Baltimore Ravens: Doesn’t matter who starts at quarterback
By Bryce Pinson
The Baltimore Ravens offense was rolling on Thursday night. All three quarterbacks looked brilliant in their second preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Baltimore Ravens’ offense was on fire in their second preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams. However, it was against the Rams second team defense. It is hard to grade just how good this offense really is, but whoever plays behind the first team offensive line will be just fine.
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Joe Flacco started the night for the Ravens, and he was nearly perfect. He threw one pass away because of pressure, and another incompletion came on a very catchable ball to Michael Crabtree. Take away those two plays and Flacco was perfect against the Rams’ second team. He was 5-of-7 for 71 yards and one touchdown on his only drive of the game where the Ravens marched 70 yards down the field in 10 plays for the first score of the contest.
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What was most impressive is it seemed the drive was going to stall after a chop block call on Orlando Brown. The mishap by Brown put the Ravens in a second-and-25. Flacco completed two big passes, one to John Brown for 17 yards, and the next to Crabtree for 30 yards to keep the drive alive. Flacco would finish things off with a six-yards TD pass to Patrick Ricard.
Just when some thought it was all about Flacco, Lamar Jackson got the nod with the first team for the Ravens second drive. It only took Lamar five plays to punch it in the end zone with a highlight real nine-yard run where he broke the ankles of a couple of Ram defenders. On the drive, he was 2-of-2 pass attempts for 41 yards. Following the first drive, Jackson is obviously still a work in progress. But it was a great second game for the first-round pick where he showed much improvement.
Robert Griffin III might have looked the most impressive of all the Ravens quarterbacks. Considering he was not with the first team offensive line and saw no time with the Ravens top receivers. Yet, the guy who isn’t even expected to make the team finished 5-of-7 for 88 yards, including a beautiful 34-yard pass to Breshad Perriman in the back of the end zone.
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The quarterback battle is just getting started. It is unlikely either Lamar Jackson or RG3 will unseat Flacco for the role of QB1 before Week 1. However, if Flacco goes down or loses the job later in the season, these Ravens look like they could still be playoff contenders with either of the other two quarterbacks.