BALTIMORE -- It's only two weeks into the season, but Lamar Jackson is in a familiar position in quarterbacking the NFL's highest-scoring team.
Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP, is starting on a path to win a third one by totaling seven passing and rushing touchdowns with no interceptions through two games for the Baltimore Ravens this season.
This marks the fifth time in the past 20 years that a quarterback has produced at least seven total touchdowns with no turnovers in the first two weeks, according to ESPN Research. The previous four -- Peyton Manning (2013), Patrick Mahomes (2018 and 2022) and Jackson (2019) -- won NFL MVP that season.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh is continually reminded of what makes Jackson so special.
"A couple times [on Sunday], there was plays that were, I think, really in trouble, and he bailed them out," Harbaugh said Monday. "Probably three of his big plays were plays that he made something out of absolutely nothing. He made a bad play into a great play with the help of his teammates. So, that's Lamar. That's the thing about Lamar that makes him another level as a player."
With Jackson, the Ravens are the sixth team since 1980 to score 40 or more points in each of their first two games. Baltimore fell 41-40 in the season opener to the Buffalo Bills before rebounding to rout the Cleveland Browns 41-17 on Sunday.
In the win against Cleveland, Jackson threw for four or more touchdowns in a game for the 12th time in his career.
"It's just embarrassing," Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said of Jackson's four touchdown passes. "We did a solid job of holding them to three [points] that we could, and then eventually, the dam broke."
Through Sunday's games, Jackson's seven touchdowns -- six passing and one rushing -- are more than every team in the NFL except for the Bills and Detroit Lions, who each have eight touchdowns. But Jackson is reaching the end zone this season in a different fashion.
THIS SEASON, IT seems like a touchdown could happen every time Jackson drops back to pass.
He has been more explosive, with a league-leading four touchdown passes over 20 yards through two weeks. He had nine touchdown throws of 20 yards or longer last season.
In the season opener, Jackson connected with Zay Flowers for a 23-yard score and then hit DeAndre Hopkins for a 29-yarder. On Sunday, he closed out Week 2's game with two long touchdown throws in the fourth quarter, with a 24-yarder to Devontez Walker and a 23-yarder to Hopkins.
"A lot of people are playing man against us, and we've taken advantage of that," Harbaugh said. "So yeah, the chunk passing game has been good. [When] people load the box up, you hope that's what happens."
The Browns crowded the line of scrimmage to slow down Ravens running back Derrick Henry. Jackson made them pay by completing 6 of 10 passes for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns on passes that traveled at least 15 yards in the air.
"As far as stopping the run, we did a solid job in keeping both of them contained on the ground," Garrett said. But the Ravens went over the top of the Browns' defense.
THE CHALLENGE FOR defenses is figuring out where Jackson will go with the ball.
Flowers is once again Jackson's No. 1 target, catching a team-high 14 passes for 218 yards. But he has one touchdown.
Jackson is distributing his touchdown passes, connecting with Hopkins (two touchdowns), Walker (two) and Wallace (one) for scores.
"Lamar understands what we have in our room and throughout our offense," Walker said. "We have so many weapons everywhere, and he wants everybody around to have just as much success as he does. That's just the type of guy and quarterback he is. He makes you want to go out there and play hard for him."
Sunday's win over Cleveland marked the first time since 2019 that Jackson has thrown at least four touchdown passes to wide receivers in a game. In his first seven seasons, Jackson's 80 touchdown passes to wide receivers ranked 14th in the league.
Jackson has typically had success throwing to his tight ends. But Mark Andrews has not gotten on track this season, and Isaiah Likely has missed the first two games while he recovers from foot surgery.
That has created more chances in the passing game for Walker, a fourth-round pick last year who had a standout training camp. Walker has recorded an impressive stat line: three touchdowns on three career receptions in the NFL. But he has a ways to go to match former New England Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, who excelled in goal-line packages and scored touchdowns on all 10 career catches.
"'Tez' is a very hard worker," Jackson said. "We've seen it in camp since his rookie season last year. He's been grinding and all he needed is the opportunity, and he's showed it each and every time."
THE ADDED DIMENSION to the passing game has been Hopkins' knack for coming down with contested catches.
Harbaugh, who was a former secondary coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, was watching the tape of Hopkins' 23-yard catch Sunday and he had no advice for Browns cornerback Cameron Mitchell on how to play it better. Mitchell ran stride for stride with Hopkins, who still came down with the ball in the end zone.
"I just thought that that young corner was covering DeAndre as well as he could," Harbaugh said. "He couldn't cover him any better and yet Lamar puts the ball in a great spot and DeAndre makes a great catch."
Still, this catch doesn't come close to the level of difficulty of Hopkins' first touchdown connection with Jackson. Hopkins, who had a Bills defender draped all over him, reached out his right hand to haul in the 29-yard touchdown throw. Hopkins, 33, moved into a tie for 19th on the NFL's all-time receiving touchdown list.
Jackson said he has had instant trust to throw those types of balls to Hopkins because of his track record.
"I [have] seen it his whole career," Jackson said. "Even when I wasn't in the league, I've been watching 'D-Hop' make spectacular catches and when he was on other teams as well. But just seeing him at camp, just building chemistry there, and I feel like everyone called him -- I believe people called him 'washed' and stuff like that, but he's showing otherwise."
Now, Jackson's strong start could put him in select company by the end of the season. Only six players have won MVP at least three times and the last was Aaron Rodgers in 2021.