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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Quarterback Lamar Jackson passed for four touchdowns in his return from injury Thursday night as the Ravens took care of the Miami Dolphins, 28-6.

Making his first start since Sept. 28, Jackson overcame a sluggish first half to finish 18-for-23 for 204 yards in his native South Florida. The Ravens (3-5) have won consecutive games for the first time this season and are 1.5 games behind the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North.

The Ravens pulled away in a dominant third quarter. Jackson, who’d missed three straight games with a hamstring injury, went 9-for-10 for 95 yards and two touchdowns and had a crucial 13-yard scramble in the period, while the Dolphins (2-7) were held to 39 yards as their deficit ballooned to 28-6.

Wide receiver Zay Flowers and tight end Isaiah Likely combined for eight catches for 124 yards. Running back Derrick Henry had 19 carries for 119 yards.

Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went 25-for-40 for 261 yards and threw an interception to Ravens safety Malaki Starks, the first career pick for the first-round draft choice. Tagovailoa heard boos throughout the second half as the Dolphins struggled to move the ball.

The Ravens entered halftime with a 14-6 lead despite being outplayed for much of the opening 30 minutes. The Dolphins outgained them 226-109 in the first half, but wide receiver Tahj Washington lost a fumble to safety Alohi Gilman at Miami’s 7-yard line, kicker Riley Patterson missed a 35-yard field goal, and the Dolphins came away from another red-zone drive with no points.

Tight end Mark Andrews gave the Ravens a 7-3 lead in the first quarter on a 2-yard fourth-and-goal catch, then extended their advantage to 14-3 with a 20-yard score early in the second quarter.

After a mini bye this weekend, the Ravens will hit the road again for a Week 10 game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Help wanted at the deadline

The Ravens got their most important piece back Thursday with the return of Lamar Jackson. They got a lot of help from Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and coach Mike McDaniel, plus some sloppy ball-handling. They got a pretty comfortable win despite all the weirdness that “Thursday Night Football” invites.

But it should’ve been obvious to general manager Eric DeCosta that this team still needs serious help. The offensive line couldn’t get push against a Dolphins run defense that started the season looking like one of the NFL’s worst. The pass rush struggled to create pressure with its four-man rushes against a woeful offensive line. The Ravens look like buyers ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, but how much help can they get?

— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter

A win or not a loss?

Don’t get me wrong. Stacking two wins in a row is huge for this team. The playoff dream is alive. But, oh my, these Dolphins are bad. They, along with the refs, bailed the Ravens out of so many situations. They committed a false start on a fourth-and-1 that the Ravens may or may not have stopped. Tua Tagovailoa threw wild passes. His receivers dropped balls. The Ravens’ defense can take pride in three takeaways, finally putting action to all the talk of the preseason. And the Ravens’ offense had spurts of excellence. But there was a whole lot of bending by the defense, and the offense had four three-and-outs and failed to capitalize on some explosive plays. This is certainly a start, but it’s still below this organization’s standard.

— Giana Han, Ravens reporter

Let’s get physical

It’s fortunate the Ravens have a long layoff before heading to Minnesota, because there’s a lot more they need to work on. The biggest concerns are the trenches. The offensive line didn’t get a lot of push to get the run game going, and the defensive line struggled to generate pressure. Baltimore is blessed to have two difference makers — Lamar Jackson and Kyle Hamilton — who erase many other shortcomings.

If there’s a positive to point to, it’s that the Ravens improved on both sides of the ball from the first half to the second. It feels like having Hamilton down at the line of scrimmage is more of an identity than a gimmick. And the run game improved in the second half, allowing Derrick Henry to get a little loose. They’ll need to execute in both these areas a lot more to challenge for the AFC North like they want to.

— Kyle Goon, columnist

Talent won out

Chalk it up to rust or Thursday night weirdness or Mischief Night, but the Ravens looked … off in the first half, and yet they held a 14-6 lead going into the break. That’s the difference between a two-win team that’s primed for a second-half run and a two-win team that’s playing out the string. The Ravens are worlds better than the Dolphins, but more importantly, they’re worlds better than their record. They’ll need to play cleaner games to beat better teams, but they did enough to coast to a win and enjoy the mini bye.

— Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast host

Not to be a downer but …

The Dolphins are a thoroughly broken team whose head coach will likely be unemployed any moment. So, while the Ravens should not take any win for granted, and should absolutely celebrate that they clearly look like the best team in their (very awful) division, it’s not hard to walk away from this game with concerns. Mainly: The Ravens’ lines — offensive and defensive — get pushed around way too much. This is not a very physical team in the most traditional sense. That there is some need for the Ravens to play that way, because they traditionally have, is an overrated notion. Unrelenting skill wins too! But the lack of push appears to be a limiting factor. Will general manager Eric DeCosta address it before the trade deadline passes on Tuesday at 4 p.m.?

— Chris Korman, editor