Arizona Cardinals bracing for their own chaos when they meet Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Trying to devise a plan to limit or contain a multi-threat quarterback such as the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson can keep an opposing defensive coordinator up all night. The Cardinals’ Nick Rallis can attest to that. His only real solution to the problem?
“I set my alarm clock like 30 minutes earlier this morning,” Arizona’s first-year defensive coordinator said Tuesday. “I slept good, but I didn’t set as big of a window to sleep because I knew I had to get in here and make sure I had a little extra time to prepare for him.”
We’ll see what he drew up and whether it will work against Jackson and a powerful Baltimore offense when the Cardinals meet the Ravens on Sunday at State Farm Stadium. Kickoff is 1:25 p.m.
Arizona (1-6) has lost four straight games and is a 9½-point underdog to a Baltimore (5-2) team coming off a 38-6 smackdown of the Lions. Jackson was outstanding in completing 21 of 27 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 36 yards and a touchdown.
He’s accounted for 13 touchdowns overall – eight through the air and five via the run.
“He’s a dynamic player and he can beat you in so many different ways,” Rallis said. “You’ve got to be sound with your rules and you have to have a good plan, a plan that the players can go out and execute at a high level. He presents challenges that not a lot of people in this league can present – from the arm talent to using his legs.
“I think the cool thing about Lamar is he can beat you in the pocket. He can beat you with his arm outside the pocket. He can beat you with his legs outside the pocket. He can beat you in the run game. His presence in the run game opens it up for other people to have great days on the run game. That’s a lot right there that one guy brings to the table.”
Breaking down Lamar Jackson's weapons
The Ravens’ ninth-ranked offense isn’t just about Jackson, though. Gus Edwards and Justice Hall have helped the run game average 145 yards per game, third best in the league. Scottsdale native Mark Andrews leads all tight ends with five touchdown receptions this season, is second in yards per catch (12.8) and needs just two receiving TDs to tie Todd Heap (41) for the most touchdown receptions in Ravens history.
Baltimore also has four solid wide receivers in rookie Zay Flowers (39 catches, 442 yards, one TD), Nelson Agholor (17, 222, 1), Odell Beckham Jr. (14, 162) and Rashod Bateman (12, 118).
The offense has come together quickly under new coordinator Todd Monken and Jackson, when asked by reporters what impresses him the most about the new system, said it’s “how guys are just flying open.”
“That’s what I like about it,” he said. “Right now, we’re just chasing to be consistent. That (Lions’ game) is just one game. We knew we had a couple games where we were good and then the next week it’s like, ‘Oh, what’s going on with the offense?’ Right now, we’re just trying to chase the consistency. That’s all.”
If the Ravens play like they did last week, it will be the Cardinals doing the chasing. This game evokes memories of how the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey (four touchdowns) and the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase (three touchdowns) torched Arizona in recent weeks.
It could be Jackson. It could be Andrews. It could be anyone.
“They’ve got playmakers everywhere, but he makes it go,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said, referring to Jackson. “I think the O-line is very underrated. It’s a very good O-line and the backs do a really good job at breaking tackles, yards after contact, in space and in the pass game. They’ve got some really good receivers, some really good tight ends, so they’re a complete unit.”
Lamar Jackson's explosivity as a quarterback
Jackson has 11 career games with four or more touchdowns, including two such games already this season.
“He’s a real electric player,” Cardinals inside linebacker Kyzir White said. “He can do a lot with his feet and his arm. All 11 of us, we’ve got to get to the ball, play fast and try to disguise, make the looks hard for him.
“I don’t feel like we’ve seen a quarterback like Lamar Jackson yet. We want to go out there on Sunday and show him a defense he hasn’t seen yet.”
Jackson and the Ravens are likely prepared for anything. Coach John Harbaugh said his team has been locked in at every practice thus far throughout the season and that’s always a good indicator of how things will go on game days, including Sunday in Glendale.
“We haven’t really had any practices where I felt like, ‘This, this was not a good practice,” Harbaugh told reporters. “Sometimes, you have to crack the whip a little bit, but with these guys, not really. It hasn’t really been that way. They’ve kind of come out every practice and been ready to go. You just have to keep building on that and getting better.
“If you’re locked in and focused, it should continue to improve and build on itself.”
If the Cardinals hope to pull off the upset, it won’t just be on the defense to help make it happen.
“The onus is on us as an offense to keep (Jackson) off the field as much as possible,” quarterback Josh Dobbs said. “Possess the football, execute on crucial third downs and stay on the field. Not only obviously to score points for us, but also to keep their playmakers on offense off the field.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals bracing for powerful Ravens' offense led by QB Lamar Jackson
