Baltimore Ravens must ride out the season with Lamar Jackson

The Baltimore Ravens are 2-0 with Lamar Jackson as their starting quarterback. They found momentum that they cannot turn away from:

Lamar Jackson did everything he could to make this a very hard decision. The Baltimore Ravens are faced with the heavy decision of turning back to Joe Flacco or keeping their rookie quarterback under center. John Harbaugh either has to turn away from his quarterback from the last 11 years, or give that quarterback the keys back to the offense. He’s either clinging to the current era of Ravens football, or he’s hoping a first round pick can provide the fresh new wave of momentum that gets Baltimore to the postseason.

Anybody who says this isn’t a hard decision, isn’t looking at the weight of this situation. The thing is that Jackson did everything he needed to do to bring about this conversation. Jackson won two games as the starting quarterback, making some of the most exciting plays of the entire season. While it hasn’t been a flawless performance, it has been enough for the Ravens to win.

Jackson’s passing numbers aren’t incredibly sexy. In two games he’s totaled 328 passing yards, a passing touchdown and three interceptions. However Jackson has made an impact that isn’t even half measured by his passing statistics. Jackson has run for 190 yards in the past two weeks. The Ravens running game has flourished. Gus Edwards has back to back 100 yard rushing games under his belt all of the sudden. The Ravens have found a formula that simply works.

The second the Ravens go to Joe Flacco, the second they say goodbye to their new look running game. Edwards is a decent running back, but he isn’t going over the century mark with Flacco under center. The Ravens are creating rushing lanes for Edwards, just by having Jackson on the field. The defense has to be alert for Jackson off the edge and it’s opening lanes to run the football up the gut. With zone-read plays and RPO (Run-Pass-Options) it is hard for a defense to handle the running game. All of that stops without Jackson.

The Ravens lost three games in a row before the quarterback team. This team felt dead in the water, the season was dragging and the future was all the fanbase wanted to talk about.  It’s amazing how done the Ravens Flock seemed to be with Flacco, and how controversial this potential passing of the baton is. That future is here and there is hope. Not only did these last two wins position the Ravens well for a late season playoff push, but they gave the fans something to hope for beyond that.

In his first start, Jackson showed that stage wasn’t too big for him and that defenses couldn’t handle his NFL athleticism. The game is too fast for most rookies, but he’s too fast for the game. In his second start Jackson showed that he could throw the football with accuracy and that he could complete shots down the field.

Jackson may make rookie mistakes, but that’s expected. Additionally, may I ask when Flacco stopped making rookie mistakes? On his best day, Flacco is a good NFL quarterback, but in his worst moments, he is hard to watch. On Jackson’s best and worst day, he gives the defense a challenge they’ve never had to deal with. Jackson isn’t as good as a passer as Flacco, but he has the ability to impact the game in more ways than Flacco.

If the Ravens make the playoffs with Jackson, they instantly prove that their first round selection is a quarterback that they can win with. If the Ravens make the postseason with Flacco, they could be stuck with the same old thing for another season. Winning with Jackson also gives Ravens fans a chance to see if winning with the current coaching staff is a viable option in the Jackson era. It honestly looks like a ball control offense with Jackson has more of a chance of winning than putting Flacco back under center. The Ravens should steer into this fresh new buzz around the team, they should make Jackson their new franchise QB.