Baltimore Ravens: Is Lamar Jackson Kryptonite for undefeated Patriots?

The Baltimore Ravens renew a rivalry with the Patriots but is the dynamic Lamar Jackson going to be the downfall of unbeaten New England?

Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens have a chance to knock off the undefeated New England Patriots in Week 9 in a matchup of first-place teams both trending towards playoff berths. Is this the game the Patriots go down, or will they extend their undefeated season to 9-0 and beat up on yet another second-year quarterback in Jackson?

The Pats are now on their third-straight game playing a quarterback that was selected in the 2018 NFL Draft. Two weeks ago, they took apart Sam Darnold and the New York Jets. Last week, they took down Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns, who were coming off a bye. On Sunday now, they get Jackson and a Ravens team also coming off a bye.

If history repeats itself, as it usually does with the Pats, Bill Belichick and his top-ranked defense will make it a rough evening for Jackson and keep him contained in the pocket.

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The way to beat a quarterback like Jackson is to make him throw the ball and never establish his run game. That means there will probably be a spy on him all game long on the Patriots’ side (either Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower or Kyle Van Noy).

If they can make Jackson drop back around 40 times and try to beat them from the pocket, the Pats are going to have yet another feast and force their steady diet of turnovers. It’s almost like clockwork for the Patriots. Belichick’s terrific schemes and gameplans are no secret to anyone but the Ravens will still not have the answers (for the most part).

For as historic as this rivalry is and the playoff wars they’ve gone through, the Patriots and Ravens have only met 13 times and New England has won 10 of those meetings. Plus, the Pats have only lost in Baltimore one time in their history and that was in 2012.

However, this is a completely different Ravens team than what the Pats are used to seeing. Tom Brady and Belichick are used to the rough-rider crew, defensive powerhouse the Ravens always put forth with guys like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

This new-look Ravens team is actually not very impressive on the defensive side of the ball allowing about 350 total yards, 265 passing yards and 22 points per game (though they’re still a solid run defense).

What we’re seeing out of this revamped Ravens team is more offense and less defense, a stark contrast to the established norms. Jackson and this offense are second right now in total yards per game and first in rushing yards per game.

So, the mighty Patriot defense isn’t facing any slouch offense in this game. The Ravens have the capability to put points on the board. But, in the end, I think Belichick’s defense is going to be too much for the young Ravens quarterback.

They’ll make Jackson throw more and he could make a vital mistake or two to swing momentum the Pats’ way, winning 33-20 at the end and staying undefeated.