Lamar Jackson's Impact with Explosive Plays for the Ravens

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00:00Back to your point about Lamar. He's 16 of 22, 177, two touchdowns. He only runs for

00:0915 yards, but one of those rushes was a touchdown. And you're right, they get going when he has

00:15the explosive plays. If you compare just the Steelers game to the Chargers game, the Steelers,

00:21the reason that they have success typically with the Ravens is they don't allow those

00:25explosive plays. He can't get on a roll. And while the first quarter for him is a little

00:31bit slower, the touchdown pass, the rushing touchdown, then they get an explosive play

00:37from Henry, an explosive play from Hill, and then the wheels come off if you're the Chargers.

00:42So limiting those explosive plays, I think, is key number one for people playing the Ravens,

00:47which is a very difficult task, but it's tantamount to try to get a victory.

00:51Definitely. And you see that often in the NFL right now. That's why that two-shell coverage

00:56with the two deep safeties is so popular. And it's something that the Chargers have utilized

01:00because teams are willing to say, hey, we'll let you run the ball at five yards of pop and maybe

01:05rip off the occasional 15-yarder, but we're not going to let you get these big explosive passing

01:10plays. And, you know, most teams just aren't built for these big running plays. We see it with the

01:15Eagles and the Ravens because they have great running backs, and in the Eagles' case, a terrific

01:20offensive line. But I think you're going to see defenses like the Chargers sort of struggle to

01:26fully contain those big explosive plays, whereas the Steelers, as you referenced, they have the

01:31pass rush needed to kind of contain Lamar Jackson, and their back seven is a little bit better at

01:36this point than the Chargers. So I think it'll be interesting to see if Lamar Jackson against those

01:41elite defenses in the postseason can find a way to impact the game with those explosive plays,

01:48because if those aren't there, then the Ravens' offense becomes a little bit harder to just

01:53finally get into the end zone, as we saw in the first half of that game.