Samuel Njoku: Ravens Need Lamar Jackson & More Weapons
BALTIMORE — The Ravens' season came to an end on Sunday after they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 24-17 in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.
Baltimore was a few inches away from taking the lead and possibly winning the game prior to Sam Hubbard’s 98-yard fumble return for a touchdown. The Ravens will have a difficult time getting over this loss but must quickly turn their attention to their star quarterback.
Lamar Jackson’s rookie deal has essentially come to an end and the Ravens don’t have a lot to show for it. One playoff win over the past five years is unacceptable when you have a quarterback of this caliber on the roster.
But the lack of post-season success can’t fall on Jackson alone.
As an organization, the Ravens failed Lamar Jackson mightily.
Lamar Jackson’s 2019 season was filled with unprecedented achievements on nearly a weekly basis. But the Ravens spent the next 3 seasons trying to recapture the magic as opposed to building on their success.
What remained was an offensive philosophy reminiscent of the late 90’s going toe-to-toe with pass-happy juggernauts with less than positive results. The 2021 season showed the world that the run-first nature of the Ravens' offense would not be enough to compete with elite teams, but Baltimore elected to retain the services of the not-so-fan-favorite Greg Roman.
This season, the clamors for change from both fans and pundits alike only increased but John Harbaugh refused to budge.
“I’ve got confidence in everybody,” Harbaugh stated after questions regarding Greg Roman surfaced in December. “We have great coaches and great players at the highest level, battling every single day to get everything as good as it can be. The passing game has not been where we need it to be, but all our coaches, including Greg (Roman) and everybody else, are fully capable of understanding the passing game and what we’ve got to do to get it done and scheming it up.”
The passing game did not improve as red zone deficiencies defined the season for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. And while coaching tends to be the first casualty when it comes to finger-pointing, Eric DeCosta should not be given a free pass.
For years, it has been evident that the Ravens lack talent at wide receiver. Instead of making strides to improve in that area this offseason, Baltimore traded their best receiver to the Cardinals for a first-round pick without a means of effectively replacing him.
This move severely diminished the depth at the position (which was already low) and placed a magnitude of pressure on Rashod Bateman who only played 6 games due to a foot injury. All this culminated in 3 receptions total for the wide receivers in a playoff game against a divisional opponent on Sunday.
For the time being, the franchise-defining chapter for the Ravens has yet to be written. Steve Bisciotti and Eric DeCosta failed to sign Lamar Jackson to a long-term deal this past offseason. Whether that played a part in Jackson's failing to play following his PCL strain remains to be seen. But that failure by the front office puts Baltimore in an unbelievably difficult position.
Baltimore can easily point to the fact that Jackson has only played in 12 games in each of the last 2 seasons as justification for refusing to deliver more guaranteed money on any contract offer made during the upcoming offseason. But Lamar Jackson can easily point to the offensive philosophy the Ravens placed him in as cause for the injuries to go along with the lack of weapons to compete with his rival quarterbacks who seem to receive more weapons on an almost annual basis.
If this season told the Ravens organization anything, it’s that it must do everything in their power to retain the services of Lamar Jackson. The offense will need to be revamped to be more effective in the passing game and Jackson will need multiple weapons sent over to give him a chance to compete with the true Super Bowl contenders.
But it all starts with the 2019 MVP.
