By Brandon Simmons
Lamar Jackson’s Future in Question…Again?
Lamar Jackson’s future came into question over the holidays, thanks to an article by the Baltimore Sun. According to Yahoo Sports, the column alleges that Jackson has been falling asleep in meetings and there is an apparent rift between Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Many fans dismissed the article as nothing more than a hit piece while some analysts have tried to imply what the actual issues might be. It also prompted a plethora of trade rumors.
Lamar Jackson has always had his value under a microscope, starting with his draft night. He was selected with the 32nd pick after the Baltimore Ravens traded up into the 1st round. A few years ago, when Jackson was up for contract negotiations, there were also trade rumors surrounding him, before he signed his 5 year $260 million deal with $135 million guaranteed. Perhaps it’s the news of extension talks before this season, which has propelled the trade rumors. Since he signed his deal, a few other QB’s have hit some big paydays, including Bills QB Josh Allen, the league’s current MVP and looked at as winning a Super Bowl for his team. Speaking of Super Bowl, some of the arguments for moving on from Jackson has been his underwhelming playoff history. Through 8 seasons, Jackson has only been to the AFC title game once with an overall 3-5 postseason record. Critics feel it’s an underwhelming outcome from the 2 time MVP.
Lamar Jackosn can be looked at as part of the Baltimore Ravens’ struggle this year but he is only part of them. This team has been hurt on both sides of the ball, and things have gotten to the point where it was suggested a coaching change is needed. Trading Jackson can bring you a ton of value in picks but you will still need to finda QB, and that may involve finding a new head coach, which each scenarios brings about their own troubles. Jackson is an elite dual threat QB, who can’t be replaced right away. The injuries he has are cause for concern, but he can adjust his style of play in terms of scrambling, just as he has improved his passing repertoire these past couple of years when the ravens brought in Todd Monken as the offensive coordinator. Right now, the Ravens are better off with Lamar Jackosn on their side as opposed to having himelsewhere.
The Lions Deserved Elimination
The Detroit Lions have officially been eliminated from the postseason after back to back losses. The Lions lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home in a controversial game – for more reasons than the game itself – and lost on Christmas Day to the Minnesota Vikings, who was led by a rookie QB. For a long time, it looked like the Lions could return back to the top of the NFC, a season after reaching the 1 seed in the playoffs, but their playoff run took a weird detour.
To say the Lions deserved elimination is harsh but not without accuracy. They’ve been a solid team most of the year, in a competitive NFC and NFC North. But silly losses such as the last 2 games, really did them in. In the Steelers game, the Lions actually were driving down the field for over 80 yards to win the game, but an offensive pass inteference penalty took away that Thechance. In the Vikings game, the Lions couldn’t take advantage of Minnesota only putting up less than 200 yards of offense. Detroit QB Jared Goff threw an interception and lost 3 fumbles. How is any team supposed to win that way? On paper – before and during these games – these are matchups that the Lions are supposed to win, and would have helped them tremendously in their playoff hopes, but they failed to do so and their postseason run made a halt.
1 Takeaway From the Eagles/Bills Game
The Buffalo Bills lost to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday 13-12, in a game that wasn’t close until the end. For 3 and a half quarters, the Eagles dominated holding a 13-0 lead over the Bills until late in the 4th quarter when Bills QB Josh Allen ran in for a touchdown, to make the score 13-6. The Bills scored again on another Allen TD rush with 8 seconds left, but Allen failed to complete the pass on the 2 point conversion.
The big takeaway from this game is that the Buffalo Bills are too unpredictable for their own good. This has kind of been them all season, with some questionable losses against subpar teams coupled with some big wins against some better competition. Some games Buffalo score 30 or more while this was a game they didn’t even crack points until 5 minutes left in this game. Unpredictability for a team is a good and bad thing for a playoff team. The good thing is that opposing teams might have a gameplan set up against you but you’re able to overcome that in other areas. In this case, teams can gameplan against the Bills rushing attack led by running back James Cook, but might overlook Allen making plays in the air, not just with Bills tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, but with Bills wide receivers Khalil Shakur and Brandon Cooks. The bad thing for the Bills is do they trust themselves in these moments. Even in some of their higher scoring efforts they were down in these games. In this Eagles game, Allen was leading drives down the field that got ended on costly turnovers, which stalled their chances to score. You can come away with this past Sunday’s chain of events during the regular season, but in the playffs, everybody locked in and will predictably hand you a loss.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers for their history making classic. Sunday, both teams made history as becoming the first regular season game in NFL history to tie at 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35. It was a close, tough battle for both sides but the Niners pulled away with the victory.
Shut out to the Trevon Diggs era in Dallas. Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys released Diggs, a 2 time Pro Bowl cornerback. It might not be that surprising of a move. Diggs has been hurt most of this season and the previous 2, and also has not recorded an interception this year. Also, the Cowboys defense has been atrocious, ranking 32nd in pass defense. The bright side for Diggs is he is currently on waivers, and once he clears those, he can sign with any team of his choosing.
The final week of the regular season, Week 18, is here with all the playoff chaos to match. Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West crown and the homefield advantage in the NFC. Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC North crown and final spot in the AFC playoffs. The winner will host a Wild Card game the following weekend while the loser will be at home watching; or crying. But until then…I’ll holla.
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