NFL Analysis
1/20/24
8 min read
Lamar Jackson Silences Critics, Puts Playoff Troubles Behind Him
The playoffs have never been kind to Lamar Jackson.
As a rookie, Jackson got his first taste of postseason football in a thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers. The game got out of hand so fast that people jumped at the chance to question Jackson's ability to play quarterback at the NFL level.
Jackson returned to the playoffs the following year as an MVP and the first seed in the AFC, only to be upset by a backyard-brawling Tennessee Titans squad.
It wasn't until 2020 that Jackson got his first playoff win. Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens exorcized their demons against the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card Round, only to go out 17-3, with a whimper, against the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round.
A failed 2021 season and an injury late in 2022 kept Jackson from playing in the playoffs again until this year.
That run left Jackson with five years of outstanding regular season play with almost nothing to show for it when it mattered most. Each loss or missed playoff game came with a different spin on the narrative. Still, the conclusion was always the same: Jackson was not a quarterback built for the postseason, a moving-of-the-goalposts criticism for those who never thought Jackson was an NFL quarterback in the first place.
Finally, in resounding and resilient fashion, Jackson put that criticism to rest against the Houston Texans on Saturday.
Lamar's Best Playoff Performance
Jackson was phenomenal, outstanding — otherworldly. No matter how you slice the numbers or recall what your eyes told you, Jackson unequivocally rose to the occasion on Saturday.
Jackson's MVP campaign was constantly questioned due to his production, but he turned in the stat-filled showing everyone wanted to see against the Texans. Jackson produced 0.38 EPA per play, according to TruMedia. That's one of his career's best games and higher than any quarterback's year-long average this season. Jackson also had a 55.6 percent success rate on the day, again one of the better games of his career and better than any quarterback averaged for the season.
More importantly, Jackson was a lot better than he'd ever been in the playoffs before. In four playoff appearances prior, Jackson only produced a positive EPA/play figure once, the 2020 win over the Titans. Jackson barely got over the bar with 0.05 EPA/play in that game and had a success rate of 44.4 percent.
Jackson dwarfed all of that with the numbers he put up against the Texans.
No Walk in the park
It's not just about putting up gaudy numbers, though. It's not even just about winning the game. The way Jackson played and battled through adversity is what is most impressive. A player who, for so long, has been doubted for not having the requisite composition of a difference-maker in the playoffs went out and made a clear difference with everything on the line.
As it should be in the playoffs, this was no walk in the park for Jackson despite the squeaky-clean production by the end of it. The Texans had this game tied 10-10 going into the half primarily because of how they contained Jackson, if only for a moment.
After a decent start in the first quarter, the Ravens offense got skunked in the second quarter. Texans head coach and defensive play caller DeMeco Ryans had thrown a curveball at them.
Ryans doesn't believe in blitzing until it's necessary. Per NextGenStats, the Texans blitzed the fourth-fewest of any team in the league this season. They were darn good when they sent extra bodies, but it's not something they leaned into aside from obvious passing downs. Ryans completely broke that tendency in this game, especially in the first half.
NextGenStats credited the Texans with 13 blitzes on Jackson's 18 dropbacks in the first half. Ten of those blitzes produced pressures, three of them being sacks. Jackson and the Ravens had no answer for it throughout the second quarter and constantly allowed free runners to slip through for a chance to bring Jackson down. The Texans blitzed and blitzed and blitzed, and the Ravens didn't look prepared to adjust to it going into the half.
Answers for Everything
Halftime was all the adjustment period the Ravens needed.
The Texans kept sending waves of pass-rushers at Jackson in the second half, but the Ravens were ready for it. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken shifted toward more quick passes. The Ravens spammed motions across the formation to try and undress the Texans' plans, complementing that with quick game concepts and other "hot" answers in the underneath area for Jackson.
Jackson came out on the first drive of the third quarter with gains of 9, 19 and 9 again through the air before finishing off the drive with a 15-yard QB draw to get into the end zone. On the following drive, the Ravens marched 92 yards down the field on 12 plays. A couple of Gus Edwards carries got the drive going, allowing Jackson to do most of the rest with a flurry of quick throws.
However, Monken knew better than to leave Jackson to beat the blitz with a quick trigger every time. The Ravens threw a few changeups, either by loading up the protection to give Jackson time to survey the field or rolling him out of the pocket entirely.
Jackson's third score of the day, a toss to TE Isaiah Likely, was the best example.
Lamar to Likely! @Ravens take a 14-point lead 👀
— NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2024
📺: #HOUvsBAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/mOqD2jfu4M pic.twitter.com/fEEirufHLu
Just inside the red zone on second-and-1, the Ravens came out with three tight ends in a bunch formation to the right side of the field. Jackson rolled out to his right behind the wall of added protection while Likely slipped out of the bunch on a corner route. Jackson trusted his man to win the one-on-one in the air and gave him a chance, a bet Likely paid off with a brilliant snag on his back shoulder.
An Ace Up Their Sleeve
The resilience and adaptability of Jackson and Monken were beautiful to see as they unfolded in real time. Everything that happened in the second quarter felt like an "oh no" moment in the making, but the Ravens answered exactly the way you would expect of a first-seed team with an MVP quarterback.
Jackson was still every bit as dangerous with his legs in this game, too. None of what Jackson and the Ravens accomplished in the passing game was at the sacrifice of what Jackson can do with his legs.
So many of the Ravens' best plays in this game were solely because of Jackson's unique ability as a runner. When receivers couldn't separate down the field, Jackson was willing to take care of it himself. He was never looking to be a runner straight away, but he always found the right moments to pull that ace from his sleeve.
As a designed runner, Jackson was even better.
Lamar hit 'em with the full stop 😳
— NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2024
📺: #HOUvsBAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/mOqD2jfu4M pic.twitter.com/kiLwTF4Mez
The Ravens converted a fourth-and-1 with an under-center keeper for Jackson around the left side late in the third quarter. Josh Allen and Justin Fields immediately come to mind as other quarterbacks who could pull off that feat, but there are few others I'd want in that situation.
Jackson even iced the game on another keeper in the fourth quarter, driving the dagger into the Texans to go up 31-10.
Jackson finished the game with 11 carries for 100 yards and two scores. Seven of those runs earned first downs or touchdowns, and only one lost yardage. Almost every time the Ravens called on Jackson to use his legs or he decided to do it himself, good things happened.
Testament to Greatness
There isn't anything more you could want from Jackson than what he did to the Texans.
Sure, if you want to move the goalposts again and say Jackson needs to throw for 300 yards or beat a real contender, whatever, go ahead. The goalposts are always moving with Jackson anyway because there is a constant refusal to accept that he is, and has been, one of the league's best and most unique players for years.
The fact that the measurement has to constantly change to deafen his greatness is a testament to Jackson in and of itself.
