Lamar Jackson Has to Overcome 4th Quarter Struggles
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has played like an MVP-caliber player over each of the game's first three quarters this season.
However, Jackson and the Ravens struggled over the final 15 minutes.
Jackson's quarterback ratings so far this season are:
- 1st Quarter— 97.8
- 2nd Quarter — 114.8
- 3rd Quarter — 100.6
- 4th Quarter — 56.3
The Ravens are 22-1 when Jackson has a rating higher than 70, but they are 18-14 when he is below that number.
“It’s frustrating because we lose the way we lost those games, but we’re not going to let it shy away our season," Jackson said. "It happened, it’s over with [and] we have to move on to the Browns. We just can’t keep beating ourselves up because that’s what it is; it’s not our opponent. Obviously, it’s an NFL team; they’re good, but I just feel like we’re just beating ourselves with little mistakes here and there.”
Baltimore (3-3) is the 39th team in NFL history to hold a double-digit lead in each of its first six games, but the only of those squads not to have a winng record, according to ESPN.
Jackson made some of his critical mistakes in the final quarter.
In Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills, Jackson threw an interception in the end zone on a 4th-and-three late in the fourth quarter, which gave the Bills the ball on the 25.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen led a 12-play, 77-yard scoring drive capped by a 21-yard field goal by Tyler Bass that provided a 23-20 victory.
Last week against the Giants, Jackson threw an interception to safety Julian Love that gave New York the ball on the 13 with just over two minutes remaining. That set up the go-ahead touchdown and then Jackson fumbled on the final drive, allowing the Giants to escape with a 24-20 victory.
“Any loss stings, no matter what happened within a game," Jackson said. "We try to overcome mistakes, it’s NFL football, [and] it happens, but any loss hurts. It’s going to sting regardless of what the score is [or] how close it was. It’s going to sting regardless.”
Coach John Harbaugh has been encouraged by the team's performance despite the tough losses. He knows the mistakes are correctable.
"We have to get better on third down, both sides of the ball," he said. "We can’t make critical errors in critical fourth-down situations, both sides of the ball if we want to win games, and we do want to win games, and we are going to get that stuff right. You have to be forged a little bit, and we’re getting forged right now, that’s for sure.”
