Lamar Jackson dazzles again with a 29-yard run on botched play

Lamar Jackson continues to dazzle, as he broke off a 29 yard run but couldn’t get out of his own way down to the one yard line

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has dazzled time and time again throughout his early NFL career. Seemingly every week, Jackson has been adding highlight-reel runs and throws. Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams is definitely no exception.

Jackson initially dropped the snap on the ground. When he picked it up, he felt pressure and took off running with open field ahead of him. Weaving in and out of defenders down the field, Jackson got tripped up by the turf and rolled to the goal line.

This shows just how electric Jackson is and how he affects the defenses. The Rams came into this game trying to contain Jackson from running around them. But with the running backs picking up yards inside and Jackson starting the game perfect through the air, Los Angeles backed off to try and stop getting beat by Jackson’s arm. It left the middle of the field wide open and a huge hole for Jackson to run through. Once in the open field, Jackson is nearly unstoppable.

It didn’t matter that Jackson couldn’t finish the job himself, as Mark Ingram pounded the ball into the end zone on the very next play.

As Jackson continues to rack up highlight plays, Baltimore’s offense continues to rack up points. The Ravens are dominating the Rams in every facet of the game, and if this continues, we might see Jackson resting on the sideline for another fourth quarter.

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Watch: Ravens strike first with Lamar Jackson TD pass

A quick throw to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown has the Baltimore Ravens up early against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12

The Baltimore Ravens have been kings of starting fast this season, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive more often than not in the 10 games this season. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise they’ve done it against this week against the Los Angeles Rams.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson capped off a 55-yard drive with an easy five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquise Brown on a quick slant.

The Ravens started out with excellent field position after De’Anthony Thomas returned a Rams punt to the 45-yard line. A few big runs from Mark Ingram and Jackson got the Ravens down into the red zone, where Brown was able to get wide open for an easy score.

The Baltimore Ravens offense has been red hot this season, in large part because of the dynamic trio of Jackson at quarterback, Ingram at running back, and Brown at wide receiver.

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Fantasy football: Week 12 sits/starts for the Ravens

A look at the fantasy appeal of the Ravens players heading into Monday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams.

Monday Night Football in Week 12 sees the 8-2 Baltimore Ravens travel to Los Angeles to take on the 6-4 Rams. The Ravens are on a six-game winning streak and have won their last four games by double-digits. The reigning NFC champion Rams have won three of their last four, but find themselves in third place in the NFC West behind the 9-1 San Francisco 49ers and the 8-2 Seattle Seahawks.

Here, I’ll offer my thoughts on players to start and players to sit this week. As ever, Lamar Jackson is playing, so if you’ve got him, you’re starting him.

Start at RB2 – RB, Mark Ingram

Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images

One of these weeks I am confident that I will correctly asses the fantasy value of Mark Ingram. I mean, I recommended sitting him last week due to concerns regarding his volume and production. Ingram, true to form, carried the ball only 13 times for 48 yards, the third time in four games he’s been held below four yards per attempt. But then almost out of nowhere, he catches three passes, two of which result in touchdowns. Maddening.

The Rams have been solid and unwelcoming to running backs this season. Only one running back has amassed more than 45 yards against them since Week 8. No running back has scored a rushing touchdown against them since Week 6. Tailbacks are not exactly enjoying themselves as pass catchers against them either. Tarik Cohen had five receptions against them last week, but that was the first time since Week 8 any back has had more than four catches in a game against the Rams. They’ve not allowed a running back to top 35 receiving yards since Week 1.

In his current form, I have to acknowledge that Ingram is a touchdown-dependent fantasy asset. He is not commanding a large workload, as evidenced by the fact that he has 15 or fewer carries in each of his last five games. Nor is he an every-down player, as he has played less than 66% of the Ravens offensive snaps in all but one game in 2019. If you have no other option, then he can be plugged in as an RB2. But we can’t expect him to score two receiving touchdowns ever again.

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Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram shared a great moment on sideline during last week’s win

“You inspire me, cuz!”

Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram loves his QB, Lamar Jackson, a lot. We learned that last Sunday when Ingram served as one heck of a hype man for Jackson during his postgame press conference.

And it makes sense, because Jackson is a special talent who has been dominant in just about every game he’s played this season. The QB’s play has the Ravens as one of the favorites to contend for a Super Bowl title this season.

It turns out that Ingram didn’t wait until his press conference to sing the praises of Jackson. That started during the blowout when they shared this great moment one the sideline:

My favorite part is Jackson’s “Hell nah” response to being told he’s unbelievable. This kid is such a competitor who only cares about his teammates and his team winning games. He doesn’t seem all that interested in being told that he’s great.

This moment between John Harbaugh and Jackson from a few weeks ago is pretty great, too:

Jackson is the real deal. And it looks like the Ravens are, too.

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WATCH: Mark Ingram scores two touchdowns in Raven’s win

Former Alabama Heisman-winning running back Mark Ingram has been a very strong presence in the Baltimore Ravens backfield, and he continued to shine in the team’s 7 – 41 win over the Houston Texans. Overall, Ingram had 13 carries for 48 yards on the …

Former Alabama Heisman-winning running back Mark Ingram has been a very strong presence in the Baltimore Ravens backfield, and he continued to shine in the team’s 7 – 41 win over the Houston Texans.

Overall, Ingram had 13 carries for 48 yards on the ground, and three receptions for 37 yards and two touchdowns.

Ingram’s first touchdown of the day was this 25-yard pass that ended with a smooth celebration in the endzone.

His second touchdown didn’t come without some display of strength.

This 12-yard touchdown pass to Ingram probably should have been stopped well short of even the first down, but he had his eyes set on the endzone.

