Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson admitted he doesn’t know why he has struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this week. With a career 65-22 record, he has success against just about everybody—but not the Steelers. While he has missed some games, he is only 1-3 over his career facing the Ravens’ chief rival.
And as it turns out, the Steelers aren’t sure why they have success against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, either. Speaking to the media yesterday, DC Teryl Austin was asked if he could put his finger on anything in particular to explain their success against one of the premier players in the league.
“No, I think our guys, the series is tough, and I think the teams are mirror images, and it’s really — not schematic, but I think we’re built really similar on both sides of the ball”, Austin said in trying to some up with an explanation for the Steelers’ success against Lamar Jackson, via transcript. “A lot of times styles make for the fight, and that’s why it’s been really tight and really close games. A lot of these games that I’ve been involved in can go either way. I don’t think there’s any secret”.
Lamar Jackson has started four games against the Steelers going back to 2019, the Ravens going 1-3. The only time he beat them came in an overtime win in 2019 against Mason Rudolph. The Ravens knocked the Steelers QB out of the game, forcing Devlin Hodges to make his NFL debut. Jackson led a fourth-quarter comeback, but it was Marlon Humphrey who set up the game-winning field goal in overtime.
Jackson is 0-3 against the Steelers since then. Most recently, he lost to the Steelers, 17-10, in a game in which his teammates let him down. Zay Flowers had himself a day, but even Mark Andrews dropped a touchdown. And Rashod Bateman’s was even worse—you can relive all those glorious faux pas in the link. That doesn’t change the fact that Jackson is on one win right now.
“We’ve always known how dangerous [Lamar Jackson] is”, the Steelers’ defensive coordinator said. “He can beat you running. He can beat you throwing. They’ve really done a good job of surrounding him with really good people”.
This year, that includes Derrick Henry, the best running back the Ravens have ever given Lamar Jackson, and the Steelers are very wary of that dual threat. “There’s a reason why they’re number one in quite a few categories in terms of offensive production”, Austin said, calling it a “really good test”.
When they say throw out the records in rivalry games, do that for this one. It doesn’t matter that the Ravens are 1-3 with Lamar Jackson against the Steelers on Sunday. It means nothing to how the next game will go and certainly doesn’t mean they have him all figured out. Especially considering he continues to get better as a passer. This will be the best Ravens offense the Steelers have ever seen with Jackson playing his best football. Teryl Austin better find a way to keep up the pace.
