ExtremeRavens Posted November 21 Posted November 21 Monday night’s Ravens-Chargers game in Los Angeles will of course pit Baltimore coach John Harbaugh against his younger brother Jim in the third edition of a “Harbowl” and the first meeting since the Ravens’ Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers in February 2013. But there will also be another intriguing reunion of sorts at SoFi Stadium. It will mark the first time that Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and former Baltimore offensive coordinator Greg Roman will be on the field together since the latter’s departure from Charm City a little under two years ago. When Jackson was asked Thursday how he looks back at his time with Roman, his reaction was curious. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player turned and looked straight ahead, paused for a handful of seconds and bobbed his head back and forth. “It was good,” Jackson finally said. “I mean, we had a lot of success. I won my first MVP with G-Ro’s system. We had a lot of great seasons.” In 2019, his first year as Baltimore’s full-time starter and just his second in the league, the Ravens went 14-2 during the regular season. Under Roman, Jackson led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes, threw for 3,127 yards and set the single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,206. That led to Jackson becoming just the second unanimous NFL MVP, joining Tom Brady. But the top-seeded Ravens stunningly lost to the Tennessee Titans, 28-12, in the divisional round, and the honeymoon didn’t last. Baltimore announced Roman’s resignation in January 2023 after a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round of the playoffs, a game that Jackson missed because of a knee injury he suffered in Week 13 of the regular season. While Roman’s scheme unleashed Jackson as the game’s most potent player, critics believed the passing attack was lacking. In his first season under coordinator Todd Monken, Jackson won his second MVP Award after setting career highs in passing yards (3,678) and completion percentage (.672) and the Ravens reached the AFC championship game. Roman, meanwhile, spent the year out of pro football before being hired by Jim Harbaugh this past February shortly after the former quarterback led his alma mater Michigan to the national championship. Roman’s results in Los Angeles so far have been mixed. The Chargers (7-3) rank 18th in points per game (22) and yards per game (326.4), though they are 12th in rushing yards per game (121.6). They have also won four games in a row and five of their past six. The Ravens (7-4) have been more streaky, though Monken’s offense ranks first in yards per game (430.1) and second in scoring (30.4) with Jackson once again putting up MVP-worthy numbers. After an 0-2 start to the season, Baltimore won five in a row before splitting its next four, which included a sloppy, mistake-filled loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. In that 18-16 defeat, Jackson was held to just 207 passing yards and a 48.5% completion rate, easily his lowest mark of the season. Now comes a Chargers defense that ranks first in points per game (14.5). “We’re not doing a good job of being consistent,” Jackson said. “We having our moments where, go into the game scoring first drive. Then there’s been a couple weeks we haven’t been scoring first drive and it’s been taking us a little while to get our groove. We gotta work on that.” It starts with the details, Jackson said. “Just being locked in on practice, every little detail, the smallest details, things from the game that we probably made a mistake on, cleaning that up. Small things like that and I feel like we’ll be on our way to being consistent.” And as for that time with Roman? Said Jackson: “I believe it was just short, that’s all.” 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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