Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens face one of the toughest schedules in the league this season but even with that being the case, Jackson should be able to terrorize defenses, as he often does. Jackson’s ability to take off with the football at any moment makes him hard to game plan for.
When he won the MVP award in 2019, Jackson was a huge threat both running with the ball but also passing. He’s more known for his running abilities, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t torched a few defenses through the air.
In his 2019 MVP season, Jackson started off the season throwing for 596 yards and seven touchdowns in his first two games. He obviously cooled off a bit after that but Jackson showed he could sling the pigskin when he needs to.
So, without further ado, let’s check out the three teams on Baltimore’s schedule that Jackson should be able to pad the stats against.
Lamar Jackson can torch the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021.
Jackson has been dominant against the Bengals since entering the league in 2018. He’s started five games against Cincinnati and is a perfect 5-0 versus the AFC North foes. It’s not shocking as to why, as the Bengals’ defense has struggled mightily in recent years.
While Jackson didn’t pass for a ton of yards when playing the Bengals last year, he threw three touchdowns in one game and two touchdowns in another. Where he really torched the Bengals was with his legs, rushing for 100 total yards in both games. The year before he rushed for 152 yards in just one game vs Cincy.
In total, Jackson has passed for 902 yards, eight touchdowns, and three picks against the Bengals while rushing for 442 yards and two touchdowns. He hasn’t found the end zone with his legs much when facing the Bengals but otherwise, he’s been very successful against them and there’s no reason to think that’ll change in 2021.
Lamar Jackson can torch the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021.
The Ravens open the season on Monday Night Football in Las Vegas in what will be the first NFL game in Vegas with fans in the stands. That’s going to make things a little trickier for Jackson and company when they head to Sin City, but with how bad the Raiders defense was last year, it shouldn’t be too challenging for Jackson and the Ravens offense to score points.
The Raiders had the third-worst total defense in the league last year and it led to them completely imploding down the stretch after starting the season 6-3 (they finished 8-8). It was laughable just how bad the Raiders defense was and while they made some additions this offseason, it’s still going to be a fairly easy unit to score on.
Vegas allowed the seventh-most passing yards and ninth-most rushing yards a season ago, so Jackson has options when he and the Ravens take the field. He’s faced the Raiders just once in his career, which came during his rookie season. He passed for 178 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions while rushing for 71 yards and another score.
This is a sneaky Week 1 matchup for the Ravens because while yes, the Raiders’ defense was atrocious last season, their offense was forced to be red-hot in order to keep them in games. If the Ravens fall behind in this one, Jackson will have to air it out more but fortunately, this is a defense where he shouldn’t have any problems doing so.
Lamar Jackson can torch the Detroit Lions in 2021.
The worst total defense in the entire NFL last year just so happens to be on the Ravens’ schedule and this couldn’t be better news for Jackson.
The Lions were awful defensively last season. As mentioned, they ranked last in total defense, surrendered the third-most passing yards, and the fifth-most rushing yards during the 2020 season. It’s no wonder they went just 5-11.
The Lions allowed more than 20 points in all but one game last year and the one time they didn’t was against the Jaguars, who won just one game through all of last season. Detroit allowed 30 or more points in 10 games last season.
The takeaway here is that Jackson is going to get his when the Ravens head to Detroit in Week 3. He hasn’t faced off against the Lions yet but he has the ability to put up quite the memorable performance in the Motor City.
Lamar Jackson is capable of torching most teams in the NFL whether it’s on the ground or through the air. These three teams, however, give him the best chance at putting up huge numbers on the stat sheets.