The Baltimore Ravens finally kicked their three-game losing streak on Sunday with a precarious 24-21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Lamar Jackson made his first NFL start at quarterback in the victory and looked exactly like the dynamic runner Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta had envisioned when they moved up 20 spots to select the former Heisman Trophy winner.
Despite the fact that he was able to collect his first NFL win, Jackson’s performance was far from perfect. Baltimore racked up yards on the ground spearheaded by Jackson’s 27 rushing attempts but the rookie struggled through the air. Inconsistency throughout the receiving core has been a large theme of the 2018 season for Baltimore no matter who has played under center. Jackson finished the day with only 13 completions for 150 yards and a pick.
Though Jackson’s incredible speed and elusiveness as a quarterback made it tough for the Bengals to bring him down, John Harbaugh and the rest of the coaching staff need to be certain his passing ability will not get him in trouble if he remains the starter going forward for Baltimore. With Joe Flacco still dealing with a hip injury and the Ravens pushing for a playoff spot with a handful of 5-5 AFC teams, is it the right decision for the Ravens to push on with Jackson at the helm or go back to Flacco when the schedule gets a bit tougher?
Joe Flacco Should Still Start Over Lamar Jackson Once Healthy
Let Lamar Loose
Jackson looked dynamic in his first start as a Raven. Harbaugh put a huge emphasis on feeding his backs and Jackson was the beneficiary as the Ravens had their best game all season running the ball. Both Jackson and fellow rookie Gus Edwards eclipsed the 100-yard mark, becoming the first two Ravens in 2018 to top the century mark on the ground. Baltimore’s offense has always revolved around running the ball and keeping a defense on their toes but Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg took that ideology to the next level with a mobile quarterback.
My favorite play of the half by Lamar Jackson.
-Multiple reads.
-Efficient movement until truly threatened.
-Ball security.
-Sees pocket advantage and returns to being a thrower.
-More ball security.
-Finds open man and accurate throw.
-23-yard gain, FG range, 50-yarder. pic.twitter.com/4clk8SuHxd— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) November 19, 2018
What’s Different About Jackson?
The Ravens as a team against Cincinnati used seven different runners throughout the game and ran the ball an absurd 54 times. This helped Baltimore amass a whopping 265 rushing yards — 142 more yards than their previous season high against the Tennessee Titans. This is the effect Jackson can have on an offense. His natural speed and ability to create space with his feet, look to be the best of any quarterback in NFL and will consistently keep defenses guessing what he’s going to do next. The amount of rushing attempts for a quarterback is scary but the frequency in which he runs the ball goes back to his time at Louisville. During his NCAA career, Jackson had more rushing attempts than completed passes (655:619). Even, if his rushing attempts whither in comparison to his debut game, his legs are the most dangerous part of his arsenal.
With Jackson leading the Ravens, Mornhinweg has no choice – at least for the time being – than to run an offense centered around the run-pass option. Harbaugh has praised Jackson for being able to pass but he clearly needs to work on his accuracy. In the preseason, the rookie only threw for an average of 6.0 yards per completion with a 50% completion percentage. He improved on those numbers against Cincinnati but in comparison to the rest of the regular season quarterbacks, Jackson would have the worst yards per completion of any quarterback with over 100 attempts.
Don't get it twisted. | @Lj_era8 pic.twitter.com/LKS2kY6bb7
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 20, 2018
Jackson has a lot to prove before he can be counted on as a reliable starter but is his ability to open up the running game and scramble for yards more integral than his competitions ability to throw?
Fly With Flacco
Flacco’s attitude has always been in question since his early years in the NFL but he has typically been able to stave off his doubters. He has been given multiple receiver makeovers and has only had one season sub .500 since entering the league in 2008. Despite those impressive career win totals, he has been inconsistent as a passer and not much has changed in 2018. He is having one of his better seasons after recovering from a back injury through 2017, recording his second-highest passing yards per game average while leading Baltimore to the 12th-ranked total offense in the NFL.
What’s Different About Flacco?
The biggest thing that separates Flacco from Jackson is the veterans ability to throw the ball deep. Flacco has always had one of the strongest arms in the NFL but still has problems with accuracy. The 33-year-old has completed 29 passes of over 20 yards in 2018 while averaging 8.4 intended air yards per attempt (15th among NFL starters). He’s focused on putting the ball in his receivers hands downfield but those hands have dropped a ton of balls for him. Both John Brown (tied for 19th) and Michael Crabtree (tied for 2nd) are ranked in the top-20 for passes dropped in 2018.
Before Sunday’s game against the Bengals, the Ravens stood at 4-5 under Flacco but it was hard to make the case that quarterback was the outstanding reason for Baltimore dropping winnable games. The defense imploded against Carolina and the first meeting against Cincinnati, Flacco had the ball for under 24 minutes against Pittsburgh and he came up with game-winning/tying drives that were ruined by out of character gaffs against New Orleans and Cleveland.
Even if Flacco isn’t single-handily losing games he’s not winning them by himself either and maybe Baltimore needs a guy that can completely take over games on his own.
Against the Oakland Raiders
The obvious answer for which quarterback should start against the Raiders is Jackson.
Flacco’s hip injury was initially expected to sideline the quarterback for two weeks. Even though he almost played against the Bengals week 11, the Raiders are playing far worse in 2018 than Cincinnati. A loss to the Bengals would have sunk the Ravens to 4-6 and given Cincinnati a seemingly unmountable hold over the last wildcard spot and second spot in the AFC North. Oakland, on the other hand, poses little to no threat to the Ravens playoff hopes and until their win in Arizona, had not won a game on the road yet in the 2018 season. The 2-8 Raiders are also the second-worst team against the run in the NFL. The only team that’s worse is Cincinnati.
John Harbaugh on Joe Flacco (hip) playing next week: “It will be tough.”
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) November 18, 2018
Harbaugh will not push Flacco into a situation where Jackson can succeed. Week 12 is an optimal opportunity for Jackson to gain more experience while helping Baltimore make a playoff run.
Jackson should replicate his Week 11 showing against a disappointing defense while Flacco continues to recover on the sidelines.
After the Raiders…
The Ravens get another tough stretch after their game against Oakland similar to the one they barely made it out of in October. Baltimore visits the Falcons, Chiefs, and Chargers with the Buccaneers coming to town week 15, in their next four games. All of these games could potentially turn into track meets and the Ravens need to go with the quarterback that can keep up with their high powered offenses.
That quarterback is a healthy Flacco.
As much as Jackson brings the most explosive play style, the Ravens could be in trouble if he is forced to throw the ball 35+ times in a game. All of Baltimore’s opponents in this stretch do not have particularly strong run defenses but three of the four have even worse pass defenses. They also have quarterbacks that love to air the ball out on a regular basis. Jackson did somewhat minimal damage through the air against a Bengals team with the second-worst pass defense in the NFL and Baltimore still needed a defensive stop up by three with 1:46 remaining in the game.
Flacco is the safest play at a time where the Ravens cannot afford to be giving away games. He plays his best football when it matters the most and Harbaugh knows that from witnessing it multiple times since their Super Bowl run in 2013.
Last Word
No matter who Harbaugh chooses to start against the Falcons, there will be pros and cons. Jackson has the chance to abuse a secondary riddled by injuries and gain experience against his first real challenge in the NFL. If they role with Flacco, he now has a point to prove after watching what Jackson’s elusiveness allows him to do at the NFL level.
The road to the playoffs will be tough and if one quarterback falters, the other needs to be ready to take charge.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
