It’s a phrase that’s used on all levels of sports these days – locked in.
It’s a phrase that has been used by Lamar Jackson numerous times in interviews for the lead up to his fifth playoff game this Saturday afternoon against the Houston Texans.
As his teammates and head coach danced and celebrated the team’s accomplishment of getting the number one seed for the playoffs Lamar was visibly stoic. He knows that he’ll have time to celebrate when the job is done, and that job includes hoisting a Lombardi trophy and finally rewriting the narrative that his regular season success doesn’t translate when it matters most – in the postseason.
Jackson has been arguably one of the most polarizing NFL players among fans and talking heads since he entered the league. Some have said that he didn’t have the skill set to be a pro quarterback, his passing abilities were lacking, his ability to diagnose a defense has been questioned and that he needed to be in a “special” offense to have any success at the pro level. With Lamar on the verge of his second Most Valuable Player Award he has proven all of those assertions to be false but the one hurdle that remains for him is playoff success.
Jackson is currently 1-3 in the postseason with 4 total touchdowns and 7 turnovers. Even though his struggles and those of the team shouldn’t all be placed on his shoulders that doesn’t mean they aren’t. Fair or not it comes with the territory of being one of the highest paid players in the league and the face of the franchise. He has to come up big in big games and he will get his chance this weekend.
While Jackson has said that he’s “locked in” on the singular goal of winning a championship, there are many others that have taken notice of his increased leadership and maturity as well from coaches, teammates, and former players.
“Lamar’s always had a single-minded focus, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it quite like this,” John Harbaugh said. “He’s been that way since the offseason when we talked, since he came to OTAs [organized team activities], since training camp, [he’s been] one day at a time, locked in. That’s kind of how he’s approached it. It’s been reflected in how he’s practiced and how he’s played.”
Some people may say that Jackson is obsessed with the idea of winning the trophy but it may have more to do with him that proving any of his detractors wrong.
“I don’t think Lamar feels that it’s his way to shut the haters up,” said Robert Griffin III, an ESPN analyst and former Ravens backup quarterback “I think it’s his way to say ‘I told you so.’ It’s more self-validation than it is to rub in the face of his haters.
“Do you want me to play receiver? I told you I was a quarterback. You want to call me a running back? I told you I was a quarterback. You want to say I shouldn’t have been drafted in the top 10 or been the first pick, I told you I was going to bring them a Super Bowl.”
The path to redemption and the journey towards gold and glory for Jackson and the Ravens starts in Charm City in a few days.
1) Blow Outs in the Freezing Cold
Super Wild Card Weekend featured many things but one thing that was lacking was competitive football.
Of all the games on the slate only the Rams/Lions tilt, which gave Detroit its first playoff victory in 32 years was worth watching. The scriptwriters had several angles to play with in that one from the Stafford/Goff trade to the Lions playoff drought to Eminem (take that Swifties).
The rest was a mixed bag filled with frigid temperatures (KC/Miami) and (Buffalo/Pittsburgh) and lopsided scores (Tampa/Philadelphia) and (Houston/Cleveland). The latter game is one of course that has the attention of Ravens fans as I feel it was the most surprising outcome of the weekend. Not that Houston won, but how they won so convincingly against a top defense is what caught my eye. C.J. Stroud is for real and he didn’t look like a rookie in his first playoff game. But this weekend he must travel to the unfriendly confines of the Big Crabcake and brave temperatures that might be in the teens by game time.
2) Texans Two Step
The Houston Texans led by a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback roll into Baltimore this weekend after dominating the Cleveland Browns 45-14 denying the Baltimore fans a possible Flacco v. Lamar battle for the ages.
The Texans are a hot team right now winners of three straight and I feel there’s a small minority out there ready to go all in on picking an upset for this one. I’m here to say they’re wrong and that their recency bias is showing. Certainly on any given Saturday any team can be beaten but if Baltimore would lose it would be more about what they didn’t do. I’ll start with turnovers. Remember when Lamar had issues with fumbling at least once a game? Yeah I forgot too because he’s only turned it over three times (one fumble) in his last six games and he has only one two interception game this season.
Schematically the Houston defense will need to alter from the norm in order to surprise the Baltimore attack. Traditionally they’ve used Cover 3 and Cover 4 and Jackson has done quite we against both. Perhaps the Texans use more pre-snap movement as they did last week and while that action has given Jackson trouble in the past recent history shows vast improvement against those looks.
Finally let’s talk about the Ravens defense which is one of the league’s best at not only creating pressure but also getting home to the Quarterback. The Texans offensive line did a great job against Cleveland last week but they are rated middle of the pack in pass protection since week one. The Ravens don’t have just one player to be concerned about but several – Clowney, Van Noy, Oweh, and Madibuike all are threats to create pressure. Stroud was clean all afternoon against the Browns as they generated five pressure, zero sacks and zero quarterback hits. He’ll get no such rest from Baltimore.
3) Who to Watch?
All eyes are on Jackson this game and with the intensity and pressure at fever pitch he will be expected to produce. On defense I want to watch Roquan Smith who has slowly morphed into a Ray Lewis clone with not only his on field play but his intense interviews. I’m glad he’s on our side.
Lastly I’ll be watching this on television. I’m really interested to see how the fans pack the Bank. It’s been a fun season for Baltimore sports fans with the Orioles hosting some playoff games a few months ago and the Ravens now are doing the same. Fans are certainly hoping for a different outcome.
Happy Football everyone and Go Ravens!
Matt has lived in Maryland his entire life and is a graduate of Calvert Hall and Towson University. has always been an avid Baltimore sports fan. Since 2007, he has been writing and talking about Baltimore sports, especially the Ravens. His work has appeared on Ravens Gab, Russell Street Report, and he currently co-hosts a podcast “The Blitz- A Ravens podcast” with Brent Harris.