Looking Forward to the 2019 AFC North

FWIW, I'm an NFL uniform buff, and I loved the old Patriots uniform with the dude snapping the ball. One of my faves for sure.

 

For the Ravens, not quite sure I agree with that Rams one. I just don't think they are a top team right. Ow with Goff. I also don't see the Texans as a pus . Feels like a solid loss that I hope to be wrong about. Deshaun Watson is killing it right now.

 

Is that because you fought in it?

 

Congrats to the Ravens fans on that win.

Man... how did the Browns lose to the Titans Rams Seahawks?

 

Yeah, props to the Ravens, that was a big win. Baltimore was as impressive as any team on Sunday. Lamar is amazing. Fun to watch. Jackson beat Seattle in similar fashion to the way Elway used to beat us. Dude just creates offense out of nothing. Seahawks couldn't find him yesterday, let alone get him off the field. The really surprising thing IMO was how well they defended Russell Wilson. Didn't see that coming at all.

 

Nice win but a little too much hype being put into Jackson. The offense scored 16 points yesterday.

He's a nightmare in 3rd and manageable situations but that offense still bogs down in the red zone and he can't consistently hit open receivers that aren't 6'5", 260lbs. He has work to do before he reaches the level people seem to want to put him in right now.

 

Impressive performance by the defensive coordinator. He was able to scheme up pressure with some really pedestrian pass rushers. And Wilson for some reason didn't make them pay in all that man-to-man coverage. He didn't look like the Russell Wilson we've seen the first 6 weeks.

 

p.s. Metcalf was drafted right where he should have been.

 

Well, if anyone in our lockeroom was thinking Baltimore would lose, and we'd have the chance to close the gap......

Now can we put the hype aside? Strap on the feed bag an go to work, now!

Get the stardust out of your eyes.

 

His play at the end was just comical...

 

I don't think you are giving him enough credit. He has a confidence and a certain swag that is undeniable. Though I doubt he'd ever say it, I'm pretty sure that he's always felt like he was the best player any time he has ever stepped onto a football field. Seattle is famously a house of hell on opposing QB's, especially young ones, and Lamar made it seem like "no big deal". I still can't believe he talked Harbaugh out of that late FG attempt. And then he just goes out there, with no trickery whatsoever, and not only picks up the 4th and two, but jams it in for six. That was a serious dagger, and an epic moment for the young QB. I hate that he is a Raven. Lamar has em sittin pretty at their bye, that's for sure.

 

Lamar went 9-20 and the Ravens were in the red zone four times and came away with one touchdown - because they were so tired of kicking FGs they went for it on 4th and 2.

 

I think the true valuation of Lamar is somewhere in between.

I said in the build-up to the 2018 draft I thought he was the second-most talented QB in the class (behind Mayfield) *but* with the huge asterisk of needing to go to the right system. I credit Harbaugh for hiring Greg Roman who had similar success and ran the same system years ago with Colin Kaepernick. As with Colin four years ago, teams will catch-up defensively to him and at that point, he'll need to prove he can do more than use his legs.

To @beachbum's point.. he's flat-out not a good passer at the moment. His career line very much mirror's Kap's with Roman:

#8: 61.0% completion, 4.4 TD rate, 2.1 INT rate, 203.6 YPG (start), 89.9 QB rating
#7: 60.1% completion, 4.5 TD rate, 1.9 INT rate, 214.9 YPG (start), 90.7 QB rating

And as for rushing?

#8: 230 attempts, 1,271 yards (55.3 YPG), 5.5 YPA, 9 TDs (23 games)
#7: 259 attempts, 1,578 yards (35.1 YPG), 6.1 YPA, 10 TDs (45 games)

 

Just for reference... Kap's numbers without Roman (and after teams figured him out a bit)...

59.1% completion, 3.8 TD rate, 1.9 INT rate, 183.6 YPG (start), 85.5 QB rating
114 attempts, 724 yards (34.5 YPG), 6.4 YPA, 3 TDs (19 games)

Most damning... 3-16 over that span.

 

Don't get me wrong. I think the guy is pretty good and he brings things to the table that are nearly indefensible. My issue isn't with Lamar, who can definitely improve. It's with all the hype surrounding him.

Throwing his name in the MVP mix right now is insanity and they won the other night because they were the first defense to make Russell Wilson look human - and scored twice.

 

When you list the raw stats, it doesn't tell people that it was raining the entire day and that 6 passes his Ravens pass catchers in the hands before hitting the turf (admittedly the one Hurst "dropped" was very low).

Lamar is in the MVP discussion because he deserves to be, imo. Besides having almost all the team's passing yards (RG3 has a little from week 1), he also has 40% of the team's rushing yards. His threat to run opens up lanes for rushes as well. That's a very valuable player to the team's success in my book

 

I think this isn't a fair critique of his passing. To say he's "flat-out not a good passer". Is a stretch. His rookie season was fairly mediocre in terms of passing stats, but he's been much better this year so far. He may not be in top 10 category

In terms of accuracy, he's within 2 percent of people who get called elite throwers like Rodgers and Mahomes while being ahead of some who's accuracy is never questioned like Stafford and Wentz.
His passer rating is slightly below Brady while also being slightly ahead of Rivers and Wentz.

Lamar's yards per attempt is ahead of Mayfield, Ryan, Carr, Wentz, Brady, and tied with Rivers

Even something like passing 3rd down percentage has him ahead of Mahomes, Brady, Mayfield, etc.

Keep in mind, almost every QB named has a better overall receiving corp, and none are questioned as passers. This is not to say Jackson is better than them, or even on the same level as them (although I'd argue a few). This is just to point out that he seems to get far more negative criticism than those he performs as well as, or better than in many cases. There's an inherent negative outlook on dual threat QBs. They seem to have to prove a lot more than their rarely leave the pocket counterparts

 

It's not just raw stats. It's a pattern. Lamar needs to create plays in the passing game that don't include TEs i.e. Big Targets. He hasn't done it consistently and he needs to if the Ravens are going to have success in the red zone. And until he does that he doesn't deserve to be in the MVP talk - IMO.

 

NFL passing average, 2019:
22.5 completions, 34.8 attempts, 64.6 comp %, 240.4 YPG, 1.5 TDs (4.3 rate), 0.8 INTs (2.3 rate), 7.4 YPA, 11.4 YPC, 91.4 QB rating

Lamar Jackson per-game average, 2019:
19.4 completions, 30.7 attempts, 63.3 comp %, 235.7 YPG, 1.6 TDs (5.1 rate), 0.7 INTs (2.3 rate), 7.7 YPA, 12.1 YPC, 94.1 QB rating

So below-average to average in all categories.

Lamar Jackson per-game average (w/out the JV Dolphins), 2019:
19.8 completions, 32.5 attempts, 61.0 comp %, 221 YPG, 1.0 TDs (3.0 rate), 0.8 INTs (2.6 rate), 6.8 YPA, 11.1 YPC, 80.8 QB rating

Below-average in all categories.

Maybe let's give Mayfield, Carr, and Wentz, a chance to play the actively tanking Miami and then we can review the numbers?