Tag: Baltimore

Irish in the NFL: Boykin Shines Again in LA Coliseum

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

With the Baltimore Ravens playing on and owning Monday Night Football this week it meant for a chance for the nation to get a closeup of MVP-frontrunner, Lamar Jackson.  Before we get to the Notre Dame connection to this game let me just say that his meteoric rise to super-stardom makes me incredibly happy to be wrong about what he might be able to do in the NFL.

He’s not only the most exciting player going this season but he’s also got to be the favorite to win the MVP award after doing what he did to the Patriots a couple weeks ago on Sunday Night Football and again for his five touchdown passes and complete domination of the Rams on Monday Night Football.

Now to the Notre Dame side of this game:

Miles Boykin must have a thing for the Los Angeles Coliseum.  In last year’s regular season finale you may remember what he did to spring Tony Jones, Jr. to the end zone to clinch a 12-0 regular season.

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0EX041dKQw&w=560&h=315]

Well, Boykin was at it again Monday night as the Ravens embarrassed the reigning NFC Champs on their home field, 45-6.

It may have been out of hand at this point but its remarkable to me how Boykin’s highlight catch tonight occurs in almost the exact same spot as his block, nearly exactly a year to the day, that sent the Fighting Irish to their first College Football Playoff appearance. (Shoutout to Austin Hough of The Goshen News for pointing that out to me on Twitter).

I also wouldn’t be doing my proper work if I didn’t send mad-praise the way of Ronnie Stanley who has been an absolute monster for the Ravens and is a huge reason their downright nasty rushing attack works as well as it does.

The Ravens now sit at 9-2 on the season and atop the AFC North standings.  Along with Boykin and Stanley, former Notre Dame corner back Bennett Jackson, Jr. is also currently on the Ravens roster.

Through 16 starts, Lamar Jackson’s stats prove he’s the real deal

Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has now played a full season’s worth of games, so now is the time to analyze how he’s done so far

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has hit a benchmark in his career. With nine regular-season games down in the 2019 season added to the seven he started last year, Jackson has finally started a full 16 games in the NFL. A full season’s worth of stats now on his resume allows us to better review how he’s done thus far.

Take a look at Jackson’s regular-season stats during his first 16 career starts:

Lamar Jackson passing stats:

Comp Att Comp% Yds TDs TD% INTs INT% Rating
267 425 62.8 3,237 21 4.9% 8 1.9% 94.8

Lamar Jackson rushing stats:

Att Yds YPC TDs
225 1,258 5.59 10

While the amount of passing yards isn’t spectacular in today’s NFL, considering quarterbacks regularly throw for over 4,000 yards a season, Jackson’s passing stats are still impressive overall. It’s the best TD percentage since Joe Flacco’s 2014 campaign and the best passer rating of any Ravens quarterback in franchise history (with more than three games started). Considering Jackson was held back a bit by a more conservative offensive scheme during his rookie season, it’s even more impressive.

And that’s before we even get into the notion of Jackson as a runner. While Jackson often sees his rushing ability used to critique him as a quarterback, Jackson’s stats on the ground are impressive by themselves. If he were a running back, he’d likely be up for a Pro Bowl nomination on those stats alone. But when combined with his passing yards, Jackson would actually rank 50th in NFL history in single-season total offensive yards (rushing and passing yards combined) ahead of Peyton Manning’s 2004 campaign in which he was both a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro quarterback.

Not too bad for a guy Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian said should switch to wide receiver. Or for a guy that’s only 22 years old and in the first 16 starts of his NFL career. Or even without any of those caveats . . . as Jackson compares favorably to some of the best players in NFL history.

What’s the important takeaway here — and something so many of Jackson’s detractors seem to forget — is he’s still getting his feet underneath him in this league. Just like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, Jackson is still getting accustomed to playing quarterback in the NFL and he’s steadily improving while putting up solid early results.

In seven games last season, Jackson had a 58.2% completion rate. That number has jumped to 65.9% in the nine games he’s started this year. He’s thrown 15 touchdown passes this year (5.9%) compared to just six last season (3.5%). He’s improved his passer rating from 82.6 last season to 101.7 this year. He’s averaging 1.25 more yards per attempt while being sacked 2% less. That’s not even getting into his rushing numbers, which have also improved from last year.

It’s also important to look at what Jackson has meant for the entire team as well. While stats are a huge benchmark of individual performance, the reality is no team makes it to a Super Bowl without winning games. Though no team picks up a win thanks solely to one player, Jackson has been among the league’s best through his first 16 games, going 13-3.

Jackson has now been under the microscope for a full season’s worth of starts and it’s clear he’s here to stay.

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