Including the playoffs, Lamar Jackson has played in 78 NFL games.
He has started at quarterback for 69 of those. Since Jackson entered the league as a first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens, his team has faced the Pittsburgh Steelers 10 times.
But, because of injury and other quirks, Jackson has started against the Steelers only three times.
Jackson has more career starts against an AFC West team (the Kansas City Chiefs) than he does against the AFC North rival Steelers.
Over the past three calendar years until recent days, Jackson had gone through preparations to face the Steelers only twice. But during what is known as “Steelers Week” at Ravens team headquarters in Owings Mills, Md., Jackson quickly recognized a unique anticipation of facing the Steelers.
“The atmosphere is different,” Jackson told Baltimore media. “It’s more intense, more aggressive. Even in practice, guys (are) just getting pumped for this game.
“It’s different when we play the Steelers.”
Jackson’s performance has been different against the Steelers, too. At least relative to his caliber of play against the rest of the NFL.
Jackson has a meager 66.7 passer rating in his starts against the Steelers, the worst against any opponent. His rating against everyone else is 98.8.
Against no team has Jackson thrown more interceptions (six) or been sacked on a greater rate of dropbacks (14.5%) than the Steelers. Jackson’s 1-2 record as a starter against the Steelers pales in comparison to the stellar 47-15 he is against everybody else.
“I don’t think I’ve played my best against them (the Steelers) yet,” Jackson said.
He hasn’t. The only time Jackson beat the Steelers as a starter, he threw three interceptions, the Steelers played their second- and third-string quarterbacks (Devlin Hodges entered after a Mason Rudolph concussion) and the Ravens needed a JuJu Smith-Schuster overtime fumble to escape Oct. 6, 2019 at then-Heinz Field.
The second time Jackson started against the Steelers, Robert Spillane intercepted him 46 seconds into the game and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown Nov, 1, 2020. The Steelers went on to win 28-24.
Jackson’s third start against the Steelers resulted in him being sacked a career-most seven times in addition to a fumble and an interception in a 20-19 loss Dec. 5, 2021.
“I think a lot of (the Steelers’ success against Jackson) is because we’re familiar with the division, and we know these guys and they know us,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “That’s where the chess match comes in. If you just continue to do the same things all the time, I’m sure they’ll coach it. They’re a well-coached group, they’ll figure out what we’re doing. There’s going to be some changes, some mix-ups, some different things we have to do to try to keep them off balance.”
Austin, of course, declined to reveal any of the schematic changes the Steelers might deploy for what has become a rare meeting with Jackson, who through the sample size of four games this season has the lowest interception rate (one among 105 attempts) of his career and has the best passer rating (104.2) and yards per attempt (7.6) since his 2019 NFL MVP season.
“Lamar is a different breed,” said veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson, who’s in his first year with the Steelers and has never played against Jackson. “Now, he’s evolved into a very fine passer.
“They are surrounding him with these speedy, shifty receivers.”
Long criticized for failing to supplement Jackson with a high-caliber wide receivers corps, the Ravens over the offseason added veterans Nelson Agholor and Odell Beckham Jr. in addition to first-round pick Zay Flowers to that position group. Speedy former first-round pick Rashod Bateman is another virtual addition because he played just two of the Ravens’ final 13 games last season.
Baltimore’s passing attack, though, flows through former All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews. Of course, Jackson’s electric running is what makes him so unique. Jackson has 4,657 career rushing yards on a 6.1 per-carry average with 28 rushing touchdowns.
“For us, we always want to be aggressive in this matchup with him,” Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “We know he’s one of the most dangerous players in the league.”
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