Tag: lamar jackon

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson catches stray in Julian Edelman critique

Julian Edelman shared a candid critique of Lamar Jackson

Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was open and honest when discussing his opinion of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Edelman indicated that Jackson was one of the quarterbacks that needed to elevate his game this upcoming season to compete with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

To be fair, Jackson did have an incredible 2023 season statistically for the Ravens. He won his second NFL MVP award after throwing for 3,678 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions during the regular season.

However, he struggled in the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs. He went 20-of-37 in the matchup throwing for 272 yards, a touchdown and an interception. That performance further added to the notion that he struggles in big moments.

“It’s up to everyone else. We need to see a Joe Burrow come out and stay healthy, start fast,” said Edelman. “We need to see Lamar Jackson, who has been on a milk carton in the playoffs. He’s missing.”

Jackson will have a lot to prove this season after struggling in the playoffs once again. The Ravens haven’t made it to the Super Bowl in 12 years.

They’re hoping that changes at some point with Jackson under center.

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Ravens HC John Harbaugh excited to see where Baltimore’s offense could go

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that he’s excited to see where the team’s offense could go

The Baltimore Ravens have won five of their first seven games during the 2021 season, showing just how resilient they are despite seeing many of their key players go down with injuries throughout the year. They have found ways to win on both sides of the ball, and all things considered have put together a very impressive campaign so far.

Baltimore will seemingly be getting a few reinforcements soon, as a few of their contributors could return to play in the coming days and weeks. When Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about if there was a sense of excitement about the team’s offense with some skill-position players set to return, the coach said that there was, and that he was excited to see where the offense could go.

“There is. I feel like we have weapons – if that’s what you’re talking about – and as you said, we’re going to add a couple guys with Sammy [Watkins] coming back, and Nick [Boyle] is going to be back at some point. At running back, Latavius [Murray] will be back. I’m excited about where our offense could go; I just want to get it there. [It’s] the same thing on defense and still on special teams. So, you kind of go back and forth between, ‘This is what we’re capable of becoming. These are our issues; these are the areas that we’re going to be kind of what we are, so how can we make the most of that?’ And there are other areas where we have a chance to make a jump, maybe, because of guys getting healthy. [There are] other things we can take advantage of, schematically, because of the things we’ve done well that we can kind of build on and add to. All those things, kind of at the Bye [Week], you take stock of.”

The offensive skill-position players set to return soon will provide a big boost to a unit that has found ways to put together some really good performances over the course of the 2021 season despite being so thin at certain positions. Now with their reinforcements on the way, Baltimore has a chance to put together an even better offense than what’s been seen so far.

Bills vs. Ravens: 3 keys to victory for both teams

Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens three keys to victory in Divisional round for both teams.

The Bills find themselves two wins away from a potential Super Bowl appearance. However, the team is taking it one game at a time. Wisely, of course, because an opponent that has been on a hot streak similar to them is up next, as the Baltimore Ravens (11-5) come to Buffalo (13-3) for the Divisional round.

The added layer to all of this? Two of the 2018 NFL QB Draft Class squaring it off to earn a right to the Conference Championship in Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.

With that, here are three keys to the game for both teams:

Baltimore Ravens

1. Rush hour

Baltimore has won a large chunk of their games with a strong rushing attack and a solid defense. They are the No. 1rushing offense for a reason, though. Between Jackson, and their multitude of running backs, including rookie sensation J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Mark Ingram when he isn’t a healthy scratch, and more.

The Ravens can run in many ways, and that makes them dangerous in any situation. The Bills defense, while better defending against the run, still gives up a lot on the ground, and no team is better this year at making people pay for it like Baltimore does.

Sticking with the run helps Jackson in the passing game, which hasn’t been his strength over his NFL career, and it also helps keep Allen off of the field. As long as the Ravens can score, there’s pressure on Allen to make things happen in a quick amount of time.

2. Play to Jackson’s strength in the passing game

With all due respect to the former league MVP, Jackson is not a pass-first quarterback. His highest passing yards total was in Week 1 with 275 passing yards. In fact, of the 16 games that he’s played this season, including last week against the Titans, Lamar only has five games where he passed for more than 200 yards. Jackson also had a 97-yard passing game against Kansas City in Week 3.

While the Ravens have still won in most of their games this season, it shows that Jackson may have limitations as a passer. For Jackson to succeed as a passer against Buffalo, he should take a page out of the Colts playbook from last week and attack the middle of the field often. Jackson’s deep ball isn’t dependable, but middle of the field is deadly accurate.

Last week, the Colts tight ends were successful in moving the ball downfield. This may be something that the Ravens want to explore, as Jackson can use a mix of fake handoffs to throw off defenses, and hit his receivers in a reasonable range.

3. Why stop at your first win?

Jackson came into 2020 with several unfair stigmas against him. One of those, being his inability to win a playoff game. The still very young quarterback is currently in his third trip to the postseason, but has lost in the first round to the Chargers in 2018, and the Titans in 2019. While wins are a unfair quarterback trait, Jackson finally got his first last week against the Titans.

For the Ravens; sake, and even for Jackson, the satisfaction of that one victory cannot be the end goal. Baltimore seems to be fighting for something more than just getting that proverbial “monkey off of their back.” but how they perform when the bright lights are on this Saturday will show.

With how hot that the Ravens have been playing, there is real Super Bowl ambitions. They’ll have to bring their best, and like the Colts almost did last week, play a perfect game against a red-hot Bills team.

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