The Pittsburgh Steelers might not have seen all that much of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, considering they have played just six career games against him with four starts.
But four games and all that tape throughout his first seven years in the NFL is plenty to go off of.
It’ll need to be because Sunday presents a significant challenge for the Steelers’ vaunted defense as Jackson and a red-hot offense roll into town for a huge AFC North battle.
The Steelers have shown all the respect in the world to Jackson leading up to the matchup, but now it’ll come down to finding ways to slow him down again. For Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, he’s confident in his defense and knows that it’ll be a tall task on Sunday against the league’s MVP frontrunner.
“Yeah, I think we’ve always known how dangerous he is,” Austin said of Jackson, according to video via the Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski on Twitter. “He can beat you running, he can beat you throwing, and they’ve really done a good job of surrounding him with really good people. Obviously the big running back makes a huge difference because of his home run ability.
“There’s a reason why they’re number one in quite a few categories, in terms of offensive production. So it’s gonna be a real good test in terms of how we hold up versus this.”
The Steelers should know how dangerous Jackson is, especially after playing him six times. Granted, the Steelers are 2-4 against the Ravens with Jackson (1-3 as the starting QB), but they know how dangerous he is as a passer and a runner. The entire NFL knows, for that matter, but no team has had more success slowing down Jackson than the Steelers.
This time around, it’ll be even more difficult due to the presence of future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry, who has added a whole different element to Baltimore’s offense. Jackson and the Ravens have had some solid running backs in the past like J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, but they’ve never been as good or as dominant as Henry has been.
Add the receiving weapons in Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and even former Steeler Diontae Johnson, and it’s clear that the Ravens have given Jackson quite a bit of help. He’s thrived under offensive coordinator Todd Monken the last two years, too, and has shown just how elite he is as a passer.
It’ll be a huge test for the Steelers, one that they haven’t had yet this season. The matchup against Washington last week was a tough one, but this is on an entirely different level.
While it’ll be a tough task for the Steelers, it’ll be a difficult one for Jackson, too. He hasn’t figured out the Steelers and still can’t seem to pinpoint why he’s had trouble against the Black and Gold. It’s tough going against a group led by T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick, and it’ll be that way once again on Sunday.
