USA TODAY International Edition
Jackson uses legs to lead Ravens
First-round rookie got 1st start at QB
BALTIMORE – Lamar Jackson slouched in a chair, still fully dressed in sweat-soaked, grass-stained all-black uniform, listening as his head coach gushed about his play in the first start of his career.
“I thought he played spectacular,”
John Harbaugh said emphatically after the Ravens’ 24-21 win over Cincinnati at M&T Bank Stadium. “I thought he played winning football. It’s tough being a quarterback in this league. It’s tough against a defense like that. … I thought he played very poised. I thought he played the position — he played quarterback — very well. He managed us, operated us, got us in the right formations. His cadence was excellent. For a first-time out rookie in an environment like that — all those operation things, I think, speak to his intelligence, his studiousness and just his ability to run the show. And that’s everything. The playmaking, that comes from God. He made use of that, too. Very proud of that.”
After nine weeks as a backup used as an occasional gadget player, Jackson, the 32nd overall pick of this year’s draft, finally got his shot thanks to starter Joe Flacco’s hip injury. Jackson delivered a valiant effort. But his performance was anything but a traditional quarterback’s outing.
Jackson carried the ball a whopping 27 times for 117 yards to lead a rushing attack that racked up 265 yards against the Bengals defense. (The 27 attempts set a modern-day NFL record and were the most overall since Pittsburgh’s Joe Geri ran 29 times in 1950.)
Jackson did use his arm (sparingly in comparison), completing 13 of 19 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. But it was the outcome that mattered: a victory, within the division, to snap a three-game losing streak, improve the Ravens record’ to 5-5 and keep them in the hunt for a playoff berth.
That’s all that really mattered, though Jackson admitted he never dreamed he would have carried the ball that many times. But he stuck with the game plan, took what his play-caller and the defense gave him and helped his team win.
“I don’t know,” Jackson said when asked for his thoughts once he finally took the podium. “Came out with a win. It was pretty good, I guess.”
He added, “I didn’t envision the game being that close, I’ll say that. … I didn’t think I would run the ball that much, but whatever it takes to win.”
Just as Jackson gave the M&T Stadium crowd a spark when he trotted onto the field for his first series (drawing a standing ovation from many fans), he gave his team as a whole a much-needed jolt, Ravens players said. His athleticism had a dizzying effect on the Bengals defenders, who struggled to figure out whom to key on during the many option plays Jackson directed. If it weren’t Jackson racing past them on keepers on the edge or up the middle, it was running back Gus Edwards, an undrafted rookie from Rutgers, who racked up 115 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
The tandem paved the way for 265 total rushing yards. Jackson’s 150 passing yards put the Ravens over the 400-yard mark for the first time in five games and only the fourth time this season. There was no denying this had the look and feel more of a high school attack than a professional offense. (Jackson’s longest pass traveled just 23 yards.)
But because the Bengals, among the worst in the league in every major statistical category, had no answer for Jackson & Co., Ravens offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg kept calling the RPO plays again and again.
“We were just looking for an edge of some kind,” receiver Willie Snead admitted. “Four-and-5, and we were itching for a victory, like I said. So Lamar came in and gave that spark to the offense, as you all see.”
But once the relief of the snapped losing streak, and jubilation of a victory fade, the Ravens will face a fair amount of questions.
Flacco sounds like a long shot to return by next week against Oakland, so that’s one matter Harbaugh and his assistants won’t have to address for now. But they do have to figure out the best direction for their offense going forward.
The run-heavy attack worked against Cincinnati. But it’s unlikely that such a game plan is sustainable. Had Andy Dalton had Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Green at his disposal, the Bengals very well might have mustered more than just 21 points and 255 total yards.
Had they faced a more prolific offense, the Ravens would have had to ask Jackson to pass more.
The rookie said he has no problem doing so, and even said he hopes to “sit back and throw the ball” to avoid subjecting himself to risk of injury. However, it didn’t appear his coaches had the kind of confidence in Jackson to put a heavier passing load on his shoulders. When they did call pass plays, they were quick-hitters designed to get the ball out of his hands quickly rather than having him work his way through progressions.
Harbaugh promised an expansion of the play selection.
“We’re not going to be some kind of a running football team,” he said. “We want to be a running football team, obviously; we always want to be a running football team, but we’re a passing football team, too.
“I think you saw how well Lamar threw the ball. This kid can throw it. So we’ll be spreading the ball out to our receivers as well.”
Next week will prove whether Jackson is capable of directing a more passoriented attack, and that will go a long way toward indicating whether the Ravens should stick with the rookie or go back to Flacco, something critics have said for some time that they need to do.
But first, the kid has to prove he is up to the task.