If it were up to Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, he would have taken away the Ravens’ run game. But the Ravens controlled the script, with running back Derrick Henry accumulating 106 rushing yards and quarterback Lamar Jackson proving he can beat you any way he wants in a 41-10 beatdown.

In an effort to contain Jackson, the Broncos blitzed at a rate of just 36.4% Sunday, compared to their season average of 43%, according to TruMedia. And they succeeded in holding Jackson to just 4 rushing yards, which had been done only once before in a game Jackson started.

But it didn’t matter. The reigning MVP — who missed two practices this week and was listed as having back and knee injuries — finished with a perfect passer rating.

“He’s dangerous with his arm, and I think he showed that today,” Henry said. “If you want to take away him running the ball, [he’ll] go over your head and throw it.”

It’s also unclear how much the Broncos contained him versus how much Jackson limited himself. Coach John Harbaugh, who first said Jackson missed practice to rest, said the coaching staff left it up to Jackson to decide how much to run the ball. The quarterback chose to limit his running, attempting only three rushes.

“Lamar knows what he has to do, and he makes great choices,” Harbaugh said. “He was standing in there and just throwing it. I remember, I believe I mentioned it to one of the guys on the [headset] after the second or third series, ‘Lamar is on fire. He’s on fire throwing the ball.’”

Against a Broncos secondary that was allowing the fewest yards per completion (5.9) in the league, he passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns. The Ravens’ 13.5 yards per completion more than doubled what the Broncos’ defense had allowed, on average, through this season.

Although Jackson did not use his legs to move the offense up the field — he passed up an open lane to the end zone in favor of a touchdown pass to wide receiver Zay Flowers — he still used his quick feet to extend plays.

“He did a good job protecting himself, first of all,” Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach said. “He did a good job losing ground on us a lot of times we had him and just getting rid of the ball. At the end of day, we got to do a better job of getting him down, not even letting it get to where he’s extending those plays.”

The Broncos finished with just one sack, their fewest all season. Before playing Jackson, the Broncos had at least two sacks in every game and averaged 3.75 sacks a game.

“With a guy like that, it’s just hard,” outside linebacker Jonah Elliss said. “I mean, you can do everything right and he can still find a way to get out the pocket and make plays.”

Jackson’s success in the passing game made it difficult for the Broncos to contain the Ravens’ run game. And, unfortunately for them, when defenses get tired, Henry shines.

At the half, the Ravens were up 17-10 with 208 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Henry, meanwhile, had just 32 rushing yards and one touchdown.

He then ran for 74 yards and another touchdown in the second half. The Ravens finished with 127 net rushing yards, the fourth most the Broncos have allowed this season. And the Ravens’ 269 net passing yards blow away the next-best passing performance by a Broncos opponent (the Los Angeles Chargers threw for 222 yards).

“Obviously, I know we didn’t play our best game, but hats off to them,” Elliss said. “They came out and dominated us.”