Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The Baltimore Ravens have a major problem when it comes to their rivalry against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that is the struggles of quarterback Lamar Jackson, who had yet another lackluster showing against the Ravens’ AFC North rival.
In the Week 11 loss to the Steelers, Jackson completed just 16-of-33 passes for 207 yards and one touchdown to one interception, while also adding four carries for 46 yards.
With the game in the books, Jackson is now 1-4 against the Steelers as a starter during his career and has completed 57% of his passes and posted a 66.7 passer rating in those games. He also sports a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 5-8.
Entering Week 11, the Ravens sported one of the hottest offenses in the NFL. The unit had scored 30 or more points in six of its last seven games, including three games with 40-plus points.
Despite the fact that it’s quite clear the Steelers have his number, Jackson wouldn’t say as much after the game. He instead blamed the loss on the Ravens shooting themselves in the foot.
“Going back to the AFC Championship Game, we killed ourselves. Chiefs game — the opener — killed ourselves. Raiders, we killed ourselves, and today same thing,” Jackson said following the game. “We can’t be beating ourselves in these type of games. We gotta find a way to fix that.”
Granted, the Ravens definitely shot themselves in the foot in this game, as future Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker continued to struggle after missing a pair of field goals. But Jackson also threw a pick, so he certainly wasn’t blameless.
At this point, Jackson needs to give credit where credit is due. His struggles versus the Steelers aren’t an outlier after what we’ve seen in recent years and the Ravens have to figure that out.
Pittsburgh’s defense has his number, plain and simple, and the coaching staff and players deserve all the credit in the world for shutting down one of the best quarterbacks — and offenses — in the NFL.