Ravens offense with Lamar Jackson is old school, with a fun new-school twist
When was the last time in the pass-happy NFL we saw a long, 75-yard touchdown drive with no passing yards? How about no passing attempts?
There are different ways to win in the NFL, and in Lamar Jackson’s first start the Baltimore Ravens clearly were happy to play to his strengths.
Jackson was a great passer at the University of Louisville, but he was also one of the best running quarterbacks in college football history. Remember when tricky college offenses weren’t ever going to work in the NFL? Tell the Cincinnati Bengals.
With a heavy dose of read-option runs (something that has become popular recently in the NFL and makes Jackson very difficult to stop), the Ravens started Sunday’s game with 11 straight runs, zero passes. Five of the runs were by Jackson. And they scored a touchdown.
You won’t see that very often anymore.
Lamar Jackson’s running gives the Bengals fits early on
Jackson was making the start because Joe Flacco was injured. Jackson was the final pick of this year’s first round, a former Heisman Trophy winner who was absolutely electric in college. He was always slated to sit and learn behind Flacco, though the Ravens worked to get him in some plays as a creative change-up.
A full game plan with Jackson can work too. On the first drive he ran for 12 yards on a second-and-8. He had a 21-yard run up the middle on third-and-4. Then 6 yards on third-and-5. He finished the drive with 46 rushing yards. Alex Collins got the touchdown. The Ravens had 16 first-quarter rushing attempts, and that tied a franchise record according to CBS.
Jackson had a fantastic rushing day. He passed 100 yards rushing in the third quarter, becoming the first quarterback since Colin Kaepernick in 2016 to rush for 100 yards in a game.
Jackson will have to throw it well to ultimately succeed in the NFL, and he’s capable of that. But what the Ravens came out with on their first drive Sunday was different than what we see anywhere else in the NFL. It was pretty fun.
And Jackson’s play continued throughout the game: he led the Ravens to a 24-21 come-from-behind win, ending a three-game losing streak. The Ravens were down 21-13 in the third quarter, but Jackson and Baltimore had a 10-play touchdown drive late in the third, including a two-point conversion, to tie the game, and a 13-play possession in the fourth netted what was the game-winning field goal from Justin Tucker.
In all, Jackson was 13-for-19 passing for 150 yards and a touchdown, and had a team-high 117 rushing yards on 27 attempts.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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