The Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens meet up for a Week 11 encounter at M&T Bank Stadium. To get ready for the matchup, Matthew Stevens, managing editor of Ravens Wire, took time to answer questions and give an inside look at the Ravens.
Texans wire: How much do Ravens fans fear Lamar jackson’s style of play will get him hurt?
Matthew Stevens: While many people look at how often Jackson runs and just see more opportunity for him to get hurt, it’s far more nuanced than that. The more you watch Jackson actually play, the more you see he does a great job avoiding big hits. He’s also a pocket passer primarily, using his legs when he has an obvious opening to make a play or when chased from the pocket. And considering how many starting quarterbacks have gone down with injuries this season by taking vicious sacks, him being able to avoid that pressure should be viewed as a positive towards his health rather than a negative. When Jackson does run, he’s been using the sideline a lot more often this season compared to his rookie year.
On plenty of his runs through nine games, Jackson has completely avoided being touched at all. So realistically, when you total everything up, Jackson probably takes no more hits than your average starting quarterback does. Though with the way Jackson has played thus far, he’s been able to see where those hits are coming from and been able to mitigate just how bad it’ll be. The reality is Jackson is undoubtedly going to get hurt at some point in his career, though everyone hopes he doesn’t.
There isn’t a franchise passer in this era of football that hasn’t gone down with a serious injury at some point in his career. The hope is Jackson can continue to be smart with how he plays in order to continue to not put himself at greater risk than any other quarterback.
TW: Who have been some big surprises for Baltimore?
MS: With a pretty young roster made up of a lot of new players, there have been a number of real surprises this season for the Ravens. But I think there’s been none bigger than the play from linebackers Josh Bynes and L.J. Fort. Both were midseason additions and have helped transform what had been one of the worst defenses in the league. Their individual stat sheets might not be much to write home about but their solid play has allowed so much else fall into place.
Offensively, I think running back Mark Ingram has been one of the best signings in the entire league this offseason. But without Jackson’s improvement as a passer and leader, the entire offense wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as it has been. While many expected Jackson to improve from last year, I don’t think many expected to see such a drastic improvement in such a short period of time.
TW: How hot of a commodity will Greg Roman be when it comes time to fill head coaching vacancies?
MS: While I think Roman should be at the top of plenty of coaching searches, I’m not too sure that happens. For as much praise as Roman and Jackson have gotten this season, featuring one of the best offenses in the league right now, I get the impression there are still plenty of people who either doubt the longevity of this scheme or how niche it is. And that makes some sense. Roman isn’t necessarily reinventing the wheel here. In fact, we’re seeing a lot of the same things he used when the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, just finding more success with Jackson at the helm.
But the thing that I think shouldn’t be overlooked is that Roman did cater his offense around the talent Baltimore has, especially at quarterback. He hasn’t been afraid to mix things up and go against the grain of traditional offense a little bit more often than you see elsewhere. That knack for not only finding and developing talent but creating a scheme to take advantage of it is something that should get him a ton of praise. It might seem like an obvious thing, but there are more than enough NFL teams that can’t seem to figure that philosophy out, including the Ravens for too many years.
TW: How big of a pickup was Mark Ingram?
MS: Ingram has been the best signing in the league this offseason bar none. Considering how much Le’Veon Bell cost the New York Jets, Ingram was a relative steal just in terms of pure cap space used. But he’s also on pace to set career highs in both rushing yards and touchdowns, improving the value so much more.
Ingram fits into what Baltimore wants to do, offering up the hammer to Jackson’s agility and in turn, the offense is flourishing because of it. He looks as strong as ever, often carrying defenders for extra yards. He still has plenty of speed, however, and has fooled defenses who though they could contain him on outside runs. It was the type of low-key, smart and efficient signing Baltimore has typically been known for in the past.
tw: is there a bettter cornerback duo than marlon humphrey and marcus peters?
MS: Boy, if there is, I’m drawing a blank on the names. Humphrey is the lockdown cornerback every team wishes they had, and Peters offers enough aggression and talent to gamble and notch some huge plays, as noted by his three pick-sixes so far this season. Considering Peters got traded to the Ravens before Week 7, he’s still undoubtedly learning the entire defensive playbook and turning things into muscle memory. Ideally, that means that duo can and will actually get better through the rest of the season and beyond. But what is often overlooked is that the Ravens also have Jimmy Smith and Brandon Carr as well — two solid cornerbacks in their own right. It’s not a stretch to say Baltimore legitimately has four starting-caliber cornerbacks on their active roster right now, and that’s even with slot cornerback Tavon Young on injured reserve. With Earl Thomas sitting over top in the free safety role, it’s hard to imagine a better overall secondary than what the Ravens have.
tw: any predictions or bold predictions?
MS: For a bold prediction, I’m going to say Jackson throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns while going over 100 yards on the ground.
So far this season, no team has been able to accurately simulate what Jackson can do, and that has been to Baltimore’s benefit. While Houston has a unique talent at quarterback in Deshaun Watson, he’s not quite on the same level as a rushing threat or as fast as Jackson. And when I look at the Texans’ defense, I wonder if they have the speed to keep Jackson from running all over them without giving up big plays either to the running backs or through the air. If the Ravens can get an early lead, the defense has been able to make some really good quarterbacks pay this season.
While anything can happen on a football field, I can’t really see that formula changing much for Baltimore this week. I see Jackson forcing the Texans to sell out on containing him, which will leave a rather suspect secondary even more exploitable. Watson and Houston’s offense keeps it close, but the Ravens win. Ravens 34, Texans 27