Analyzing Ravens vs. Steelers: Lamar Jackson's Potential

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00:00And it is time to break down the Ravens and the Steelers in Baltimore.

00:04And Joe, I want to start with this.

00:06Before we get to the side, before we get to the total,

00:09Lamar Jackson, multi-time MVP who nearly had a third put on the mantle last season

00:16because he threw 41 touchdowns, four interceptions,

00:22and had this brilliant, brilliant season.

00:25You look at the start to the year before the injury,

00:29and he was on that type of trajectory, it felt, again.

00:34The first game back from the injury, he didn't really look himself,

00:38but the Dolphins were in a bit of shambles.

00:41He threw four touchdowns to just five incompletions and was great.

00:46The four-game sense is probably the worst four-game stretch of Lamar Jackson's entire career.

00:52One touchdown pass, three interceptions, three consecutive games without a touchdown pass.

01:03On the ground, he has ran over this four-game stretch for less than 40 yards in all of them,

01:09less than 30 in three of the four.

01:12He's thrown for less than 200 yards in three of the four.

01:17And some of it was covered because they were winning.

01:19And then they were smashed by the Cincinnati Bengals in Baltimore Thanksgiving night.

01:26What are you expecting from Lamar Jackson in this game today?

01:31To take the game over.

01:32And I mean, on the ground, maybe not so much through the air,

01:35but to take the game over and exploit, I believe, a Swiss cheese defense in Pittsburgh.

01:41Let's look at last week, right?

01:43Pittsburgh allows, what, the most rushing yards, I think, in home field history?

01:49I think, what was it, 300 against James Cook and Josh Allen?

01:53Josh Allen did rush for 38 yards in that game.

01:56I expect the same from Lamar Jackson.

01:58I expect the RPO game, Derrick Henry in the ground attack, and then work off of play action.

02:04I think it's a smash job today.

02:05This is one of my better picks.

02:07I really like Baltimore.

02:08This is more about Pittsburgh than it is Lamar Jackson.

02:14And again, I think also, too, when you talk about productivity and we talk about Lamar Jackson,

02:21this team was such in a must-win situation when he came back.

02:26It's almost like that pressure.

02:27You have to do everything right.

02:28And I'm not even talking about Lamar so much as the OC and the play calling in these games leading up to it.

02:37Because I think you have a tendency to get tight.

02:40You have a tendency to go to comfortable type of play calls as opposed to just playing all out and opening it up.

02:46And, hey, let Lamar cook in that aspect, right?

02:50So, instead of running on first and second down, play action.

02:54Get him outside the pocket.

02:55Let him improvise.

02:56Let him do what he does.

02:57We haven't seen that as much in this five- or four-game winning streak before they lost on Thanksgiving night to Cincinnati.

03:05But the flip side, though, Kev, as bad as Lamar Jackson has been over the past three games,

03:10you and I have sat on this desk and talked.

03:13Baltimore's defense is not good.

03:15They bounced back when they were winning games when he came back.

03:19And they looked like they were bouncing back into form.

03:21But they've been abused this year.

03:23Abused.

03:24And, again, when you have an elite quarterback like Joe Burrow and like weapons that, well, Higgins didn't play,

03:32but like Jamar Chase that tears you up for a buck ten through the air.

03:37And Burrow's first game back, he throws for 261.

03:40It's very difficult.

03:42You know, again, I think they could be exposed by multiple teams over the top.

03:48The problem is with Pittsburgh, they're not threatening anybody.

03:51When D.K. Metcalf is your number one and he's getting 30 or 40 yards a game

03:58and will be critical of J.J. McCarthy because he stinks.

04:02But this offense, this passing attack that was supposed to be, oh, Aaron Rodgers, big bad Aaron,

04:10his checkdowns to Jalen Warren and Gainwell are ridiculous.

04:13This is enough already.

04:14You're not challenging anybody over the top.

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