If Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens want to be Super Bowl contenders in stacked AFC, they need to start taking care of business

There are no rewards for “shoulda, woulda, coulda” in sport. The “what ifs” may linger in the minds of fans and players forever, but the end results remain the same.

All that said, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens will feel like they should being 5-0 at this point in the NFL season, not 3-2.

In Week 3, after sacking Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Gardner Minshew in the end zone for a safety and taking a 19-16 home lead with two minutes remaining. .. the Ravens should held on to win. But they gave up a game-tying field goal and lost in overtime.

In Week 5, after Jackson led the Ravens to a 7-0 lead in Pittsburgh and put together a 15-game series to go up 10-0, he should were 14-0 but Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman couldn’t hold on in the end zone.

With a first and a goal, trailing 10-8 with five minutes remaining, they should put points on the board. But one goal-line interception and a long George Pickens touchdown later, they fell to 3-2.

In a league enamored with the mysterious X’s and Os of Mike McDaniel, the dominance of Patrick Mahomes and the unstoppable Niners of Christian McCaffrey, the Baltimore Ravens should have put themselves on the list of contenders.

They just need to start minding their own business.

The big picture

We shouldn’t ignore the fact that the Ravens have a winning record in such a crowded conference and already have two AFC North division wins under their belt.

They began their season by dismissing the Houston Texans and eliminating the Cincinnati Bengals. After that deflating overtime loss to Indianapolis in Week 3, they bounced back to crush the Cleveland Browns before last week’s loss.

Overall, the numbers paint a picture of a well-rounded team. On offense, they are 13th in total yards, but 18th in points. Their running game is very strong (fourth with 146 yards per game), but their passing game could be much better (189 yards per game – seventh worst).

Baltimore’s defense is flying. They allowed just 266 yards and 15 points per game, both lowest in the league. They have the second most sacks, with 18 in five games.

However, it’s the mishaps and poor execution of the offense that have plagued head coach John Harbaugh’s team thus far, and if they can’t fix the problem, they’ll fall too far behind on the Dolphins, Bills and Chiefs, who have the ability to score quickly and score 30+ points in a given game.

Let’s take last weekend as an example.

Social media has plenty of standalone clips, but check out this short video of Jackson putting the ball on the money for his receivers, only for them to repeatedly fail to get a catch.

Ravens passers were credited with seven assists against Pittsburgh last Sunday, with three of them appearing to be clear touchdowns had they held on.

If the Ravens had run up the score earlier or were able to move the chains more efficiently, we probably wouldn’t be talking about Jackson’s worst throw of the day – his pick in the end zone to Odell Beckham Jr that allowed in Pittsburgh back in the game.

The box score doesn’t tell the story of his performance, both as a passer and a runner.

Although he only has the 20th most passing yards so far (1,030), he makes good decisions and, for the most part, puts the ball exactly where it needs to be. He’s fifth in completion percentage (69.9) and that’s despite the team’s declines as noted above.

In addition to his passing, he still adds excellent value as a runner, with 265 rushing yards (5.6 per attempt), four touchdowns and 18 first downs (11th among all players).

It’s that dual-threat dynamism that saw Jackson named NFL MVP in 2019, making him the only player outside of Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers to win the award in the last five seasons.

That year, Jackson totaled 3,127 yards and 36 touchdowns with a passer rating of 113.3, and added 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

This time around, the volume just isn’t there yet – despite making special plays on entry and exit.

There are two other examples from Baltimore’s Week 4 win over Cleveland:

In the first play, Jackson shows patience, speed and sneakiness, but all while staying behind the line of scrimmage, allowing him to keep his eyes downfield and spot Zay Flowers. On the second, the sixth-year QB couldn’t have placed the ball in a better spot for tight end Mark Andrews.

Despite a delay and the real possibility of leaving Baltimore over the summer, Jackson finally got his long-term contract worth $260 million, and so far, he’s well worth the wait. penalty. He just needs help.

And now?

In early September, Sky Sports NFL’s Cameron Hogwood identified Baltimore’s first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken as one of the most important people in the league heading into the season.

Growing pains were to be expected as the Ravens transitioned from a run-first power unit to one that looks to stretch the field and connect on explosive plays downfield.

However, head coach Harbaugh needs this transition to happen quickly. During his 16 exceptional years at the helm of the company, there is no denying his success. Eleven winning seasons, 150 regular season victories, a Super Bowl in the 2012 season.

The last five years have been filled with heartbreaking endings.

Jackson hasn’t had his postseason coming-out party yet, and the quarterback-head coach duo knows they need to fix that.

Flowers is a rookie, Beckham is returning from injury and in his first year with the team, veteran Nelson Agholor is also new to the roster. Third-year player Rashod Bateman missed much of last season with a foot injury. Right now, one or all of them need to step up and stand out.

When Baltimore faces Tennessee at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday in this year’s final game in London, they will have no idea about January games, or even a February game. They won’t think about how they should have five wins or whatever could happen down the line.

But for them to achieve that ultimate goal and be on the field in Nevada on Feb. 11, the Ravens simply have to take care of business, every week.