This touchdown helped put the nail in the coffin to secure the Ravens win to improve their record to 8-3.

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Mark Ingram is embracing his new role as Official Lamar Jackson Hype Man

The hype man Lamar Jackson needed.

Sunday’s game between the Texans and Ravens was built up as a matchup of two MVP candidates in Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson. It ended up being the Lamar Jackson show.

The Ravens quarterback followed up his perfect passer rating in Week 10 with a spectacular four-touchdown performance in Baltimore’s 41-7 win against the Texans. That kind of showing also gave Ravens running back Mark Ingram reason to continue his role as Official Lamar Jackson Hype Man.

Late in that Week 10 win against Cincinnati, mic’d-up video showed Ingram leading “MVP” chants for Jackson from the sidelines. On Sunday, though, he took that hype-man role straight to the media. He lobbied for Jackson’s MVP candidacy from the podium at the postgame press conference.

He said:

“The MVP frontrunner. If anybody else got to say something different about that they can come see me. I’m right here in B-More outside The Bank. You got an issue with that, come see me.”

Jackson’s game has been convincing enough on its own, but it doesn’t hurt to have a hype man.

Ingram is excelling in that role.

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Mark Ingram will beat you up if you don’t think Lamar Jackson is the MVP

Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram is willing to fight those that don’t think Lamar Jackson is the NFL MVP frontrunner

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Another week and the Lamar Jackson for MVP bandwagon continues to grow. And if you’re not on it, you’re going to have to go face-to-face with running back Mark Ingram, who introduced the quarterback after the Baltimore Ravens beat the Houston Texans 41-7 in Week 11.

While Ingram is clearly joking and hyping Jackson up, there’s serious merit to that talk. In spite of some still thinking Jackson isn’t a capable passer, he added to his MVP resume with another amazing performance in Week 11.

Against the Texans, Jackson completed 70.8% of his passes for 222 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 139.2 passer rating. It’s his second consecutive game and his fourth game this season with at least three touchdown passes. He’s very likely on his way to a third straight AFC Offensive Player of the Week award — it’d be the fourth of this season through 10 games.

But in usual Jackson fashion, he made electric plays on the ground, including a 39-yard run in which he juked one defender and ran over another. He finished the game with 86 yards on nine carries. It brings him closer to breaking Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record for quarterbacks.

After Week 11, Jackson has 2,258 passing yards, 19 touchdown passes and just five interceptions, while adding another 788 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Though not traditional play by a quarterback, it’s those combined stats that have Jackson in the thick of the MVP race. And he’s getting even more support from those not on his team.

Following the game, opposing quarterback Deshaun Watson gave him some MVP love with a note on an exchanged jersey. It’s just one in a long line of opponents giving praise to Jackson after he just torched their team this season. And with Ingram now playing enforcer to Jackson’s MVP talk, I’d hate to be one of the voters who disagrees with him.

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Fantasy football: Week 11 sits/starts for the Ravens

A look at what Ravens players to start, and which to sit, for Week 11 against the Houston Texans.

Sunday sees a clash between two division leaders as the Baltimore Ravens lock horns with the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens have won their last five games at sit atop the AFC North with a 7-2 record. The Texans are on a two-game winning streak and are fresh from a bye following their rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars in London two weeks ago.

Here, I’ll offer my thoughts on players to start and players to sit this week. As ever, Lamar Jackson is playing, so if you’ve got him you’re starting him.

SIT – RB, Mark Ingram

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Running backs have not enjoyed a great deal of success against the Texans in 2019. A tailback hasn’t scored more than 12.4 PPR points against them since Week 5. They’ve allowed only two running back rushing scores as well.

Ingram continues to operate as the lead back for Baltimore. But it would be inaccurate to describe him as a workhorse. He has gone four games since his last 20 opportunity game (carries + targets), and he’s been held below 50 rushing yards in four of his last five outings. He remains largely dependent on touchdowns with regards to his fantasy output and has finished higher than RB31 just once in games in which he didn’t find the endzone.

The Texans have been slightly more welcoming to running backs in the passing game, with seven running backs catching at least five passes against them this year. However, Ingram has commanded more than two targets in a game only three times this season and has exceeded 22 receiving yards just once since Week 3.

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Experts’ Week 11 predictions have Ravens beating Texans

The experts aren’t really giving the Houston Texans a chance in their Week 11 tilt with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Houston Texans take on the Baltimore Ravens Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at M&T Bank Stadium in a tilt that is early jockeying for first-round bye positioning. If the Texans win, they will achieve a 7-3 mark and drop the Ravens to the same record. However, Houston will have the tiebreaker, and thus take the No. 2 spot in the AFC, if the playoffs were to start next week.

The Texans are coming off of their bye, but experts don’t see it helping them much.

usa today takes the ravens

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Mitchell Layton-USA TODAY Sports

Each week, Touchdown Wire presents their NFL game previews for the week. Here is what Matthew Stevens had to write:

Ravens’ keys: Baltimore has to get pressure on QB Deshaun Watson. Offensively, Baltimore has to get into a rhythm in the passing game to take advantage of a suspect secondary.

Texans’ keys: Contain QB Lamar Jackson from breaking out of the pocket and stop RB Mark Ingram on the ground. Putting Baltimore into third-and-long situations will force Jackson into obvious passing situations and open up the possibility of mistakes.

Who wins? This game comes down to how well the Texans can contain Jackson. Once the Ravens get on a roll offensively, they’re nearly impossible to stop. Ravens 34, Texans 27

Behind Enemy Lines: Previewing Week 11 with Ravens Wire

Ravens Wire helps Texans Wire go behind enemy lines to set the table for the Week 11 matchup between Houston and Baltimore.

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