BALTIMORE -- Brian Billick and the Baltimore Ravens are making a playoff run with a Banks that doesn't cash checks. Or so the Jacksonville Jaguars thought coming into PSINet Stadium on Sunday.
Tony Banks is too impatient to throw to "checkdown" receivers, so the Jaguars' pass defenders stayed back in basically a two-deep zone thinking Banks would screw things up. He didn't. Until the final seconds of Sunday's 39-36 victory over Jacksonville, Banks played with the patience that impatient Rams fans never saw.
|  | | Shannon Sharpe caught a 29-yard TD pass from Tony Banks with 41 seconds left. |
Eleven times Banks stared into the barrel of the Jags' zone defense and dumped a boring, safe toss to a running back. Seven times, he hit his fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo. There isn't a Jaguars defender who could spell Obafemi Ayanbadejo let alone figure he would be so instrumental in the Ravens' game plan.
In the end, Banks burned the Jaguars for five touchdowns passes and personal redemption.
"Teams like Jacksonville are known for their deep zones and play it as well as anybody," Banks said. "They try to make you methodically move the ball down the field. And they were going against somebody like me who doesn't like checkdowns."
Safe. Conservative. Heady. Those aren't words usually associated with the old Tony Banks. Having him throw checkdowns is like having Mark McGwire lay down bunts. Banks loves going for the deep plays. On Sunday, a new Banks emerged.
"Banks did a great job," Jaguars linebacker Lonnie Marts said. "He was patient and he's not known for that. He was very well coached. He's not known for being patient, but he knew exactly where he wanted to move the ball."
In the first half, the Jaguars had Banks where they wanted them. They jumped out to a 17-0 first-half lead, taking advantage of dumb third-down penalties on both sides of the ball. The Ravens showed life in the second quarter but still trailed 23-7. Overall, the Ravens offense gained only 94 first-half yards, and the secondary was counting their interception hopes for the second half.
Banks caught the Jaguars asleep to start the second half and connected on a 40-yard completion and a 23-yard touchdown to rookie Travis Taylor. Feeling they still had the game in hand, the Jags dropped into their zones and waited for Banks to make mistakes. He didn't.
Perhaps the most amazing drive that summed up Banks' growth as a quarterback came in the final two minutes. The Jags took the lead 36-32 on a freakish play in which a pass bounced off Keenan McCardell's hands to Jimmy Smith, who slipped away from cornerback Duane Starks and scored on a 40-yard touchdown. Starks said he pulled a hamstring on the play and couldn't make the tackle.
Banks came back with 1:45 left to start a 75-yard touchdown and didn't forget the checkdowns. He hit receiver Billy Davis over the middle for gains of 19 and 15 yards. They were safe un-Banks-like passes. On a first down at the Jags' 41, he checked down to Ayanbadejo for a 12-yard gain.
"I've got to give him a lot of credit," Marts said of Banks. "He knew exactly how to move the ball."
With 48 seconds, though, Banks got gutsy and did something he couldn't do in practice all week. He hit tight end Shannon Sharpe in the middle of the field for a game-winning, 29-yard touchdown pass. The amazing part about the play is that Banks doesn't feel comfortable throwing to tight ends even though owner Art Modell spent $5 million this year to bring in Sharpe.
Years of criticism has Banks fearful of throwing into the middle of the field because he's tired of being scrutinized for interceptions.
"Tony doesn't feel quite comfortable yet throwing to the tight end position," said Sharpe, who didn't catch a pass in the opener and had three receptions for 50 yards against the Jaguars. "I'm not going to get frustrated. I'm going to remain patient."
So is Banks. All day, Sharpe kept telling him he was wide open, but Banks ignored him.
"The middle linebacker (Hardy Nickerson) would drop deep with him about 15 to 18 yards and then pass him off to the safety (Donovin Darius)," Banks said. "I'd look at that and if the middle linebacker was still with him, I'd go to my checkdowns."
This time, Nickerson didn't drop as deep, and Darius dropped to the end zone after seeing two other receivers fouling him up with their routes. Sharpe caught the pass at the Jags' 1 and powered over Darius to score the go-ahead TD.
Banks came to the sidelines and cried. In a way, it was his coming-out party -- a five-touchdown, 262-yard day that no one expected. Teammates like Sharpe rallied around Banks, who was reminded about the open guys he didn't hit by Billick.
"Believe in what you see because it's easy where Brian is standing to say that," Sharpe said. "He doesn't have four or five guys in his face."
The tears of joy spewed out because this was, in Banks' eyes, the biggest win of his career. Also, the Ravens broke their 0-8 streak against Jacksonville.
"Patience is easy to learn when you aren't on the field like I was for part of last year," Banks said. "Fortunately, I'm still a work in progress."
On Sunday, Banks progressed.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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