Lamar Jackson, Ravens fight for redemption against Titans

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens should have redemption in mind in Week 11.

When the Baltimore Ravens look at the Tennessee Titans, that must pour salt in a still-fresh room. Lamar Jackson and the Birds of B’More entered the NFL Playoffs last season as the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a 14-2 regular-season record and a seemingly unstoppable offense. But then they were stopped in emphatic fashion by Tennessee.

Jackson’s final numbers, 365 passing yards and 143 rushing touchdowns, may look productive but the young quarterback struggled, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble while putting up most of his stats when the Ravens were already playing from behind and scrambling to catch up. Moreover, the Baltimore defense was gashed by Derrick Henry.

On Sunday in Week 11, the Ravens will be across the field from the Titans once again. And while it’s not the postseason, this is a critical matchup for Baltimore. Not only do they need to rid themselves of last year’s demons but Jackson and the offense need to get on the right track and this is the perfect matchup to do that.

The Titans offer a potential turning point for the Ravens and Lamar Jackson.

In the simplest terms, the Tennessee defense has been flat-out bad in the 2020 season. But the more surprising fact is that the Baltimore offense has been anything but reliable. Jackson has regressed as a passer while the gameplan from Greg Roman and John Harbaugh has been frustratingly uncreative and ineffective.

What makes that unfortunate is how well the Ravens defense has played this season. They built this unit to stop what the Titans did to them in the playoffs last year and they look ready to do just that. But the issue is that Baltimore’s offense simply hasn’t been able to capitalize on that with any kind of regularity.

So in a matchup against the team that bounced them from the postseason last year and now that they are clinging onto their playoff lives, Week 11 is huge for this Baltimore squad. If they truly have Super Bowl aspirations, then you have to consider this a must-win situation for them.

Not only do the Ravens not want to drop to a dangerous 6-4 on the season as they come into the home stretch but Lamar Jackson and the offense need to start hitting their stride. If they can avoid that record, get the wheels turning and accomplish all of that against a team that they have something to prove against, that would be a huge achievement heading into the home stretch.