Is this the year the Cleveland Browns figure out Lamar Jackson?

The Cleveland Browns have immense respect for Lamar Jackson, but there are other ways to attack the Baltimore Ravens and beat them.

Though Jeremy Fowler of ESPN claims that the NFL is about to “figure out” Lamar Jackson, the Cleveland Browns can testify that he is one of the greatest opponents that they have ever faced.

However, the Baltimore Ravens as a team can be beaten, without necessarily blaming the quarterback in advance.

One thing that Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson have shared since coming into the league is that they rank 1-2 in unfair, illogical, and absurd criticism.

As Browns fans, the Dawg Pound is delighted to support unfair criticism of Mr. Jackson, while acknowledging that it is completely baseless and that he remains the greatest dual-threat quarterback in NFL history. However, it is a nice thought.

Mr. Fowler’s point is that he has this vast cadre of quarterback experts around the NFL (probably true), and they feel that Jackson will struggle to make throws 40 and 50 times a game to bring the Ravens from behind.

This is a fair point, sort of. But if we are going to blame the quarterback in advance of a loss (a new landmark low in sports journalism, by the way), perhaps we should ask why it is that the Ravens are going to put themselves in the situation of requiring Jackson to throw 40 and 50 times a game to bring the Ravens from behind.

It’s one thing if your team is the Green Bay Packers or the New Orleans Saints and they actually want to put the ball in the air 40 and 50 times. It’s quite another thing if your team is forced to do so because your team is behind by two scores in the fourth quarter; i.e., you need two drives to win.

So your team is behind by nine points or more in the fourth quarter. In this situation, we understand why a handoff to J.K. Dobbins up the middle would be a poor play call. However, that’s not the same as negating Jackson’s ability to run. Would the Browns ever say, “okay, great, the Ravens are 10 points down in the fourth quarter, so Jackson is no longer a threat to scramble?”

With deepest apologies to Mr. Fowler and his cadre of football experts, this is nonsense. You don’t know what Lamar Jackson can do! If it is fourth down and 20, he’s still a threat to break off a long run on a scramble, so you simply cannot leave the middle of the field open for him under any circumstance. You have not figured him out, o wise experts of the NFL.

The Browns know better than this. The Browns understand that Jackson is not simply running for three and four yards by diving off tackle. He is the greatest coast-to-coast runner we have seen since Barry Freaking Sanders.

Still, if Fowler’s football experts think the Ravens are going to consistently be behind by nine or 10 points or more in the fourth quarter, maybe we should explore that angle a little further.

Maybe at long last, the Ravens’ front office is faltering now that Ozzie Newsome has finally retired. Maybe that is what is being hinted at by Fowler’s experts. That possibility is discussed on page two of this article.

On page three, the Ravens/Browns rivalry in the Mayfield era is discussed. Just so you know, Baker Mayfield has thrown for 342, 376, 342 (again), and 343 yards. The Browns beat Baltimore in 2018 as well as in 2019, the year they went 14-2. In 2020, Mayfield and the Browns hung 42 on the Ravens only to lose 47 to 42.

Ravens may be hedging on commitment to be a run-first team

Speaking of figuring people out, the Browns never figured out the Ravens Hall of Fame general manager Ozzie Newsome, who also happened to be number 82 for our team, and was the best tight end we ever had. Every year it seemed that Ozzie would draft just the certain player that the Ravens needed and he never missed. Cleveland could never match him.

What really hurt Cleveland fans, was that our hero followed the despised Art Modell to Baltimore, and the worst part about it is that he was a superstar as a general manager.

Ozzie, as well as coach John Harbaugh, had the right idea. Lamar Jackson had unique gifts, and the team was going to build around those gifts.

The Ravens were scary because they had the personnel to gain 3,000 yards on the ground, led by the greatest dual-threat quarterback in NFL history in Jackson. The Birds also had two top-flight tight ends in the league (Mark Andrews and Nick Boyle).

But what really made us pee our collective pants was the best blocking fullback in the NFL (311-pound Patrick Ricard, who could also play defensive tackle). They also had a massive offensive line, allowing Jackson to run behind Ricard and offensive tackle Orlando Brown, who is 6-foot-9 and weighs 344 pounds.

Those were some big purple thunder chickens. Jackson had Mark Ingram gain 1,000 yards next to him in the backfield, along with Gus Edwards contributing another 700-plus yards on the ground.  Jackson was able to lead the NFL in touchdown passes throwing to no-name wide receivers like Marquise Brown and Willie Snead.

But Eric DeCosta is running the show now instead of Ozzie Newsome, and DeCosta seems to think a little bit more like the average ESPN sportscaster (that was not a compliment). What has DeCosta done that has failed to fully impress this adversarial sportswriter from Cleveland?

Well, there is a sneaking suspicion that DeCosta has it in his mind that he wants Jackson to become more of a pocket passer.

For one, he failed to make Orlando Brown happy, choosing instead to pay Ronnie Stanley, who is an All-World tackle. Perhaps the Son of Zeus was just not willing to be the second-highest-paid lineman in Baltimore, but Cleveland fans are happy to see him leave. Brown was traded to Kansas City, where he will be able to pursue his dream, so he says, of playing left tackle instead of right tackle.

