Mike Preston: Ravens and Lamar Jackson have been here before. This time, something’s different.

January 1, 2024January 1, 2024 Admin

Underneath the surface of the Ravens’ 56-19 victory Sunday over the Miami Dolphins, which clinched the AFC North title, home-field advantage in the postseason and most likely quarterback Lamar Jackson’s second NFL Most Valuable Player Award, there is a bigger story about the team being able to throw the long ball again.

That’s a major key heading into the postseason. It’s been a problem for this franchise for five years, but that wasn’t the case Sunday.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson completed 18 of 21 passes for 321 yards and five touchdowns and finished with a perfect rating of 158.3. He had completions of 23, 75, 35, 33 and 19 yards as the Ravens ran enough vertical routes to run the Dolphins out of M&T Bank Stadium.

The missing element in the offense has been found.

“They were massively good,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of the long passes. “To me, that was a part of it. We kept saying, ‘If we can start hitting the deep ball, we can make those big plays. That’s going to be a backbreaker.’ It turned out to be a backbreaker today. It was great to see.”

Jackson’s performance Sunday turned the MVP vote into a no-brainer. There is no competition.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is struggling and Buffalo’s Josh Allen is as unpredictable as the Bills. Aaron Rodgers, a four-time MVP winner, hasn’t played since tearing his Achilles tendon on his fourth snap with the New York Jets, and the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow was never seriously in the race after the first quarter of the season.

Then Jackson turns in a performance like Sunday’s. It wasn’t that close anyway.

During his first five seasons in the NFL, Jackson was inaccurate even on short to midrange passes, but he was still good enough to win. However, opposing teams didn’t have to respect his deep throws.

In the previous 16 games, Jackson often overthrew or underthrew open receivers. Rookie Zay Flowers or Rashod Bateman had success getting one or two steps behind defensive backs, but to no avail. You could see the frustration growing on their faces. Even when Jackson threw deep to Odell Beckham Jr., the veteran receiver had to make twisting turns and adjustments.

On Sunday, Jackson threw a 42-yard pass down the right sideline that Bateman had to stretch out for, but it was catchable. Then it got worse for Miami. Jackson threw a nice spiral to running back Justice Hill for a 26-yard gain, but that was nullified because of a penalty.

Jackson was just warming up. He had another 25-yard pass to Flowers in the same series, then a 20-yard touchdown pass to Hill.

The 75-yard touchdown pass to Flowers with 2:58 left in the second quarter made it 21-13, and that was a beauty, too.

There is a theme brewing here. In Jackson’s first three seasons in Baltimore, opposing teams would stack the box and take away the Ravens’ running game. That strategy neutralized Jackson, but there’s another major difference this year compared with 2019, the last time Baltimore had the best record in the AFC and home-field advantage.

Todd Monken replaced Greg Roman as offensive coordinator in February, and he and Jackson were dialing up some big plays Sunday.

“That’s the type of game I like, he [Monken] was dialing it up [and] being aggressive, but he was letting me be the decision-maker,” Jackson said. “I can be aggressive, but just take what the defense gives us, and it was hand and hand with that. That’s pretty much how I like the game to go, and he did a great job today.”

But it’s not just about Monken or Jackson’s development. The Ravens went out and got Jackson some playmaking receivers in the offseason, such as Beckham and Flowers. No one knew that tight end Mark Andrews would miss almost the entire second half of the season with an ankle injury, but backup Isaiah Likely has performed well and caught two touchdown passes Sunday, including a one-handed, 35-yard touchdown catch across the middle late in the first half.

Those kinds of passes open up the field. Opposing teams can’t stack the box with six or seven players, and it forces them to defend the entire field. That was Harbaugh’s goal when he hired Monken.

So as the Ravens head into the postseason with what amounts to a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, they might have found themselves. On Sunday, Jackson was able to throw accurately down the field and outside the numbers.

“We’ve got the best fans in the world,” Hill said. “No matter what the weather is, no matter what the record is. They’re going to be here [and] they show up. This place was rocking. The playoffs, I’m glad we have them here. We’re on a roll and they’re going to help us tremendously.”

The Ravens have another dimension, too. They’ve got the long ball in the arsenal, and with it, Jackson should have another MVP award.

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