How Do We Reset Expectations For Lamar Jackson And The 2019 Ravens? (Plus Bonus: LAMAR SHIRTS HAVE ARRIVED!!!)
We spent all offseason discussing whether Lamar had what it takes to throw the rock in the National Football League. After 3 tough quarters in the AFC Wild Card game, the haters were out in droves, declaring already that a 22-year old who had started only 8 games could never become a competent passer. I tried to tell you he was better than you probably realized in those 8 starts. I tried to tell you that nearly every good QB in today’s NFL had similar numbers and that making declarations at this stage in his career was ludicrous.
Given the lengthy 9 months that is the NFL offseason, we had a lot of time to wait and see what the hell the kid was gonna do in his 2nd season. The 2019 season had as large a range of possibilities for a Ravens team that I could ever remember. If he flamed out and the haters were right, a 5-11 spiral wasn’t out of the question. On the other side of the spectrum, if the kid progressed into the type of dual threat he was at Louisville, a 12-4/playoff bye and Super Bowl contention type of year was perceivable as well. It all hinged on how Lamar Jackson would handle being given the keys full-time to the ferrari.
And then Week 1 arrived and we all saw what happened. Holy shit what a performance that was. His feet were supposed to be his biggest weapon, and he pretty much kept those bullets in the chamber all day. Kid was slinging the rock all over the yard. 17/20 for 324 and 5 touchdowns and a PERFECT PASSER RATING.
The most impressive part of this is just how good these completions all looked on tape. They were all right on the money. The RPO that opened up Hollywood on his first touchdown was a brilliant play design by Greg Roman and Brown doesn’t slip that tackle if the throw isn’t in the right spot.
The next deep ball to Hollywood could not have been more perfect on a route where Brown had his man beat by two steps. In recent comparison, if you watched last night’s TNF abortion you saw Cam Newton have a similar speedster in Curtis Samuel just as open, and Newton’s inability to get that deep ball in the right spot kept that play from being a touchdown (and played a factor in a narrow loss). Lamar showed both accuracy and arm strength in making a perfect throw
The touchdown to Snead was fucking gorgeous. Snead was open, but the free safety wasn’t out of the play unless Lamar puts this right on the money.
Needless to say, Lamar Jackson brought his bag of coins to Miami. Even his 3 incompletions were smart and well executed throws. He and Hollywood were just a hair out of sync on a corner route where Lamar put a throw downfield where only he could get it. Hollywood ran his route just a touch skinner than what Lamar expected, which will happen when your rookie WR misses nearly all of preseason. Ultimately it was the kind of safe ball placement that you’d expect to see from a 10-year vet. The 2nd incompletion was a throwaway on a rollout on 1st and goal. Live to fight another play, and he threw an easy TD to Ricard in the flat on the next play. Again, veteran stuff. And then Snead dropped a perfect tight window throw on a 3rd and 5 quick out. That’s it. Those were the 3 incompletions. He was perfect, and the passer rating was correct in reflecting that.
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Now I know what you’re all thinking. But Banksy! The Dolphins are trash! They’re mailing it in this year! To that I say you’re not wrong. They are certainly trash and they are certainly an embarrassment to the shield. That’s why we’ve come to this here blog. To figure out how to reset the bar and temper our takeaways from what was ultimately just one football game against a bad team.
Lamar’s impact on the franchise obviously goes well beyond just this year. If the real Lamar is anything remotely close to the guy we saw on Sunday, we’re going to be in beautiful shape for a very long time. He’s got young tackles in Ronnie Stanley and Orlando Brown to protect him in the pocket. Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, Mark Andrews, and Hayden Hurst are all in their first two years of the league. That looks like a prolific offense right now and if that holds true, it’s a prolific offense in 5 years too. That’s what’s so exciting about all of this.
But again. Just one game. So Sunday we come to the Bank to see if these guys can put together a repeat performance. The Cardinals are pretty terrible too, particularly against the run. They’re the first team that suddenly has to answer for a multi-dimensional offensive attack, and I fully expect it to go poorly for them. We get that win and then we head to Kansas City. That’s where we get our true litmus test. A place where Lamar had the Chiefs dead to rights in Week 15 last year, but Mahomes pulled a 4th and long out of his ass and won in OT. If Lamar and the offense can do their thing in a shooutout in KC, the future becomes now for this football team. I’ve got my shovel ready. I’m ready to dump all the coal in the world into this train. Let’s take care of business on Sunday and then get this thing fired up full steam for a doozy of a Week 3 matchup.
*****BREAKING MOOS******
You know we had to do it. You call my QB a running back, he’ll roast your ass in the media and we’ll sling the hell out of some t-shirts.
Oh, and did somebody say Super Bowl? Oh right, that was my QB too. BELEE DAT!!!