, he completed just 7-of-14 passes for 52 yards and an interception with a -16.8% completion percentage over expectation.
Biggest hole in game plan: The Dolphins ran the ball 37 times in last week’s win over the Falcons; obviously, the game script impacted the playcalling Thursday, but Miami ran the ball 20 times against the Ravens with De’Von Achane handling 14 of those attempts. Before the game got out of control, the Dolphins failed to set the tone at the line of scrimmage as they did in Week 9, turned the ball over three times without taking it away, and came away empty-handed in three red zone trips. That’s a nearly guaranteed recipe for losing.
Turning point: On second-and-1 early in the second quarter, Tagovailoa found Waddle for a 36-yard gain that appeared to give Miami the ball at the Ravens’ 7-yard line — but any celebration was cut short by a flag in the backfield. Gordon was penalized for tripping Mike Green, though it appeared that the running back slipped and accidentally fell into the Ravens linebacker. The Dolphins punted two plays later, and Gordon was seen irate on the sideline. Miami managed to cut its deficit to 14-6 on its following drive but failed to convert on fourth down from the Ravens’ 13-yard line just before the half. The Dolphins looked lifeless after that and failed to put points on the board for the remainder of the night. — Marcel Louis-Jacques
CloseJamison HensleyESPN Staff WriterJamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.Follow on X
CloseMarcel Louis-JacquesESPNMarcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.Follow on X
Here are the most important things to know from Thursday night for both teams:
Next game: at Minnesota Vikings (1 p.m. ET, Nov. 9)