Grading Lamar Jackson in Ravens win over the Bengals

Let’s take a look at how Lamar Jackson played against the Cincinnati Bengals:

The Baltimore Ravens didn’t really need much from Lamar Jackson in their first game against the Cincinnati Bengals  The Ravens walked away with their fourth win of the year to the tune of 27-3. It was a game where the Ravens made their biggest impression on defense. While it was certainly a better day for Jackson than Joe Burrow had on the other side of this thing, it was an uneven performance.

Let’s look at the numbers before we get into the grade book. Jackson passed the ball 37 times and only completed 19 passes. He had two touchdown passes and an interception. Jackson failed to make much of an impact with his running ability, which is a rarity for him. Jackson had two carries for three yards. The last time these two teams met, Jackson had the greatest spin move highlight of all-time. The 2020 version of this rivalry has the same end result, the process just looked dramatically different.

All right, it’s time to grade this one for number eight.

The Bottom Line:

I am as big of a Jackson fan as anybody, but he’s not exactly on fire right now. In the past two games Jackson has less than 60 rushing yards and less than 200 passing yards. Jackson is a player who typically makes his living as a great dual threat quarterback. When his passing game is not humming he needs to make up for it with his ground game. When he plays as if he were a one dimensional player he has to make more throws and less mistakes in the passing game.

Jackson gets a C. That’s okay. The Ravens won this game with absolutely amazing defense. It wasn’t his greatest game though it wasn’t a game where his A game was necessary to win.