Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson draped his arm around general manager Eric DeCosta as the clock neared 11:30 at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday night. All they could do was watch helplessly as the Bengals marched down the field and through Baltimore’s defense in the closing minutes of the important AFC North tilt.

First, Cincinnati converted a fourth-and-10 to keep hope alive. Then Ja’Marr Chase made it a reality, skying in the back corner of the end zone to snatch a 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Burrow with 38 seconds remaining.

Instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game, though, Cincinnati opted to try a 2-point conversion. But Burrow’s pass — during which he took a questionable hit to the helmet — to tight end Tanner Hudson was too high, and Baltimore recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal a wild, come-from-behind 35-34 victory.

On a night when the Ravens’ defense was more penetrable than a sieve, it finally made a stop when it had to, and it took their NFL-best offense bailing them out — again.

“I was telling my guys on the sideline we gotta score,” Jackson said. “If they score, we gotta score. That’s the type of game it’s gonna be. We seen that from the first snap.”

It took more than a half of football, but Baltimore’s prolific scoring machine finally woke up.

Faced with a 14-point third-quarter deficit — the Ravens’ largest of the season — Jackson put together four straight touchdown drives to lead Baltimore (7-3) to its seventh victory in its past eight games and a season sweep of the Bengals (4-6). It was timely as well, with 10 days for banged up and injured players — including safety Kyle Hamilton, who suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and did not return — to recover before a showdown against the division-leading Steelers (6-2) in Pittsburgh.

It was also special as it was historic for Jackson, who improved to 6-1 in his career head-to-head against Burrow.

Only twice in NFL history had a quarterback completed more than 30 passes, thrown for more than 300 yards, had more than four touchdown passes (including multiple ones of at least 40 yards) with no more than one interception and still lost. Burrow was on the wrong end of both defeats, in Week 5 against the Ravens and on Thursday night.

Jackson, meanwhile, finished 25-for-33 for 290 yards and four touchdowns, three of which came in the final quarter to give him 24 on the season and tie him with Burrow for the most in the league. That included what ended up being the game-winner with 1:49 remaining, as he connected with wide receiver Rashod Bateman on a 5-yard touchdown pass to cap an 11-play, 70-yard drive.

The Ravens needed all of them — including a freelanced touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews and a miraculous 84-yard tip-toe down the sideline by receiver Tylan Wallace for his first career touchdown catch — after their porous defense was shredded time and again.

For most of the night Burrow (34-for-56 passing, 428 yards, four touchdowns) had his way. So did Chase (11 catches, 264 yards, three touchdowns).

Baltimore had almost no answers.

“It’s become clear that it’s something that each guy has got to look at themselves in the mirror and figure out why are you not playing like you’re practicing,” Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “It’s becoming more of a mental thing I think. We’ve got to get that fixed. It’s not cool to win and look up and the team has 300 [yards] passing every week.

“It’s clear that it’s something from when you do that last preparation to the game, what is happening in that span? The frustration really comes from the lack of doing just your job. … It’d be different if we were confused. … It’s too deep into the season to keep doing this.”

For a while, though, it looked as if it was Baltimore’s offense that had finally run out of momentum.

In the first half, Jackson threw for just 71 yards and a touchdown, while the Ravens’ NFL-best rushing attack also never got going, with Derrick Henry getting just six carries for 22 yards in the opening 30 minutes. But after Burrow hit Chase on a 67-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to extend Cincinnati’s lead to 21-7, Humphrey stripped running back Chase Brown on the Bengals’ next possession, linebacker Roquan Smith recovered and the Ravens took over at Cincinnati’s 31-yard line.

The defensive stand energized the crowd, which had booed the poor offensive performance earlier in the game, and the offense came back to life too.

Jackson hit Bateman for 8 yards, Henry shot through the defense for 11 and then Jackson does what he does better than any quarterback in the league. On a second-and-9 from the 11, he waited for someone to come open, was chased out of the pocket, backtracked to the 32-yard line, then juked, weaved and tip-toed to the 1-yard line, setting up a Henry plunge to cut the deficit to 21-14 midway through the third quarter.

Baltimore took even less time to score on its next possession.

After stopping the Bengals on third down to force a punt, the Ravens got the ball on their own 8 early in the fourth quarter and needed just three plays to go 92 yards, with Wallace narrowly keeping his balance down the left sideline on a play reminiscent to his walk-off punt return touchdown last season against the Los Angeles Rams. It was the longest touchdown pass of Jackson’s career, and there was plenty of football still to be played.

Justin Tucker, who entered the game 498-for-504 on extra point attempts, missed the ensuing kick, leaving Baltimore trailing 21-20.

It was only a momentary blip.

On the Ravens’ next series, Jackson drove Baltimore 65 yards in seven plays, capping the series with a short pass to Andrews for an 18-yard touchdown. Then Jackson raced around the left side of the line and into the end zone on a 2-point conversion, putting the Ravens up 28-21 with less than six minutes remaining.

The Bengals shot right back, though, with Chase again getting behind the defense on a 70-yard bomb to tie the game. In their two meetings, chase’s 457 receiving yards against Baltimore are the most by any wide receiver against one team in a single season.

“He’s a great player,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I was looking for him after the game and couldn’t find him. Maybe that was appropriate.

“He should have been covered. Those plays shouldn’t have happened. There’s no doubt about it. Those are not tough plays. Those are basic routes that should be covered in the coverages that we’re in, so that’s not the standard.”

Luckily for the Ravens, they have Jackson, who delivered again when it mattered most.

“What can you say? We have seen it before,” Harbaugh said. “He just took that game on his shoulders like he does.”

Especially the defense’s.

“We’re like the little bros right now,” Humphrey said. “He’s carrying us, which is cool, but it’s not. I want to be able to end the game on defense.”

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Tim Schwartz at timschwartz@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/timschwartz13.