NFL 2018: Biggest obstacle each team must overcome

Baltimore Ravens: Avoid Flacco-Jackson battle becoming distraction

Frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe how the Baltimore Ravens must feel over missing out on the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, despite having one of the top defensive units at times. Without question, inconsistency on offense has been one of the main reasons why the Ravens have been coming up short of the playoffs, and the pressure is on Joe Flacco to help turn things around in 2018 now that rookie Lamar Jackson is anxious to one day take over the starting job under center.

After seeing Baltimore trade up at the end of the first round to land the former Louisville star in this year’s draft, there was some discussion over the possibility of the team going with the rookie over Flacco during Jackson’s rookie campaign, although that seems highly unlikely to happen. Still, the more impressive Jackson looks throughout training camp and preseason, the more discussion there’s going to be over the possibility of this happening since Flacco seems to be nearing the end of his career anyway.

Down the road, the Ravens would love nothing more than to see Jackson one day become the starter. But since the reality is that Flacco will most likely be the starter once again this season, Baltimore can’t let any talk of a quarterback battle be a distraction over the next couple of weeks.