ExtremeRavens Posted November 14 Posted November 14 More than 1,100 miles separate Pittsburgh from Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, and the two disparate locales share little in common. As for their football teams, however, there is a surprising tie that binds. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been equally vexed by both. “I hated ’em; I still hate ’em,” Jackson cracked Wednesday of the Lauderdale Lakes Vikings, a youth football program with teams ranging from age 4 through 13 that continually stifled him in his earliest days. “All I can think about is the games we lost against ’em. “I beat ’em when it counted. But they beat me regular season all the time. I used to get ticked off. I used to be crying. I was a kid, I be hurtin’. But I beat ’em when it counted, and we won the Super Bowl.” To reach the NFL’s version this season, Baltimore will likely have to go through the Steelers, who the Ravens will face Sunday at Acrisure Stadium with first place in the AFC North on the line. And to do that, Jackson will have to find a way to vanquish the one team that has continually plagued him throughout a six-plus year career that already includes two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards and potentially a third this season. For all of his success at the sport’s highest level, Pittsburgh has somehow been Jackson’s kryptonite, pestering him into some of the worst performances of an otherwise Hall of Fame-worthy resume. Since he took over as the Ravens’ full-time starter in 2019, Jackson has just a 1-3 mark against the Steelers. His paltry quarterback rating of 66.8 is his lowest mark against any team in the league. And he has completed only 59.1% of his passes to go with four touchdowns, seven interceptions and five fumbles while also being sacked a whopping 20 times. Jackson’s lone win: A 26-23 victory in Pittsburgh in October 2019 in which he completed 19 of 28 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown and rushed 14 times for 70 yards — but was intercepted three times. The Steelers have also won seven of their past eight meetings against the Ravens, though Jackson didn’t play in more than half of them for a variety of reasons. In the 2019 and 2023 season finales, Baltimore rested him with their playoff seeding wrapped up. In 2020, he was out with COVID for a December contest in Pittsburgh. In 2021, he was out with an ankle injury for a Week 18 game in Baltimore. And in 2022, he missed both meetings because of a season-ending knee injury. Jackson also acknowledged that not playing in all those games against a hated division foe in a storied rivalry has stuck with him. “But I get a chance to go up against them this year, so I’m good,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that.” Through the first 10 weeks of the season, he’s also been far better than good. Jackson has completed 69.1% of his passes for 2,669 yards, the latter easily on pace for a career high. His 24 touchdown passes are tied for the most in the league and he has just two interceptions, including none in the past month. His 9.3 yards per attempt and passer rating of 123.2 are also tops in the NFL. Unsurprisingly, as Jackson has gone, so has Baltimore’s explosive offense. Ravens Steelers FootballGene J. Puskar/APRavens quarterback Lamar Jackson has played some of his worst games against the Steelers. (Gene J. Puskar/AP) The Ravens lead the league in points (31.8) and yards (440.2) per game, red zone scoring (76.74%) and yards per play (7.1). They are also first in rushing yards per game (182.6), yards per rush (5.7) and third in passing yards per game (257.6). Their offensive defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) of 38.6%, meanwhile, ranks fourth-best of any team from 1979 through now, per FTN Fantasy. Still, the Steelers have managed to befuddle Jackson in the handful of occasions he’s been on the field against them. “You want me to tell you the secret?” Steelers-turned-Ravens cornerback Arthur Maulet said this week. “This is what they’re trying to do with Lamar: They’re going to put a person at the dive and they’re gonna run a person straight at Lamar. They’re gonna make him make a decision. One person goes to Lamar, one person goes to the dive for the [run-pass option] and that’s gonna be their game plan to slow him down a little bit. “Maybe they changed a little bit; I haven’t been there in a while.” Maulet signed with Baltimore after asking to be released following the 2022 season over a contract dispute. Then he re-signed with the Ravens this past offseason. During his tenure in Pittsburgh, however, he only got to play against Jackson once and said a lot has changed since then, notably the Ravens’ offensive scheme from coordinator Greg Roman to Todd Monken. “They were teaching take the mesh point away from Lamar; make him make a decision quick,” Maulet said. “It’s a little bit of a different offense now, so let’s see how they handle him now.” Maulet added that the difference between Jackson then compared with the player he is now is also significant. “Tremendously,” he said. “He gets better every year, really every week. He has so much poise. A lot of people talk about these other quarterbacks who are so much better than him, but I just don’t see it.” In last season’s loss in Pittsburgh, however, that wasn’t the case. Jackson completed 22 of 38 passes for 236 yards but was intercepted once and sacked four times. That included in the game’s closing minute when, trailing 14-10, he dropped back to pass from his own 44-yard line and Alex Highsmith burst in for a strip-sack to help seal the victory. An ankle injury will keep Highsmith out of this week’s game, but a year later the quarterback is still searching for an answer to the Steelers’ riddle. “I don’t know what it is, man,” Jackson said. “Last year, we [were] supposed to [beat] them, but things just didn’t go our way. The football gods weren’t on our side. “But it’s a whole other year, it’s a new year.” Now the only question is if the result will be different, too. Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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