Baltimore Ravens Week 9 Player Spotlight: Lamar Jackson

The New England Patriots coming to town SNF. There is one player and one player only who should be in the spotlight and its quarterback Lamar Jackson.

1.) This is Lamar Jackson’s first home primetime game.

Lamar Jackson has started a total of 15 games for the Baltimore Ravens since taking over for Joe Flacco last season and of those 15 games, he has a record 11-4. I don’t know about you, but that’s a mighty impressive record for a 22 year old quarterback. The Ravens drafted Jackson with the 32nd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to win games in Baltimore and that’s exactly what he’s done so far.

The next milestone for his young career is to win a big primetime game and it doesn’t get much bigger than facing the reigning Super Bowl Champions on your home turf. The last time the Ravens beat the Patriots at home was during their 2012 Super Bowl season when rookie kicker Justin Tucker squeaked in a game winning walk-off field goal. That was a huge win for the Ravens, but this win would be much bigger, specifically for Lamar Jackson.

If Jackson can knock off the undefeated Patriots and make the “greatest defense of all time” look silly on national television then that will catapult him ahead of Russell Wilson in the MVP discussion. Along with the launch in MVP discussion, a big primetime win would boost the heck out of the 22 year olds confidence.

The young signal caller also has history on his side because the Ravens are historically one of the league’s best football teams when playing at home in primetime.

2.) The Ravens aren’t supposed to win this game

When looking at the schedule before the season started I can honestly say I marked this game as a loss because I didn’t know what to expect from this team and you know how the saying goes; expect the worst and hope for the best. Well, when it comes to Lamar Jackson we don’t have to hope anymore because he’s proven he’s good. Now it’s time for him to prove he’s one of the best.

Through 7 games in the 2019 NFL season Jackson has proven to be one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league and he’ll be the reason the Ravens win this game if they do. Few media pundits are giving the Ravens a chance in this game because they don’t think Jackson has the arm talent to beat New England through the air but that’s even more reason for him to prove he can. We saw what he could do with his arm against Miami and what he could do with his legs against Seattle. This week he’s going to show the nation why he can win with a mix of both and take down the league’s “best” team.

3.) Bill Belichick will throw all his resources at stopping the run

The Ravens boast the leagues best running game with an average of 204.1 yards per game and that’s going to be Belichick’s focus. The Patriots are known for being able to take a way a teams best attribute but this isn’t your traditional offense. The Ravens run (pun intended) one of the most unique systems ever seen in the league and that’s why it’ll so hard for Belichick to stop. They won’t be trying to stop an All-Pro running back or a future Hall of Fame receiver, they’re trying to stop an entire offense that’s specifically tailored to one of the most dynamic athletes to ever touch the football field.

With that being said, the Patriots will do everything they can to try and make Lamar Jackson beat them with his arm and I think they’ll be partially successful. Jackson is going to throw the ball quite a bit more than he has in recent weeks but I think he’s going to break off a few big runs as well. This game is going to feature A LOT of trickery from both teams, but the nation will be watching Lamar Jackson’s arm.