Ravens’ Jackson dazzles on ‘MNF’ center stage
LOS ANGELES – As the final minutes and seconds ticked off the game clock, what remained of the crowd that had filled the seats at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum broke out into a frenzied cheer.
“M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P,” chanted the Ravens fans, who had filled in portions of the lower bowl after Rams fans deserted their seats and team with the 45-6 trouncing a certainty.
The Baltimore faithful rained down adoration on their young quarterback, who had done it again: dazzled with with his legs, his arm and his instincts.
But this time, Lamar Jackson did so on the national stage, while becoming the first player to throw five touchdown passes in his “Monday Night Football” debut. And this time, his heroics came against a defense led by one of the alltime great defensive minds in the Rams’ Wade Phillips. And this time he did it while flirting with perfection: completing 15 of 20 passes for 169 yards, no interceptions and a 139.4 passer rating – while also rushing for 95 yards.
But Jackson didn’t care about any of the statistical accomplishments or even the MVP chants. He only cared that the Ravens had extended their winning streak to seven games while improving to 9-2 on the season.
“It’s OK, but I’m trying to win the Super Bowl and we’re taking it a game at a time,” Jackson said at his postgame news conference. “I’m not worried about MVP. If it comes, it comes and I’ll be satisfied, but I’m trying to win a Super Bowl.”
Real talk, performances like Monday night’s very well could position Jackson for both feats.
Jackson has now led the Ravens to convincing victories over both of last season’s Super Bowl teams, first the Patriots and now the Rams.
As he continues his assault on the league, he’s seemingly only becoming more dangerous.
“It was impressive,” Rams coach Sean McVay conceded. “When you sit there and you watch and you feel the operation up close and personal, and you see just how sharp they are with their execution – what a dynamic playmaker he is – what a good job they do of creating conflict right before the snap, changing your fits. And then, on third down, they were really impressive – just his operation, his ability to be able to find some completions, make plays with his legs. There is a reason why people are talking about him as an MVP. ... This is humbling.”
Jackson was in control from the start of the game until the 14:43 mark of the fourth quarter when he made way for backup Robert Griffin III with the game well out of reach.
When his defense forced a threeand-out on the Rams’ first possession of the game, Jackson responded by directing a nine-play, 55-yard drive capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquese Brown (the first of two on the night for the rookie). He closed out the half with a statement drive that culminated with the first of two touchdown strikes to Willie Snead.
Then late in the second half, when the Ravens really needed to slam the door shut, Jackson directed a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive and a 10-play, 78-yard scoring drive.
It felt like whatever Jackson wanted to do on the field, he did. Designed runs? Got it. Off-script scrambles? Check. Third-down conversions? Money.
“The thing that I’m really so impressed with is his decision making – the way he handles the offense, and runs the offense, and the choices he makes in critical situations,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I mean – take the end of the half. The way he worked the clock, worked the ball down the field, left no time for the Rams at the end. Scored right at the end when we were out of timeouts. That’s just operating at the highest level you can operate at as a quarterback. So that’s the thing I’m probably most amazed at if it’s anything – is how he operates as a quarterback.”
Harbaugh mentioned Jackson’s decision making. But his ability to extend plays incorporates field vision and discipline as well. Jackson does a really good job keeping his eyes downfield, even when scrambling away from defenders, enabling him to locate open receivers for off-script plays. This isn’t always easy for young, mobile quarterbacks, because once they make the decision to break the pocket, they often start looking for running lanes and lose sight of downfield receivers. But not Jackson. Again and again, he evaded defenders while maintaining sight of his targets and then delivered drive-extending throws. Other times, he hung tough in the pocket with pressure bearing down and threw darts to his receiver.
“He does do a great job with that,” Harbaugh told USA TODAY Sports during a chat in the tunnel outside of the visitor’s locker room at the Coliseum. “Quarterbacks coach James Urban certainly works on a lot of that with him, but we really can’t take a lot of credit for that. Lot of that is just Lamar and his instincts and how he is.”
Another sign of Jackson’s maturity involved his ability to recognize the Rams’ defense’s attempts to confuse him. But each time, he was able to diagnose the coverage and respond accordingly.
“I watched a lot of film on them,” Jackson explained. “They were trying to disguise coverages. They went Cover 0, Cover 2, single-high, they were doing it all, but (offensive coordinator Greg Roman) was in his bag today. He was calling great plays off of great coverages, our guys were doing a great job of getting open, our offensive line of blocking, and we had success tonight.”
The Ravens and Jackson really couldn’t ask for a better marriage. The relationship centers on unwavering trust all around. The coaches are happy to let Jackson be himself and have tailored an offense to his strengths rather than force him into some ill-fitting scheme. Jackson operates with the assurance that his coaches are giving him the tools to succeed while also welcoming his input. Jackson trusts his teammates to make the plays and credits them for the success rather than viewing prolific outings as his own.
As the fans rained down those MVP chants on the quarterback in those final minutes of regulation, Ravens executive vice president Ozzie Newsome – one of the men most instrumental in Baltimore’s drafting of Jackson – stood at the edge of the field and couldn’t help but look up at the stands and beam.
This is the kind of impact that he envisioned when Baltimore traded back into the first round to take Jackson 32nd overall in 2018. It would have been hard to predict that Jackson would be this good, this soon, but Newsome and the Ravens do look like geniuses now.
“He’s special,” Newsome told USA TODAY Sports. “But what’s even greater, is he’s a great, great kid.”
Almost as if on cue, Jackson made his way off the field and stopped to sign a round of autographs for the fans who hung from the stands, screaming his name and praising his play. He wanted the fans to know he appreciated them. Then he jogged off to the locker room to briefly savor another win.
There are plenty of tests remaining on this journey that Jackson and the Ravens hope leads them to the Super Bowl. But Monday night represented another step in the process that aligns with their visions of grandeur. And with performances like that, Jackson is making it increasingly harder to deny him that MVP honor, whether that’s his goal or not.