Why the Ravens need to stick with Lamar Jackson over Joe Flacco

Baltimore needs to stick with the playmaking ability of Lamar Jackson — even when Joe Flacco returns.

Lamar Jackson injected life into the Ravens’ offense.

Baltimore has won two straight with Jackson starting, halting a three-game losing streak. The Ravens are currently the sixth seed in the AFC playoff race. Why? Because the offense is more efficient than it was for the fist nine games of the season, when Joe Flacco was starting. They’ve been able to diversify the formations, expand on the plays the play run and get bigger plays with Jackson as quarterback.

Jackson will get his third straight start of the season in Week 13 against the Falcons while Flacco is still dealing with a hip injury. When Flacco does return, Baltimore will find itself with a quarterback conundrum.

Should the team stick with the rookie who’s opened up the offense, or should it give the reins back to Flacco for the final push?

It may be a hard decision for the Ravens front office and coaching staff, but the answer is an easy one: Start Lamar Jackson.

Lamar Jackson is unlocking the Ravens’ ground game

Before Jackson was inserted as the starting quarterback to replace the injured Flacco, the Ravens could not run the ball at all. Excluding kneel downs, the Ravens were averaging 3.74 yards per carry for the first 10 weeks of the season when Flacco was in the lineup — 31st in the league during that timespan.

In the two games that Jackson has started, the Ravens have been one of better rushing offenses in the league. They jumped from 3.74 yards per carry all the way to 5.59 yards per carry, which is seventh in the NFL over the past two weeks. A big part of that is the yards Jackson has gained on the road. His 192 rushing yards is the most ever for a quarterback in his first two consecutive starts. But it’s also about Jackson’s presence.

Baltimore hasn’t exactly faced the toughest defenses over that span (the Bengals and Raiders), but the Ravens been able to move the ball in ways that they weren’t before — mainly using the threat of Jackson’s running ability to open holes for the running backs.

Even on traditional run plays, opposing defenses have to respect the fact that Jackson could easily take off in the opposite direction with the ball. Here, against the Raiders, the Ravens are just running a normal sweep to the wide side of the field. Notice how the linebackers on the frontside of the formation pause after the handoff to make sure that Jackson doesn’t have the ball? That split-second of indecision gives Gus Edwards the time he needs to pop off a big running play.

It’s a bit of a football cliche, but Jackson’s presence really does force defenses to play 11-on-11 at all times, instead of being able to dial in on running backs on every run play.

Options and reads

Outside of normal run plays, Jackson gives the Ravens the ability to run option and read plays that they weren’t really able to run with Flacco.

Here’s another example from the Ravens’ win against the Raiders. The Ravens are running a “bash” read. “Bash” means the running back is running away from the blocking scheme. The left tackle and guard are pulling right, while the running back runs left. Jackson has to read the defenders on the edge — if they crash down towards the pocket to tackle the quarterback, Jackson just hands the ball off to the back who can run into open space.

The Raiders took one too many steps towards Jackson, and he gave the ball to Ty Montgomery, who was able to pick up a huge chunk of yardage on the ground.

The Ravens ran “bash” read for a score earlier this year against the New Orleans Saints. On this play, the Saints defenders chased the running back, and Lamar was able to follow his blockers for an easy score on the goal line.

In the red zone

Jackson gives the Ravens another element to their red zone offense and inside the 10-yard line. Because of that, Baltimore added a bootleg play that takes advantage of misdirection and Jackson’s speed to the perimeter.

Everyone except for left tackle Ronnie Stanley fakes like Edwards is going to get the ball on a power play to the right; Jackson keeps the ball himself and races to the end zone with Stanley leading the way. The Ravens probably had this play stored in their back pocket since Week 8, when the Panthersused the same play for a touchdown against them.

While Jackson is most known for his legs, the Ravens passing game has been better with him at the helm the past two weeks.

Lamar Jackson isn’t a dominant passer yet, but he’s better than Joe Flacco

For the 10 weeks that Flacco was starting this season, the Ravens averaged 6.08 yards per passing play, 25th in the league over that span. With Jackson, they haven’t been much better throwing, but they have improved.

Over the past two games, Baltimore is averaging 6.46 yards per passing play. That number would be higher if a holding penalty didn’t wipe out a 48-yard bomb to John Brown.

Jackson’s mobility helps him in the pocket as much as it helps him as a runner. He’s able to adjust to pressure, slide to open space in the pocket, and find receivers downfield.

Jackson is getting sacked at double the rate that Flacco was (a sack percentage of 8.2 percent compared to Flacco’s 4.1 percent). However, Jackson’s elusiveness gives him a better chance to create when defenders break through the offensive line.

The rookie also has an underrated ability to use his eyes to manipulate coverage and create holes in the defense that he can exploit. Watch him use his eyes to pull No. 59 away from the middle of the field before coming back to the middle and firing a dart to Hayden Hurst.

While Jackson has had positive moments as a passer, he does still have some warts in that area of his game.

He had one terrible interception against the Raiders where he completely missed a defender lurking in the middle field. Because of that, the ball got tipped into an interception.

Jackson’s style as a passer differs from what the Ravens got with Flacco. He can be a bit reckless with his aggressive style. Flacco has become a conservative passer over the years, often choosing to check down to his backs instead taking shots deep down the field.

One of those higher-risk throws resulted in an interception on a deep pass last week against the Raiders. Still, Jackson’s aggressiveness gives Baltimore a chance to keep its foot on the gas pedal and create big plays. Flacco’s style often stagnated the offense — his 6.5 yards per attempt mark ranks 32nd out of 34 qualifying passers for the season.

On third downs with 7 or more yards to go, 38 percent of Jackson’s passes are resulting in first downs, compared to 25 percent for Flacco this season. That’s a small sample size, but something to keep an eye on with Jackson starting for a third straight week.

Overall, the stats are clear that both Jackson and Flacco have been below average passers this season, again with a much smaller sample size for Jackson.

Passer Rating

Joe Flacco: 84.2
Lamar Jackson: 73.1

Yards Per Attempt

Joe Flacco: 6.5
Lamar Jackson: 7.4

Yards Per Completion

Joe Flacco: 10.6
Lamar Jackson: 12.2

Adjusted Yards Per Attempt

Joe Flacco: 6.4
Lamar Jackson: 5.7

If the passing is going to be below average, why not roll with the quarterback who gives you an added advantage because he can also make plays with his legs? Over the last two weeks, the Ravens have been averaging 5.83 yards per play in between the 20-yard lines. Before that, they were averaging 5.23 yards per play.

Running the ball doesn’t really affect the passing game, but they can keep a defense guessing with their run game by sprinkling in reads and options with the traditional runs they were using with Flacco. The Ravens desperately needed a source of big plays — they have that now with Lamar Jackson.

It’s a simple decision. The Ravens entire offense is more explosive with Jackson at the helm. They’ve already designated him the quarterback of the future, so they might as well keep rolling with what they’ve got going now and try to build a foundation for 2019.