At last, 2-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson has big game vs. Steelers
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BALTIMORE — At last, Lamar Jackson had a productive game and a triumph against his team’s biggest rival, the unit that has served as something of a personal nemesis.
But instead of basking in the glow of a 34-17 win that moved his Baltimore Ravens into a tie for first place with the Pittsburgh Steelers and taking pride in the fact he beat that team for just the second time, Jackson was angry.
Rather than rest on the laurels of his three touchdown passes or sparkling 9.0 yards per pass attempt, the two-time NFL MVP instead was dwelling on what felt like the one time all game Saturday that Jackson hurt his team rather than help it.
“Still mad about the (fourth-quarter) interception I threw to put (the Ravens defense) back out there,” Jackson said. “That’s what I was mad about, just putting them in that type of situation where momentum could swing and let that team get the advantage. I was just mad. I was mad until the game was over. I’m still mad. I’m not lying, I’m still mad. The game (is) over (and) I’m still hot.”
What’s there to be ticked off about, Lamar? You snapped a four-game losing streak as a starter to the rival Steelers while putting up what were, by far, your best numbers for passer rating (115.4), yards per attempt and touchdown passes against them.
That all more than atoned for the poor throw Jackson made three snaps into the fourth quarter with his team nursing a seven-point lead. Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted it, giving the Steelers a chance to tie the score.
But the Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey made that moot just two snaps later, picking off Russell Wilson’s pass and returning it 37 yards for a touchdown.
“It felt good to be able to return that favor (with) complementary football,” Humphrey said. “Obviously, Lamar is going to be (ticked), even through it (didn’t hurt), but we want to have those guys’ back as much as they’ve had our backs.”
For once, it was an offense that was the biggest reason for a win in a series that consistently features low-scoring, close games. The 24 points were tied for the most the Ravens’ offense had produced against the Steelers in any of their nine prior games.
Jackson had touchdown passes to Isaiah Likely, Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews to give him 37 for the season. That both put him in the NFL lead and bested his own team record of 36 set in 2019.
“Clutch throws, especially against (man-to-man), tight coverage,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “(Jackson was) ‘dotting’ (receivers) on the run in man coverage.
“I thought Lamar was fantastic, and that’s no little bit of pressure (from the Steelers pass rush). Our guys did a good job up front, but Lamar… he stood in there and made some throws. He always does.”
Just not always against the Steelers, versus whom he entered Saturday with a mere 66.7 career passer rating and five touchdown passes as opposed to eight interceptions.
Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward in part blamed his team’s inability to stop the run — Derrick Henry had 162 rushing yards, the most for a player against the Steelers this season — for Jackson’s big game.
“We didn’t make a lot of plays to make them one-dimensional,” Heyward said. “We didn’t create an atmosphere where it was tougher for Lamar.”
The Steelers had done such a good job of that the first five times they’d faced Jackson as a starter, sacking him 22 times. They had only one sack Saturday.
To the Ravens’ credit, they avoided the mistakes — be it the major game-changing gaffes or the “popcorn” of smaller errors that add up. And for only the second time this decade, they earned a win in the series in the process.
Jackson this past week tacitly admitted his lack of success against the Steelers had been at least in part psychological.
“I believe we just stayed (true) to what we’ve been preaching all week — just one play at a time no matter what in the game, just move onto the next play,” Jackson said. “And things happen throughout the game where it was like we could start having that little setback, but we didn’t let anything bother us — penalties, the little turnover here and there, and if we got stopped. We kept our minds focused on when we got another opportunity.”