The Ravens starting the year 0-2 with MVP Lamar Jackson is one of the surprises of the season so far. While they had to open on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs, they let a win against the Las Vegas Raiders slip away from them in Week 2. They allowed 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, falling on a last-minute field goal.
The Ravens have the Dallas Cowboys up next, and suddenly they are looking at the worst run of Jackson’s NFL career. He has never lost three regular season games in a row, but that’s what can happen this week. The Cowboys are 1-1, beating the Browns but losing to the Saints. Dallas is hosting again after letting New Orleans put up 44 points inside AT&T Stadium.
Lamar Jackson is 58-21 in his career as a starter, 0-2 in 2024 after finishing last season 13-3. He has one of the best records in NFL history though he still has another 21 starts to reach 100. Even with the relatively brief resume, it is still impressive to have avoided a three-game losing streak up to now.
Even the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, who has one of the better historical records, hit a three-game losing streak in his third season though he also hit the back end of a truck that offseason. He had two such streaks that year, and another in 2009, his seventh season. Jackson is in his seventh season now.
The Ravens have only put up 43 points during the first two games of the season though that is still 14th leaguewide. In those two games, Jackson is 47-of-75 for 520 yards with two touchdowns to one interception. He has 167 rushing yards as well on 21 carries though he does have one fumble.
“Let’s get 1-0”, Jackson said via ESPN about his Ravens team this week. “We’re starting the season off slow, but I believe guys in the locker room. We know what we want to do when we go out there Sunday. It’s like we coming up short, but I feel like at the end of the day we beating ourselves”.
This is clearly much better than an 0-2 team, but the Ravens do have some concerns. They are rebuilding their offensive line on the fly, plugging in three new starters from last season. Although he has two touchdowns, RB Derrick Henry is still finding his footing in this offense. Lamar Jackson himself is the primary source of stability on offense—as a quarterback should be, of course.
Defensively, as much as they may not want to admit it, the Ravens are adjusting to life without Patrick Queen. Granted, Queen isn’t exactly lighting things up so far with the Steelers, either. But they are getting contributions, with Odafe Oweh stepping up in the early going, for example.
Lamar Jackson was a freshman at Louisville the only time the Ravens ever started 0-3. They have started 0-2 four times previously and have never posted a winning record before under those circumstances. They have a much higher chance of doing that this year, however.
