Titans Contained Jackson, Could Not Keep Him Down
Quarterback Lamar Jackson means business, and he went to work on the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
The dual-threat quarterback finished the AFC Wild Card contest at Nissan Stadium with 315 total yards, a touchdown and a handful of big-time plays in the Titans’ 20-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Every time the game hung in the balance, he invoked a sense of football magic, making light work of what was an aggressive and productive Titans defense much of the day.
“There is not too many quarterbacks like Lamar. He is dynamic,” Tennessee defensive tackle
Jeffery Simmons said after the game. “(Sunday) we didn’t do a good enough job, especially when we needed to.”
Jackson’s first big play came with Baltimore trailing 10-3 with less than three minutes left in the first half. On third-and-9 from the Titans 48, he dropped back to pass and saw nothing. Jackson then evaded the pass rush and climbed the pocket, finding an opening down the field to run.
He ran 48 yards and scored the Ravens’ first touchdown in a defender-dodging, momentum-stealing touchdown run.
“I dropped back, they zoned it,” Jackson said. “I took advantage of it, and it’s off to the races. It just happened to be a touchdown.”
It also happened to be the second-longest rushing score by a quarterback in NFL playoff history. The only quarterback to cover more ground en route to the end zone was Colin Kapernick with San Francisco in 2012 against the Green Bay Packers.
“That’s one of the best runs I’ve ever seen. It’s the best run I’ve seen by a quarterback,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “It just got us back in the game. We needed points at that point. It got us back in the game.”
Beginning with that drive through the end of the game, the Ravens outgained the Titans 325-84 and outscored them 17-3.
“He took over the game, and he did what he needed to do to put us in the best position to win,” Ravens tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said. “I can’t give enough credit to him, and how well he played and persevered.”
Before his 48-yard scamper, the Titans mostly bottled up the Ravens superstar. He was sacked twice and picked off on a pass intended for wide receiver Miles Boykin. For Jackson, who has been criticized because he was winless in two previous playoff starts, it was all too familiar.
Ultimately, Tennessee sacked him five times – more than it had in any game during the regular season – but could not keep him corralled when it mattered most.
“I think we had a great gameplan of trying to capture Lamar,” Simmons said. “We knew we couldn’t just go in and try to kill. We knew we had to just try to get him on the ground, we had a couple of sacks and we had a turnover. The goal was to try to capture.”
Out of halftime with the score tied 10-10, Jackson led his offense on a nine-play, 77-yard, touchdown drive that put Baltimore ahead to stay. He had a 23-yard run on third-and-2 from the Tennessee 44 and set up J.K. Dobbins’ 4-yard touchdown run with a 9-yard completion to Patrick Ricard on third-and-2 from the 13.
“Props to him for making the plays,” Simmons said. “I hated we just didn’t make that play when he did make a play, and that’s what playoff football comes down to.”
The Ravens’ final scoring drive included a 14-yard Jackson run and three completions (on three attempts) for 30 yards. He also completed a fourth-down pass for an apparent first down, but the play was negated by a penalty that forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal.
Baltimore’s defense closed the game out with an interception.
But in the end, it was Jackson who was celebrated and got the game ball for his uncanny ability to get the most out of critical situations. He actually had bigger numbers in last year’s divisional round loss to the Titans (143 rushing yards, 365 passing yards) than he did in this one (136 and 179, respectively). But this time, he made big plays in big moments.
His first playoff victory comes at Tennessee’s expense. And part of the Ravens’ celebration isn’t just that the team advances to the next round, but also that the criticism of its quarterback’s playoff play will finally quiet down.
“I’m super proud of him, just to get the monkey off his back,” wide receiver Marquise Brown said after the game. “Now we can just try to build on it and keep going.”
And the Titans are left to ponder why they could not stop Jackson when it mattered most.
“They have got a very unique scheme and one that makes you defend the entire field, every player,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “And (Jackson) is a dynamic athlete. You know, certainly great for our game. Great for our league. Tough to defend. You know, [we] just have to do better the next time we play him."
