The Baltimore Ravens will soon have to decide whether or not to continue starting their rookie quarterback—Lamar Jackson. Joe Flacco is getting closer to returning from the hip injury that has sidelined him for four games now. It's a decision that should be easy to make going forward.
In the four games in Flacco's absence, the Ravens had a three-game win streak heading into Week 14. The teams they defeated were the Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders and Atlanta Falcons. None of those teams are above .500—but this Ravens squad with Jackson under center seems to have a true identity.
That identity that they've managed to create, is to run the ball and play lock-down defense. With the threat of Jackson's legs, he makes for a tough guy to game plan for. Gus Edwards has also contributed to Baltimore's recent success.
With Flacco at the helm, the Ravens were sitting at 4-5—trying to find a way to turn around their season. It was going to be an uphill battle for Baltimore to reach the playoffs after losing three straight contests. The Pittsburgh Steelers were atop the AFC North, having a record of 6-2-1 at the time.
Flacco then went down with an injury during the Ravens' bye week in Week 10. Baltimore was forced to either start Jackson or Robert Griffin III. They decided to give their first-round pick the nod, allowing him to get his first opportunity to showcase his talents.
Leading up to his first career start, Jackson was dealing with a sickness and was limited in practice all week. That limited the number of reps he got in practice. Over the course of the weekend, Jackson was labeled as the starter—despite missing practices with an illness. This meant the Ravens would change their offensive game plan to fit Jackson's skill-set against the Bengals.
The sickness didn't seem to slow Jackson down at all, with him running it 27 times for 117 yards. Edwards also rushed for 115 yards on 17 carries in the win. Per EliasSports, Jackson is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to rush for 100 yards in his first career start.
Lamar Jackson is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl Era to record at least 100 rushing yards in his first career start. (via @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/3MrldzMQTK
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) November 18, 2018
Jackson also threw it 19 times for just 150 yards and an interception. It wasn't a pretty win, but he was able to find a way to secure the victory. With Flacco still sidelined with an injury, Jackson would be named starter again for Week 12. Here are every run and throw in his first start.
In Week 12, Baltimore would square off against the struggling Raiders. Jackson would have his way again on the ground, rushing for 71 yards on 11 carries and a score. Through the air, he would throw his second career touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree.
The Ravens were rolling, outscoring their opponents 58-38 in Weeks 11 and 12. In Week 13, the Ravens would be tested by the Falcons high-flying offense. Baltimore didn't shy away from their game plan of pounding the rock and playing stingy defense.
The heavy dose of Jackson, Edwards and Ty Montgomery was beginning to build a solid infrastructure on how Baltimore could win games. It worked yet again, defeating the Falcons 26-16 in Week 13. Jackson had another impressive day running the ball.
He would complete the game with 17 rushes for 75 yards and another touchdown. Jackson went into the concussion protocol after taking a hit in this game. Therefore, people started to wonder if Jackson's style of play could withstand in a sport where there is plenty of violent collisions. Most teams hate seeing their quarterback running the ball, thus leaving the risk of taking any unwanted hits.
For Jackson, it's hard not to utilize his strength—which is running the football and making people miss. Heading into the future, he will absolutely need to develop his skills throwing the ball if he hopes to sustain a long career under center. In addition, Jackson will need to also protect himself better from taking big hits.
In Week 14, the Ravens held true to their identity of using Jackson's legs as a weapon. Baltimore would come up short, losing 27-24 in overtime against the Kansas City Chiefs. Throughout the course of the game, the Chiefs used Jackson's inability to throw the ball downfield against him. Consequently, the Ravens were unable to make enough plays needed to win.
In the fourth quarter and overtime, Jackson was unable to make plays with his arm to win. This off-season will be an important one for Jackson to develop and hone his skills as a passer. Although on the other side of things, he brings a whole other dimension in the rushing attack of the Ravens.
Jackson has plenty of things he needs to clean up before he can fully develop, but he at least has built an identity for a Ravens team that was searching for answers. That identity had won them three games and almost a fourth in Kansas City.
With Flacco under center, Baltimore's offense was very vanilla and plain. It was running the ball and running tons of play action or short passes. Furthermore, their offense became too predictable—with defenses finding ways to hinder their offense with ease. With Jackson though, they've turned a vanilla offense into a Neapolitan offense with sprinkles and whipped cream on top.
They can beat you in a multitude of ways and thus keeps defenses off-guard with Jackson's ability to run—something Flacco is incapable of bringing. It's tough to think that even when Flacco can return, that the Ravens stop riding the hot hand—which is obviously Jackson right now.
With the rookie phenom almost taking down the Chiefs on the road, there's no way we should see Flacco take snaps again this season. Hopefully, Baltimore makes the right decision—thus making Jackson their franchise quarterback of the future.
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