The second half of the first quarter of the wild card game. pittsburgh steelers with lamar jackson baltimore ravens The attacking team faced No. 3 and No. 4 in their own territory. Baltimore had two tight ends on the field in a 2×2 formation, with Mark Andrews in the left slot and Isaiah Likely in the right slot. Pittsburgh responded with five defensive backs, and Jackson played two deep safeties before the snap.
Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken called for a left-side stick concept with Andrews running stick routes and wide receiver Tyrann Wallace breaking toward the sideline on quick outs. On the right side of the formation, Rikley and Rashod Bateman ran an infiltration route.
With Pittsburgh poised for a two-deep zone before the snap, Jackson looked to Andrews in the slot on a stick route, expecting the tight end to find the crease against the defender in the underzone. However, while doing so, Pittsburgh rotated the defense into cover 1, with linebacker Patrick Queen putting Andrews in man coverage as the safety dropped into the throwing lane. Jackson's primary read was taken away and the clock was ticking.
Jackson calmly looked to the middle of the field and made a series of throws under Recreary on a crossing route and past the dropping safety in front of him.
In the blink of an eye, the Baltimore tight end had a 25-yard gain and the Ravens offense had another down.
It was just one play, a snapshot, of one game, let alone an entire season, but it's another example of Jackson's growth, development, and refinement as a passer in the NFL. Of course, this has been a consistent theme for the Ravens quarterback since he was drafted in 2018. After all, this piece was one of the first pieces I wrote after joining. SB Nation This book focuses on Jackson's development as a pocket quarterback over the years, and that was before I became an F1 writer.
That kind of life is interesting.
But Jackson continuing to grow in that area and adding another club to his already full bag is just one reason the Ravens are one win away from a second straight AFC Championship Game. do not have. Another reason? Derrick Henry joins the offensive backfield. The combination of Jackson and Henry in Baltimore's offense gives the Ravens two of the most unique offensive players in the NFL today, two who are home run threats on every snap.
The Steelers were acutely aware of this heading into Saturday night, and Pittsburgh arrived at M&T Bank Stadium with a plan to deal with this duo. When Baltimore had a zone-read look, Jackson and Henry would meet at the mesh point in the backfield, and the defender on the edge would slam into the RB as the QB decided whether to give or keep. This would be a signal for Jackson to keep the football and runners on for the last minute. There, a second or third level defender will be waiting to “rake out” the top.
The frustrating thing for Pittsburgh is that when dealing with these two, the best plans written on the whiteboard may not translate to the field.
And here's a frustrating fact for opposing defenses. With the offensive line and fullback Patrick Ricard in front of Henry, Baltimore can run the football over and over again with such high-volume personnel.
All of which ultimately leads to a knockout shot. If you're planning on stopping a certain play as a defense, in this case another scraping exchange, it doesn't matter because Jackson and Henry can find a way to beat you.
On this snap, Pittsburgh's scrape exchange put the defense in position to stop this play, even if it wasn't what the Steelers intended. Alex Highsmith rushes inside to react to Henry, but his explosive power from the snap causes Andrews to block just in time, slowing down Pittsburgh's defenders. That's plenty of time for Jackson to hand the ball off, but if he had kept playing the football, Elandon Roberts would have been waiting for him on the edge.
it doesn't matter. Despite being forced to correct course behind the line of scrimmage, Henry expertly dove around Highsmith, found the crease, and exploded up the field for a 44-yard touchdown. Any hopes of a comeback in Pittsburgh died in the process.
That's the problem for teams facing Baltimore this season. Even if you have the right answer, the Ravens' combination of Jackson and Henry may be too difficult to overcome. An evolving quarterback, the most dangerous run duo in the game, and an offense built to beat defenses in a variety of ways will be extremely difficult for defenses to overcome.
The challenge awaits buffalo bills A spot in the AFC Championship Game is on the line this weekend.
