After sitting out more than a month due to injury, Lamar Jackson will finally be making his return to the field on Thursday night and it's just in time, because he'll be facing a Miami Dolphins team that he loves to terrorize.
Over the course of his career, Jackson has played some of his best games against the Dolphins. Although he's just 2-2 as a starter against Miami, he's put up some mind-blowing numbers: In those four games, he's thrown 14 touchdowns compared to just one interception while averaging 300.3 passing yards per game.
Basically, Jackson has been nearly perfect anytime that he has faced the Dolphins and that has him on the cusp of setting an NFL record this week. In two of his four games against Miami, Jackson has thrown five touchdown passes with zero interceptions. If he can do that again on Thursday, he'll become the first quarterback in NFL history to hit those numbers against the same opponent in three different games.
That's right, no quarterback has ever thrown five touchdown passes with zero interceptions against the same opponent three times. Jackson is currently one of four quarterbacks who have done it twice. Here's the full list:
Tom Brady vs. Dolphins
Aaron Rodgers vs. Bears
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Ravens
Lamar Jackson vs. Dolphins
You could argue that Jackson's spot on this list is the most impressive because he's the only quarterback who has pulled off this feat against a non-divisional opponent. Brady made 36 starts against the Dolphins in his career, while Rodgers has faced the Bears 29 times. As for Roethlisberger, he started 27 games against the Ravens, while Jackson has faced the Dolphins only four times.
Jackson's first meeting with the Dolphins came back in Week 1 of 2019 when he threw for five touchdowns in a 59-10 win. His most recent meeting came in Week 17 of the 2023 season when he threw for five touchdowns in a 56-19 win. In both games, Jackson finished with a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
Let's take a look at all four of Jackson's games against the Dolphins:
Date/location Final score Jackson's numbers
Sept. 8, 2019 in Baltimore Ravens 59-10 over Dolphins Jackson goes 17 of 20 for 324 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions
Nov. 11, 2020 in Baltimore Dolphins 22-10 over Ravens Jackson goes 26 of 43 ffor 239 yards with one touchdown and one interception
Sept. 18, 2021 in Miami Dolphins 42-38 over Ravens Jackson goes 21 of 29 for 318 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions
Dec. 31, 2023 in Miami Ravens 56-19 over Dolphins Jackson goes 18 of 21 for 321 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions
The two-time NFL MVP has been at his best during the first half against the Dolphins. In his four career starts, he's completed 81% of his passes for 757 yards and 10 touchdowns with zero interceptions in those eight first-half quarters. That means that Miami's defense better be ready to roll on Thursday night, because Jackson is likely going to come out hot.
At 2-6, the Ravens need to turn their season around, so they're going to need a big game from Jackson and based on his history with the Dolphins, it won't be surprising if he comes through. The Ravens quarterback was born and raised in South Florida, so it's certainly possible that he feels at least a little bit of extra motivation to win whenever he faces Miami.