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Lamar Jackson’s critical fourth-quarter turnovers led to the Baltimore Ravens blowing another late lead and losing 24-20 to the New York Giants in Week 6. It was a tough day at the office for a legitimate franchise quarterback playing for a lucrative new contract.
Many believe Jackson’s bumper payday from the Ravens is long overdue, even though the 25-year-old isn’t quite performing like the player named NFL MVP in 2019. One quarterback who also won the league-wide award believes Jackson made “unbelievable” and “really poor decisions” against the Giants that led to mistakes a veteran signal-caller shouldn’t make.
Errors like this make it easier for the Ravens to resist paying Jackson what he wants, according to a Super Bowl-winning safety who played most of his career in the AFC North.
Rich Gannon Not Impressed by Jackson’s Performance
Speaking to The 33rd Team, Rich Gannon described Jackson’s performance in the final period as “unbelievable.” Specifically, Gannon couldn’t believe the “really poor decisions” Jackson made with the Ravens holding a slender 20-17 lead.
Gannon’s main gripe focused on the late interception thrown to Giants safety Julian Love. It came after Jackson scooped up a botched snap then decided to throw on the run. Gannon believes Jackson should “just throw the ball away” instead of trying to “make the impossible throw.”
Jackson’s gaffe was the game’s turning point because the Giants converted Love’s theft into a Saquon Barkley touchdown. It meant a four-point lead Big Blue would never relinquish because, as Gannon noted, Jackson was “careless with the football in the pocket,” leading to a strip-sack by 2022 fifth-overall draft pick Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Gannon is more qualified than most to speak about the way a quarterback can cost his team games. The 56-year-old was named NFL MVP for the Oakland Raiders in 2002, the same year he led the league in passing yards and inspired the Silver and Black to Super Bowl XXXVII.
Although Gannon threw three pick-sixes during a 48-21 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his time with the Raiders helped establish him as an elite QB. He was named All-Pro twice and earned four trips to the Pro Bowl.
Gannon’s identified a worrying recent trend of Jackson making costly errors in clutch moments. One of the Ravens’ great rivals believes those mistakes are likely to cost the premier dual-threat playmaker in the game the contract he covets.
Jackson’s Mistakes Becoming a Frequent Problem
Throwing five interceptions in his last four games shows Jackson is struggling to protect the football. It’s the kind of worrying trend that not only costs the Ravens games but is also risking Jackson’s next contract.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who spent eight seasons doing battle with the Ravens and won Super Bowl XLIII following the 2008 season, thinks Jackson won’t convince Baltimore to pay up with his current performances:
It’s a reasonable argument since Jackson rejected a contract because not enough guaranteed money was offered. He essentially bet on himself to prove he merits more than general manager Eric DeCosta has so far been prepared to give, although the Ravens can still use the franchise tag to keep Jackson in town after this season.
The only way for Jackson to box DeCosta into a corner is to play well enough to lead the Ravens to a championship. That won’t happen unless the quarterback cuts down on the mistakes.
Aside from his blunders against the Giants, Jackson threw a pivotal interception to safety Jordan Poyer against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. The Ravens lost 23-20, and ex-Rams offensive coordinator Mike Martz felt Jackson made the wrong read on 4th-and-goal from the two-yard line with the score tied.
While the Ravens still need Jackson, his struggles are beginning to waste positive performances in other areas of the team. The defense has been oft-criticised this season, but the unit actually performed well against the Giants, keeping Barkley under 100 yards rushing and limiting quarterback Daniel Jones to just 173 yards passing.
In fairness to Jackson, his struggles can partly be explained by having to carry an offense lacking a true go-to wide receiver and a steadily productive running game. Those deficiencies mean the burden for winning and losing ultimately rests on the decisions Jackson makes, both through the air and on the ground.
It’s already proving not to be a sustainable way for the Ravens to win consistently this season.
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