The Baltimore Ravens dropped their first game of the season this week in an overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Turnovers could be described as the primary culprit, as well as an excellent performance by the opposing kicker in a game in which Justin Tucker actually left one short. The Colts recorded four field goals of 50-plus yards, the most ever in a single game.
Still, there are many things to point to in the 22-19 loss, and one topic that reporters focused on after the game was the lack of deep passing. On 26 pass attempts, QB Lamar Jackson only attempted two passes of 20 or more air yards. He had five total pass attempts of 10 or more air yards.
“Maybe Todd Monken saw something that we didn’t see”, WR Rashod Bateman said, via the team’s website, when asked about the lack of deep shots, referring to his offensive coordinator. “That’s why we’re going to go back to the drawing board – to see what he did see – so he can explain it to us, and we can communicate with him what we saw. And it’s nobody’s fault. We’ll just go back and fix it, watch the film, get better and just look forward to next week”.
For comparison, Jackson attempted four passes of 31 or more air yards a week earlier on 33 pass attempts, with 11 total attempts of 10 or more air yards. In the opener, he only attempted 22 passes, but still managed two attempts of 20-plus air yards and five total of 10-plus.
I would not point to pressure as a key reason for the reduction in deep pass attempts, as his pressure rate has been reasonably consistent throughout the season. He faced the most pressure in the season opener, with the game against the Colts a bit more than the week before, but all within the same territory.
Through the first two games, Jackson threw for 101 yards on passes of 20-plus air yards, going three-of-six passing, with no touchdowns or interceptions. He failed to connect on either of his deep pass attempts the last time out.
Overall, he has completed 63-of-86 pass attempts on the season for 608 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. He has been sacked eight times and has fumbled the ball four times. He has 193 yards rushing with two touchdowns.
The Ravens failed to crack the 20-point mark in Indianapolis, however, just the third time that has happened in a game Jackson has started and finished since the beginning of the 2022 season and the ninth time in his entire career during the regular season. He has been held under 20 points in three of his four postseason starts.
