As the Browns head into their Week 8 matchup against the 5-2 Ravens, they are preparing to face an MVP-caliber quarterback fresh off a five-touchdown performance on Monday Night Football against the Buccaneers.
Despite his two MVP seasons, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is on track for the most passing yards and passing touchdowns in his career while still showing his elite ability to run the football.
“When we say there’s another level, it’s just like, alright, like we didn’t know there was another level because he’s been playing on such a great level and high level,” LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah said when asked if Jackson has stepped his game up this season. “He’s using his feet, he’s doing miraculous plays, extending plays as all great quarterbacks do.”
Jackson is in the top five with 1,810 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns and expected points added per dropback with +0.28, per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. He’s been sacked just nine times and has five total turnovers through the season’s first seven games.
Blitzing Jackson has historically been one way to counter his ability to get the ball downfield, as Jackson was a below-average quarterback against the blitz in terms of EPA per dropback from 2020 to 2023.
This year against the blitz, however, Jackson has the seventh-best passer rating with a 119.9, the seventh-best completion percentage at 70.4 percent and is tied for the second-highest EPA per dropback at +0.46. Between his two MVP seasons, Jackson had never held more than a 62.5 completion percentage against the blitz.
“He’s gone from a run-first quarterback to a pass-first quarterback that can make plays with his feet,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “They’ve pretty much opened the whole passing game up to him and he can rely on that, but he also has those legs that he can make explosive plays.”