ExtremeRavens Posted 20 hours ago Posted 20 hours ago Lamar Jackson dropped back to pass, and within two seconds, the Cleveland Browns’ pass rush was upon him. So he did what he always seems to and evaded defenders with the nimbleness of Baryshnikov and escapability of Houdini, first backpedaling from the pressure then deftly moving forward and flinging the ball 55.9 yards through the air to the front left corner of the end zone. From the television camera’s perspective, there was a moment when the only visible target was Browns cornerback Cameron Mitchell. In the next frame, though, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins emerges like a magic trick and hauls in the pass as he tumbles spectacularly to the M&T Bank Stadium grass. Lamar deep to D-Hop! What a play CLEvsBAL on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/QhhjBTCQVp — NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025 “It’s funny, I was watching the tape this morning very early, and I just thought that the young corner was covering DeAndre as well as he could,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “He couldn’t cover him any better, and yet, Lamar puts the ball in a great spot, and DeAndre makes a great catch. Why is he as good as he is? That’s a question for the Lord. He gave him that talent, and he’s just great at making plays.” The early third-quarter play with Baltimore up just 10-3 — in what to that point was a slog — was initially ruled a touchdown before being overturned by replay assist and marked down at the 1-yard line. Yet, it didn’t diminish the achievement and only exacerbated Harbaugh’s point: Jackson has become an elite deep-ball passer, and the addition of Hopkins, even at age 33 — a time when wide receivers are often left to look for another line of work — has further unlocked another dimension and level to the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player’s game. Through the first two weeks of the season, Jackson has thrown a league-leading four touchdown passes over 20 yards, already nearly half as many as all of last year when he had nine. In Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills, Jackson had scoring throws of 23 and 29 yards to Zay Flowers and Hopkins, respectively. Sunday, he added two more, from 24 and 23 yards to Devontez Walker and Hopkins, respectively. None have been more jaw-dropping and efficient than the ones to Hopkins, though. In the loss to the Bills, the three-time All-Pro was targeted just twice, but caught them both. That included one for a 29-yard score late in the third quarter in which he warded off talented cornerback Christian Benford with his left arm while snatching the ball with his extended right hand as safety Taylor Rapp closed in. Against the Browns, he produced a similar stat line with two catches on two targets for 64 yards, including a 23-yard score in which he got the better of Mitchell again, hauling in the lofted pass with the third-year cornerback draped over him like a wet towel. As Hopkins picked himself up off the ground, he looked toward the crowd and offered a Michael Jordan-John Michael Wozniak shrug. Ravens wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins reacts after making a touchdown reception against the Browns. Hopkins has four catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns since joining the Ravens. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) “It’s not a technical process, it’s just muscle memory from doing it for a while, trying to make a play however you can,” Hopkins said about what goes into his 13 years of making the contested catch look easy. It starts, he said, with being a player Jackson can trust. Part of that is knowing the offense and understanding the nuances within it. And while it’s possible Baltimore might end up being the last dance for Hopkins, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, he can perhaps help elevate Jackson’s game to even greater heights. “A guy who can be covered and still make plays? I feel like we have that, but he’s different,” Jackson said of Hopkins’ playmaking. “He’s a vet, and he has seen it all at the cornerback position. The guy has huge hands to catch the ball — one hand, two fingers — it doesn’t really matter.” It’s also just the latest example of Jackson’s expansion as a downfield thrower, something that began to take flight in earnest last season. In 2024, Jackson ranked seventh with 67 attempts of 20-plus yards and sixth with 26 completions for 840 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. His nine touchdown passes of at least 20 yards were behind only the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert and then-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold’s 10. It wasn’t just that Jackson was chucking it downfield; it’s that he is doing so with precision. Last year, he ranked fifth in PFF’s “big-time throws” — a metric that tracks passes with excellent ball location and timing downfield and/or into a tight window — and his receivers consequently only had two drops on on-target deep balls. This season, Jackson, who is completing a career-high 68.8% of all his throws with four touchdowns and zero interceptions, has already attempted 10 passes of at least 20 yards through the air, according to PFF, which puts him on pace to surpass last year’s total. It’s a frustrating trait for opposing defenses that also have to account for his ability to run at a moment’s notice. Add backfield-mate and future Hall of Famer Derrick Henry, who rushed for 1,921 yards last season, and the problem multiplies. “The chunk throws have been good,” Harbaugh said earlier this week. “That’s been big. People are playing man against us, and we’ve taken advantage of that. “When people load the box up, you hope that’s what happens.” It helps, too, to have an arsenal of options at Jackson’s disposal. Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers, shown in Week 1 against the Bills, has compiled over 200 receiving yards across the Ravens' first two games. (Gene J. Puskar/AP) Though Flowers’ 14 catches for 218 yards through two games lead the team by a wide margin, seven others have caught at least one pass. That includes four by Hopkins, Rashod Bateman and running back Justice Hill. Three of those players — Hopkins, Flowers and Walker — have longs of at least 24 yards. “I feel like everybody in our receiver room has something that we need,” Flowers said. ‘Ty’ [Tylan Wallace] can do everything. ‘Tez’ [Walker] can run; ‘Tez’ is super fast. ‘Bate’ and I can do everything. You never know what’s going to happen.” That was the case on Sunday, when Walker hauled in a pair of touchdown catches, including a 24-yarder, to give the second-year wideout three career catches for three scores, dating back to late last season. Among Wallace’s two catches against the Browns was a 15-yard scoring strike. But perhaps no one has impressed the way Hopkins has, particularly given his limited snaps thus far. Through two games, he has only been on the field for 28 plays on offense. That’s something that could change going forward, though perhaps not that much once injured tight end Isaiah Likely returns in the coming weeks to provide Jackson with another set of hands to feed. Still, there’s little arguing Hopkins’ impact, at least so far, and no questioning Jackson’s growth into one of the game’s best deep ball throwers. “I seen it his whole career,” Jackson said of Hopkins. “Even when I wasn’t in the league, I’ve been watching ‘D-Hop’ make spectacular catches and when he was on other teams as well. … I believe people called him ‘washed’ and stuff like that, but he’s showing otherwise.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. READER POLL: How would you grade the Ravens through two games? View the full article Quote
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