Success Against NFL's Best Rides on Lamar Jackson
When Lamar Jackson is at his best, so are the Ravens. But Sunday's 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was evident that success against the NFL's top teams rides on No. 8.
"They need Jackson to be great against their best opponents," The Baltimore Sun's Childs Walker wrote. "Instead, he's played his two worst games against the Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs."
"Sometimes, we tend to overanalyze things, but this shouldn't be one of those times," The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec added. "The Ravens didn't lose Sunday because of offensive coordinator Greg Roman's play-calling, two starting offensive linemen going down early in the first half, the officiating, Matthew Judon's ejection or their defense failing to get enough stops in the second half.
"A few of those factors made things difficult at times, but the Ravens lost because their quarterback turned the ball over four times, contributing to two Steelers touchdowns and taking what should have been sure points for the Ravens off the board."
As Zrebiec noted, the Ravens were the first team since 1950 to outrush their opponent by 200-plus yards and outpass them and still lose. For the better part of three quarters, Baltimore was on track to take down the NFL's lone remaining unbeaten team, but four turnovers from Jackson (two interceptions and two fumbles) were the difference.
In the Ravens' two losses this season Jackson is 30-of-56 for 305 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He reiterated in the postgame press conference that he needs to be better, but some pundits questioned where the Ravens rank among the AFC's best.
"[I]t's legitimate to ask where they fall in the AFC balance of power," ESPN's Jamison Hensley wrote. "Baltimore entered Sunday having beaten only one team with more than two wins. The Ravens' last four wins came against teams whose combined record was 6-20-2 (.250) entering Week 8: Houston, Washington, Cincinnati and Philadelphia."
However, NBC Sports' Peter King still remains optimistic. The Ravens were fifth on his midseason power rankings under the "best of the best" category, but King echoed the same feeling about Jackson's performance.
"Not that home field has been Baltimore's friend, but now, barring Pittsburgh losing a two-game lead in the division with nine games to play, the Ravens could have to win three road games to make it to the Super Bowl," King wrote. "Very hard to do, especially when two of the road sites could be Kansas City and/or Pittsburgh. The good news is the Ravens, without Stanley, ran it well against a great run-defense team Sunday. The weekend takeaway: Jackson must be better, or the year will end in disappointment again."
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November 02, 2020 at 09:39PM
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Late for Work 11/2: Success Against NFL's Best Rides on Lamar Jackson - BaltimoreRavens.com
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