The Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson was the best quarterback in the league this week.
Okay, now that I’ve got your attention, that was the conclusion from Pro Football Focus, at least judged by the outlet’s weekly grades, as Jackson received the highest grade for the week among quarterbacks, in spite of the fact that the Ravens lost and the offense only put up 10 points. He did not throw a touchdown but did throw an interception in the red zone.
Intuitively, I think most Pittsburgh Steelers fans who watched the game do understand that Jackson played a lot better than the numbers might look. The Ravens were awful in the receiving department with at least half a dozen dropped passes among other miscues, including multiple drops in the end zone for what should have been easy touchdowns.
And to Pro Football Focus’ credit, in isolating an individual player’s performance, you can’t penalize a quarterback on the quality of his pass if his receiver fails to make a catch he would be expected to make 100 percent of the time. A touchdown-worthy pass is just as good regardless of what happens on the other end of it.
And as the team’s website points out, this was a much more aggressive Ravens passing attack than we had seen in the first four weeks of the season. More than a fifth of Jackson’s pass attempts traveled 20 or more air yards, almost doubling his average in the previous four games.
The only problem is that the offense didn’t make the plays that were there that he provided. Sure, there were some bad throws, the interception to CB Joey Porter Jr. being the one that sticks out like a sore thumb.
But it would be inaccurate to say that Jackson lost this time, even in spite of the fact that the Ravens managed just 10 points. A lot of that goes on the receivers not making plays, especially TE Mark Andrews and rookie WR Zay Flowers, though WR Rashod Bateman also had multiple gaffes, including the clearest dropped touchdown of the game.
Nelson Agholor also had a terrible drop on a deep ball that could have been yet another touchdown after he burned CB Chandon Sullivan. It was one of the least dependable performances from a group of receivers in the past decade, since TruMedia began tracking drop data.
If we’re really being honest, we could be talking about how Jackson lit up the Steelers’ secondary in an alternate universe wherein his receivers actually made plays for him. And when you have Andrews, of all people, responsible for three drops, you know you’re dealing with an aberration.
I know many fans will continue to take comfort in the Steelers’ 3-1 record against Jackson as a starter, but I would urge caution in fooling yourself into thinking the status quo will be maintained. Jackson has taken another step forward as a passer this year. His adjusted accuracy percentage of over 80 percent is fifth in the NFL this season. He’s still the heart of their running game, but he’s a better thrower of the football than opponents want to give him credit for, even on a day in which it might not be so obvious.
