3 key players who can help Titans keep Lamar Jackson in check
By Ravi Konjeti
Here are three key players that can help the Tennessee Titans keep Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in check.
Stopping Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is an impossible task, and it’s one that the Tennessee Titans will be faced with on Saturday night.
The presumptive Most Valuable Player of the league has been on a tear this season that we have not seen before. Even some of the greatest minds in the league have gotten stumped on designing a game plan to limit Jackson.
In a league designed to stop beefy, speedy wideouts, the Ravens are built around a ground and pound game with multiple tight end sets.
Opposing defenses are struggling to put players on the field to match the size and speed of the Ravens’ offense. When teams put speed and coverage with multiple defensive backs, Jackson and Mark Ingram are winning through a punishing run game.
When teams go big with multiple linebackers, they are struggling to matchup with the physicality of tight ends Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle, and Hayden Hurst in the passing game, and Jackson’s speed out of the pocket.
Jackson has posted 36 touchdowns in the air, paired with seven touchdowns on the ground this season. Jackson finished sixth in the NFL in rushing yards this season, and that’s even ahead of fellow teammate Ingram.
While the Titans have notoriously struggled with mobile quarterbacks in recent years, they have some key players and matchups that might help them limit Jackson’s impact on the ground and air.
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees has some experience in stopping the read option as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator in 2012 against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII in which Greg Roman, the Ravens’ current offensive coordinator, was the OC.
If the Titans can get major contributions from the three players we’re going to talk about and slow down the Ravens’ offense, they have a really good chance of winning this game.