Lamar Jackson Can’t Figure Out Why He Struggles vs. Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had the Baltimore Ravens number as of late, winning seven of the last eight meetings. For various reasons, two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson did not play in four of the Steelers’ last seven wins against Baltimore. But when he does play, Pittsburgh has been a kryptonite for him, as Jackson is 1-3 as a starter against the Steelers. In the four games, he has four touchdowns total, seven interceptions, five fumbles, a completion percentage of 59.1%, 66.8 passer rating and has been sacked 20 times.
Jackson can’t put his finger on why the Steelers have given him fits.
“I don’t know,” Jackson told the Baltimore media. “It’s a different team, right now. Different guys last year, it’s a different unit this year, but it’s always the same goal; we want to win. We want to be the ones that come out victorious, and that’s going to be the goal going into this game.
Jackson felt like the Ravens let a win slip away last year in the Week 5 loss to the Steelers. Baltimore had a series of mishaps in the game, including a dropped touchdown by Rashod Bateman and a goal line interception thrown by Jackson.
“I don’t know what it is, man. Last year, we [were] supposed to [beat] them, but things just didn’t go our way; the football gods weren’t on our side,” Jackson said. “But it’s a whole other year, it’s a new year, [and] I’m looking forward to the game.”
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is just focused on Sunday’s game.
“We don’t live in the past game; we don’t live in the past record,” Harbaugh said. “None of that matters. It’s the next game. But we’ll look at it scientifically; you go back and watch all the games and try to make sure that we are doing the things that we need to do to win this particular game.”
Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward acknowledges that the Steelers’ success against Jackson and the Ravens may be due to a little bit of luck, though.
“Sometimes the ball has fallen our way a couple times,” he said. “It’s not like he’s not dicing us up. He’s a heck of a talent that you try to bottle up, but you never can. Sometimes it’s come down to just having the ball last.”
The Steelers know Jackson will be a handful on Sunday. He’s playing at an MVP level right now, completing 69.1% of his passes for 2,669 yards with 24 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 123.2. He’s also rushed for 538 yards on 91 carries (5.9 average) and two touchdowns.
“No, there’s no advantage,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said when asked if there any advantage to playing Jayden Daniels and Jackson in back to back weeks given their similar playing styles. “Obviously the guy we’re playing, Lamar [Jackson], is a two-time MVP. He’s had three perfect passer ratings this year in addition to all the other things he does. It’s, again, not a slight to Jayden Daniels, who I think is going to be a fine player. This guy is proven in the NFL, and what you see with Lamar is the fact that, as he gets a little bit older and a little more seasoned in the league, he gets better, and that’s what the great players do. It’s going to be a real challenge.”
The Ravens lead the league in points per game (31.8 average) and rank No. 1 in rushing offense (182.6 average). Through the first 10 weeks of the season, All-Pro running back Derrick Henry has rushed for a league-leading 1,120 yards and 12 touchdowns. The threat of Henry next to Jackson has taken Baltimore’s offense to new heights.
“I think we’ve always known how dangerous he [Lamar Jackson] is. He can beat you running. He can beat you throwing. They’ve really done a good job of surrounding him with really good people,” Austin said. “Obviously the big running back makes a huge difference because of his home run ability. There’s a reason why they’re number one in quite a few categories in terms of offensive production. So it’s going to be a really good test in terms of how we hold up versus this.”
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Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
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