Ravens quarterback Jackson has thrown more interceptions over his past three games than he did all of 2019 when he was named NFL MVP.
After his third interception against the Browns, Jackson pounded his chest as if to say the mistake was on him and then met quarterbacks coach James Urban on the bench to figure out what went wrong.
While Jackson didn’t play his best this season, he has led the Ravens to an 8-3 record, first place in the AFC North and the top seed in the AFC playoffs heading into Week 13.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh is not worried about the miscues.
“Nobody gets flustered. It starts with Lamar,” Harbaugh said. “Lamar is a guy who makes so many plays for us, and of course, he’s quarterback. The interceptions … One of them was tipped, whatever, but he wants those plays back. He’s mad about them. He’s a massive competitor, yet he doesn’t let it take control of him. Alright? He’s able to push it aside, and he’s able to play the next series and give you great football.
“It’s really a rare trait. To me, that’s one of the things that makes him the quarterback that he is. That’s why I’m so excited that he’s on our team, one of the reasons.”
2019 Throwback. pic.twitter.com/hZKM12yMKa
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) November 28, 2021
On the season, Jackson has thrown for 2,162 yards with 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has thrown eight interceptions over the past three games. Jackson threw just six interceptions over the entire 2019 season when he was named MVP.
Jackson was not happy with his performance against Cleveland but is fully prepared to move onto the next game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I threw four interceptions, three in the first half,” Jackson said. “I feel like those drives, when the interceptions came, we could’ve done something on those drives. We could’ve put points on the board. I just told my team, ‘That’s me. I owe y’all.’
“I mean, it’s one game that it happened. They just made great plays on those interceptions. It wasn’t like I was throwing it right to them; they were making diving interceptions. One of them I underthrew Mark [Andrews] – that could have been a better ball, for sure. They just made great plays.”
The Ravens have the toughest portion of their schedule ahead of them with four division games and matchups against the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams.
The NFL is having one of the most unpredictable seasons in its history. Some pundits claim the Ravens have too many injuries to make a deep playoff run, but the players and coaches are confident they can make a run.
“Just watching the games and the scores, I really don’t see too many games, except for on tape,” Harbaugh said. “So, I’ll go back and watch a lot of games on tape, that’s what we do. But just the scores and the standings from one week to the next, what happens is sometimes shocking. It shouldn’t be, because we’ve seen this league, and we kind of know how it works, and we know how even it is. I’ll say to [executive vice president] Ozzie [Newsome] something like that, and he’ll basically just smile, look at me, and he’ll say, ‘It’s exactly how they want it. That’s how they planned it.’ “
