Lamar Jackson looked like he was sailing toward his third MVP award, but then he ran into the Pittsburgh Steelers. After an underwhelming performance in Week 11, questions are being raised about why Jackson seems to struggle against the Steelers. However, linebacker Kyle Van Noy, his teammate, doesn’t believe Jackson played poorly in the Ravens’ 18-16 loss Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
“It’s not like Lamar struggled in this game, by any means,” Van Noy said Wednesday on his McCoy and Van Noy podcast. “Go back to the fourth quarter. He did lead us down the field to be in the game, to go for a two-point conversion. We just didn’t get it. To sit here and say whatever people want to say is kind of ridiculous. You’re box score watching. You’re not really watching the game.”
Taking a look at the box score, Jackson completed 16 of his 33 passes for 207 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also only rushed for 46 yards. All things considered that isn’t an awful stat line. Jackson did still have his team right in the fight, being only a two-point conversion away from tying the game late.
Compared to how he’s played over the course of this season, it wasn’t up to the standard Jackson has set. He was the leading candidate for MVP. In an important rivalry game, he’s expected to step up, not down. Van Noy is correct that he wasn’t terrible, but he did struggle.
It’s also important to note that Jackson did make several big plays, but penalties and drops hurt him. Therefore, the box score might be a little deceiving.
The bottom line is that Jackson hasn’t been at his best against the Steelers. He wasn’t horrible in their first matchup this year, but he still didn’t make enough plays to win. The Steelers’ defense is incredibly strong, though, so it’s not like Jackson fell flat on his face against lesser competition.
The Ravens will have an opportunity to avenge the loss later in the year. The Steelers will need to stay on their toes for that battle. Jackson and the rest of the team will want to put all these narratives to rest. Hopefully the Steelers can make Jackson struggle again.
