Opinion: Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson runs off his NFL playoff ghosts with win over Tennessee Titans
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After two years of disappointments and another season’s worth of reminders of what he supposedly couldn’t do, Lamar Jackson vanquished the ghosts of postseasons past.
Delivering an authoritative performance, the reigning NFL MVP led his Baltimore Ravens to a 20-13 upset of the Tennessee Titans in the AFC wild-card round of the playoffs Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
Jackson passed for 179 yards and rushed for a game-high 136, including a 48-yard touchdown.
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In the process, he laid to rest all of the knocks leveled against him since he made his playoff debut as a rookie in 2018.
He can’t play from behind, they said, citing the fact that since he became a starter, Jackson and the Ravens are the only NFL team to never win a game when trailing by 10 points or more.
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Well, on Sunday, Jackson shook off an early interception and dug them out of a 10-0 hole. The Ravens scored 17 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to take a lead they never relinquished.
He can’t win in the playoffs, they said because of his 0-2 post season record, including last season’s 28-12 loss to Tennessee where he turned the ball over three times and got sacked four times while posting an ugly 63.2 passer rating.
But in his third career playoff game, Jackson displayed greater maturity and determination, providing clutch plays while keeping the Titans off balance and inspiring his teammates to turn in some of their best performances.
Wide receiver Marquise Brown had nine catches for 109 yards; running back Josh Dobbins had a rushing touchdown, and fellow back Gus Edwards had key late-game gains to help put the contest out of reach. The defense, meanwhile, contained rushing champion Derrick Henry to just 40 yards on 18 carries a year after he gashed them for 195 yards on 30 rushes. And cornerback Marcus Peters had a game-sealing interception of Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
But in a sign of their appreciation of his leadership, the Ravens coaches and players gave Jackson the game ball in a brief locker room celebration.
He had earned it by enduring two years of disappointments and all the criticism, and by the way he returned from a November coronavirus-induced layoff to spark a six-game, playoff-berth-clinching win streak and then punctuated it all with Sunday’s performance.
“It’s crazy because, I got my first playoff win, and I’m happy for myself,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said, “but I’m almost more happy for Lamar. It sucks to be in his position at times because when you lose, it’s only his fault. It’s nobody else’s fault or the defense’s fault. So, it’s always Lamar’s fault, and when you win, it’s him as well. It’s great when it’s on the winning side. But it sucks because he can play his heart out, but if other guys fall short, and I know it’s a team game, but whenever it’s a loss, it’s always his fault.”
Indeed Jackson frequently has found himself at the center of unjust criticism during his young NFL career. Much of it has to do with the fact that he doesn’t look or play like the traditional NFL passer.
He’s a young Black man, making his way in the world his way. But that means, he’s viewed with a more critical eye, especially when his way doesn’t produce optimal results or when things don’t play out the way the critics believe they should.
But, it’s often overlooked that Jackson — the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy while in college and the youngest to win NFL MVP honors — just turned 24 and only is in his third season. Growth takes time.
Growth came in the second half of the season and continued to manifest itself Sunday.
Around the midway point of the season, the microscope trained ever so fiercely on Jackson as Baltimore lost four of five and three straight from Weeks 10 to 12. Jackson wasn’t as impactful with his legs or arm. The offense didn’t scare opponents, and the defense struggled to compensate. At 6-5 entering Week 13, Baltimore, which posted the best record in the league last season, was in danger of missing the playoffs. But Jackson returned from the Week 12 COVID-19 absence hellbent on saving his team’s season.
As a team, Baltimore’s coaches and players focused on the mantra of “Finish,” and Jackson appeared to play with greater aggression and more freedom.
“Just being locked in,” Jackson explained of his late-season mindset. “There were plenty of times in games where we had opponents beat, and our defense would stop opponents and get off the field and we weren’t responding. Our biggest thing after COVID was, ‘Finish.’ We do a great job of talking about it on the field, but we don’t finish, so the biggest thing was us taking advantage (and finishing). … We took our time, each and every play and focused on scoring points and finishing drives.”
Jackson and the Ravens certainly appeared to gain momentum as the game reached its late stages. The line began to steamroll the Titans’ defensive front, paving the way for time-consuming runs. The defense netted stops on key downs, and there was a look of resignation on the parts of Tennessee’s players.
With 1:45 left, right after the Peters pick, Jackson ripped off a 33-yard run to the Tennessee 29, then slid to avoid going out of bounds. Three Edwards runs later, Jackson took a knee to run out the clock and jogged to the locker room, jubilant and relieved to have finally proved he and his teammates could win in the postseason.
“It feels good,” Jackson said. “I knew we had the capability of doing that, but there will always be naysayers no matter what, so we have to take it one game at a time. … I don’t really care what people say. I’m just happy we got the win and to move onto the next round.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Opinion: Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson runs off his NFL playoff ghosts with win over Tennessee Titans