In place of the Son of Zeus is Alejandro Villanueva, who should be a power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, at 6-foot-9 and 277 pounds. Actually, his real weight might be different, as he has played at different weights over the years. But he is smaller and less formidable than Brown. Villanueva, like the other Pittsburgh linemen, has a terrific record for not allowing sacks.

However, in this fan’s opinion, it had more to do with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s quick release, estimated at 2.33 seconds average time to throw (TTT) last season. You might as well try to tackle a hippopotamus in 2.33 seconds or less. He is not going down.

Are the Ravens really going to stop Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney with a 277-pound right tackle who is 32 years old? Did anyone at ESPN and Fox Sports watch Pittsburgh play football last season? Their offensive line was not nearly as good as the sportswriters gave them credit for.

Now, can we please do something about Patrick Ricard? Right on cue, the Ravens drafted the top fullback prospect in the 2021 draft in Ben Mason, in the fifth round. The idea was that Mason would be a younger, cheaper option at fullback.

Was something wrong with Ricard? Well, buzz out of Baltimore now is that Ricard may have gotten banged up last season, but he is fine now, and Ben Mason has all but disappeared from view. They might even cut him. Still, it’s nice to think that the Baltimore front office was trying to get rid of Patrick Ricard for us. What, are you crazy?

The front office seems to be listening to the sportscasters and fans by investing in speedy wide receivers. They signed a big name in Sammy Watkins and drafted wide receiver Rashod Bateman from Minnesota in the first round, and Tylan Wallace from Oklahoma State in the fourth round.

These might be great picks. But speedy wide receivers are not what brought Lamar Jackson to the dance.

As long as the Ravens have Lamar Jackson as their quarterback and as long as the Browns have Baker Mayfield, this is going to be a rivalry. I do not feel comfortable picking a winner in advance, but I’ve stated my reasons for believing that this is going to be a close rivalry again in 2021.

I do feel comfortable in confidently predicting that whichever team loses, ESPN will blame it on the quarterback.

Browns versus Ravens has already been a hell of a rivalry

It should be pointed out that the Browns have generally played the Ravens tough in the Mayfield era. These have been classic battles, and both quarterbacks have shown themselves to be true warriors. Attempts to blame losses on either quarterback are farcical.

Let us begin by pointing out that Baker Mayfield was the quarterback for the last win in the NFL career of 3-33-1 Hue Jackson’s career and it came against the Baltimore Ravens in overtime.

Mayfield threw for 342 yards against Baltimore, while Jackson was used as a situational substitute for then-starter Joe Flacco. They may not have figured out Jackson but they evidently figured out Flacco 12-9, with the game-winning field goal coming on a kick that was partially blocked but just barely made it over the goal post anyway.

Their first true Mayfield versus Jackson meeting later came in the year when Mayfield threw for 376 yards and Jackson threw for 179 yards and added 90 yards on the ground. The Browns evidently could not figure out Jackson, 24-22.

So, the Browns’ quarterback threw for 718 yards in two games, won one game, and should have won both games, but Baltimore edged them because the Browns could not figure out Lamar Jackson.

Jackson was the youngest quarterback to start a playoff game that year, surpassing Bernie Kosar. Both QBs began the season at age 21, although Kosar turned 22 by the time the playoffs rolled around. Neither posted a “W.”

2019 was the year that Baltimore went 14-2, Freddie Kitchens had Jackson figured out as he and Baker put the kibosh on Jackson 40-25, with Mayfield throwing for 342 yards against the team he never plays well against (remember, the great Fox Sports analysts told me this, so it must be true).

The rematch went Baltimore’s way, however, as the Browns evidently could not figure out Jackson, 31-15, with Jackson throwing for 238 yards on his way to an MVP season. Freddie Kitchens and his staff couldn’t figure that out, so they were fired. Jackson did not break down for the playoffs, but his star running back, Mark Ingram, did suffer a calf injury and carried the ball only six times for 22 yards.

Jackson threw for 365 yards and rushed for 143 additional on the ground. That’s 508 yards of offense from one player, and the consensus view is that Jackson is a choker. That is completely idiotic and unfair, but as Browns fans, we are okay with idiotic and unfair criticism of the Ravens.

In 2020, you will recall that the preseason was canceled due to Covid. The Browns had a new coaching staff. But let’s not use that as an excuse, okay? The Browns and Stefanski were beaten by Lamar and the Ravens in the first game, Baker and Odell Beckham, Jr. had bad games, and analysts at ESPN Fox have been calling for the dismissal of Stefanski and for Mayfield to be cut ever since.

In the rematch, the Browns hung 42 on the Ravens with 343 passing yards for Mayfield, but the Ravens scored 47, with Jackson passing for 163 yards and rushing for 124. Cleveland outgained Baltimore 493 yards to 385 yards, but came up short on the scoreboard. Some in the national media grudgingly admitted that they saw some evidence of improvement.

The Ravens won a playoff game versus Tennessee, the team that beat them the previous year, but lost against Buffalo. In the playoff game against Buffalo, Buffalo’s defense deserves great credit. They intercepted Jackson for a pick-six. Still, Baltimore outgained Buffalo, 340-220, and Jackson suffered a concussion in the third quarter. Did Buffalo “figure out” Jackson?

Jackson, by the way, was only 23 years old last season. When Tom Brady was 23, he had one complete pass in his career. Thus, one more accolade for Jackson is that he is the youngest NFL quarterback to ever be considered to be washed up by ESPN.