Defeating the Ravens circles around figuring out how to slow down Lamar Jackson.
This begins by taking him out of his comfort zone.
Jackson’s bread and butter is the short passing game to the perimeters and to the middle of the field. This is what game film study from last season revealed (9/13 LV, 10/11 IND and 11/28 CLV).
His ball placement at all three route levels is all over the place. Sometimes on target…sometimes not.
As crazy as it sounds, the Jets need to make him beat them as a passer.
New York needs to force Jackson to throw into the intermediate to deep route levels against their revamped secondary and let his ball placement inconsistencies play to their advantage.
There are three ways to do that.
1. Rush four and never blitz
This sounds counter intuitive, but Jackson thrives under pressure and he is at his best when plays break down.
He thrives in chaos.
When defenses blitz Jackson, it allows him to evade the rush and take off.
Jackson is an extremely gifted athlete who can evade pass rushers like a ghost and he is just as elusive galloping in the open field.
New York needs to force him to sit in the pocket and throw.
Despite the “perception” Jackson is a superstar quarterback, he was actually ranked as the No. 25 rated passer in the league last season.
Jackson came in at No. 22 both in 2020 and 2019. He isn’t exactly ripping up the league through the air.
Jackson tossed 16 touchdowns versus 13 interceptions in 12 starts last season, which was eye-opening.
It was his worst touchdown-to-interception ratio of his career in a single season, and the Jets need to find out if that was a “one-off” or if that is the new norm.
Regardless, Jackson has never been known as a top-tier passer in this league and it is for that reason New York has to force him to sit in the pocket as much as possible and make him throw.
2. Assign a spy to him
This is an old tactic that worked wonders for Washington’s Defensive Coordinator, Richie Petitbon back in the 1980’s.
Petitbon called the defense on Joe Gibbs’ staff and anytime Washington played against an athletic running QB like Randall Cunningham or John Elway, he had linebacker Monte Coleman shadow him.
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It worked like a charm.
Jackson loves to take off and run with his 4.34 (40-yard-dash time), both on designed runs and when the pocket breaks down.
To put this into further perspective, Jackson was Baltimore’s leading rusher last season (and he was tied for the most carries on their team too at 133). Jackson was also Baltimore’s leading rusher in 2020 and 2019.
Like I said, Jackson loves to run and he is great at it.
The Jets need to be dialed in to Jackson as a runner.
3. Take away his security blanket Mark Andrews
The leading receiver on the Ravens last season was Andrews, who is a tight end.
Get the picture?
Jackson loves short passes to Andrews over the middle.
He also loves to throw deep to him (long of 43 yards last season).
Andrews was targeted a whopping 153 times in 2021 for Baltimore, and he caught 107 of those for 1,361 yards and 9 touchdowns.
With Baltimore’s second-leading receiver last season Marquise “Hollywood” Brown now playing in Arizona, Jackson will probably be even more dependent on Andrews.
Ravens’ starting receivers Rashod Bateman was targeted 68 times, and Devin Duvernay was targeted 47 times in 2021.
Jackson is most comfortable with Andrews out of all the eligible receiving options according to the numbers, and he will be looking for him.
Do whatever it takes to cover and shut down Andrews.
Bottom line:
If the Jets can do these three things, they have a real chance of defeating the Ravens on opening day a week from today.
Jackson loves to dictate to defenses. He loves to move around and make defenses react to him. This puts him more in control and allows him to create more mismatches and route leverage.
New York needs to surprise him with an ultra patient and disciplined coverage orientated game plan that he will not be expecting.
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How Can the Jets Stop Lamar Jackson in Week 1 Against Ravens? - Sports Illustrated
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