Getty Lamar Jackson warms up before the game.
The Baltimore Ravens have started the 2020 season strong at 2-0, and plenty of folks have taken notice to their savage beginning to the year across the league.
Last season, the Ravens were good, but this year, there is a major fear for teams playing them. According to NFL.com writer Nick Shook, the biggest lesson from Week 2 was that the Ravens are actually better than they were during their impressive 2019 season and might be primed to do more damage.
Shook wrote:
“The Ravens are better than they were last year. It was clear in Week 1 and unavoidable in Week 2. Baltimore rushed for 230 yards, Lamar Jackson completed 75% of his passes, threw a touchdown pass, broke 200 yards through the air and spread the ball among nine targets — including the fullback — and Mark Ingram emerged from his Week 1 slumber to break five yards per carry and score a touchdown. Baltimore’s defense forced two turnovers, returned a fumble for a touchdown and sacked Deshaun Watson four times. Justin Tucker was a perfect 4 for 4 on field goal attempts. When the Ravens took a 14-point lead in the fourth, it felt like it was a 30-point advantage. No one — rightfully — wants to play the Ravens right now. And no one is playing better football than Baltimore.”
So far, the Ravens have been equally solid on offense and defense which should worry the league. The team was always figured to be an offensive juggernaut but through 2 games, they’ve only allowed a total of 22 points, which is a pretty gaudy number.
If the Ravens remain elite on offense and improve on defense, Shook’s point will be proven correct and they will be much better than they were last season.
Should that be the case, it will be enough to put the league on notice.
Lamar Jackson Called Better During 2020 Season
It’s not only the Ravens that could be better this season as a team, but Lamar Jackson as well. The reigning MVP fired 3 touchdown passes on the afternoon and got his team moving early and often on offense. There were plenty of questions about what Jackson might look like off of his MVP season, but so far the early answer is that not much has changed. In fact, Jackson may have only gotten better.
After the game, folks started to take notice. Nate Burleson of Good Morning Football said he thinks Jackson is the most complete quarterback in the game today, and encouraged people to debate him on the subject if they wanted.
.@nateburleson says come at him if you’ve got a problem with this ⬇️
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was another to admit that Jackson could be taking on the look of a player who is even more improved than once thought. Orlovsky went so far as to say that he thinks Jackson is even better this season than last year.
Somehow I think I have underestimated how good @Lj_era8 is. And I think he’s phenomenal but he looks better than last year-a lot better
Obviously, if Jackson is better, that’s bad news for the league seeing as how dominant he was the last few years. Certainly, it’s hard to disagree with anyone who might think that to be the case after the way he started his 2020 season.
Both Jackson and the Ravens seem ready to turn over a new leaf in 2020.