Lamar Jackson 'In Complete Command' as Ravens Beat Bengals

The Baltimore Ravens handed the Cincinnati Bengals their second defeat of the season with Lamar Jackson's performance a big reason why.

Whisper it quietly, but the Baltimore Ravens offense is starting to wake up. After their up-and-down performance in Week 1 against the Houston Texans, Lamar Jackson and co. took it up a notch against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Todd Monken's new offensive system was always going to need time to work itself out. Well, it has taken two weeks and what we are seeing only means bad things for opposing defenses.

Jackson, who was superb on Sunday, is drawing applause for his performance, with The Ringer's Bill Simmons stating that Lamar was in complete command against the Bengals.

"Lamar was the best offensive player we saw Sunday,” Simmons said on The Bill Simmons Podcast. "He was awesome, and that was one of those you really had to watch the game. It was just one of those Lamar games.

"If you just see the box score you're like, 'Oh, Lamar had a good game.' But he had complete command over that game."

The offensive shift from being a run-dominant team to a more pass-oriented one was something that not many were sure about due to question marks over Lamar's throwing ability. Well, there's no doubt anymore (not that there ever should have been).

Against the Bengals, Jackson was in his bag as he completed 24 of his 33 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 54 yards on 12 carries.

Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Monken's offense was also spread about as everyone got a piece of the pie. The Ravens had including Jackson, three running backs who had 10 or more carries, and six receivers who had three or more catches. 

That makes things difficult for opposing defenses as Jackson was utilizing every weapon at his disposal.

Many were wondering exactly what this new offense in Baltimore would look like, well after a scratchy start vs. the Texans that saw Jackson sacked four times, the offense only putting up 265 yards of total offense and completing 8/15 third downs, they improved dramatically.

Against the Bengals, the offense, with Lamar cooking had 415 yards of total offense, averaging 5.9 yards per play, converted 9 of 14 third downs, and gave up zero sacks. 

While it is only two games into a long, arduous season, what the Ravens and Jackson looked like should scare teams going forward. 

If the offense can maintain this level of performance while playing complementary football, then the AFC North and potentially a Super Bowl run are more than attainable for Baltimore this season.