As Lamar Jackson goes, so goes the Ravens offense. And, right now, they're both grinding their way to wins.
Baltimore pulled out a 23-10 victory over the New York Jets Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, running its winning streak to five games, but the offensive players were not in a celebratory mood in the postgame locker room.
The Ravens posted 72 yards in the first half – the second-fewest in a first half with Jackson as their starting quarterback. They won the game with essentially four straight scoring drives, but it wasn't a smooth ride.
Jackson has missed practice time the past two weeks with knee soreness and an ankle injury. He missed three games earlier this season with a hamstring injury.
Jackson said this week that he's playing banged up, and he had both ankles wrapped Sunday. But when asked if injuries are hindering the Ravens' offense, Jackson stiff-armed the question.
"No. No, I don't think that at all," he said. "I feel like we just need to execute a lot better. We get in great field position, but we're not putting points on the board. That has nothing to do with an injury.
"I'm out there, so I feel like I should still be able to do what I do. [My ankle] was pretty solid for the most part."
In Jackson's first game back from his hamstring injury, he threw for 204 yards and hung four touchdown passes on the Miami Dolphins. He's been held under 200 passing yards in the three games since and has thrown just one touchdown pass.
Derrick Henry's two touchdown runs were all the points the Ravens needed Sunday versus the Jets as the defense dominated once again. Baltimore hasn't given up 20 points in a game during its five-game winning streak.
But Baltimore's offense isn't playing up to last year's levels when it led the league in yards per game (424.9) and was third in scoring with more than 30 points per game. After Sunday's game, Jackson said it is a "little bit" frustrating.
"It's our job. I'm an offensive guy. I'm not playing defense," Jackson said. "It's great to see our defense playing well, but it'll also feel great and look great when we are playing as well to match their energy. We just need to do that week in and week out because those guys are stepping up. We need to do the same thing."
Jackson had another up-and-down day. He finished 13-of-23 for 153 yards. Some completions to Zay Flowers got the offense going, and a couple of defensive pass interference penalties on the Jets set up the Ravens' two touchdowns.
While the Jets defense played well, Jackson came away feeling like there was more meat on the bone. He missed a late opportunity to plunge the dagger when he overthrew DeAndre Hopkins in the back of the end zone.
Overall, it just hasn't been to Jackson's usual two-time MVP level.
"[I have the] utmost confidence in Lamar Jackson; I always will. He's my guy; he's our guy; he's our quarterback. Lamar is doing what he needs to do. He is winning football games. It's not always pretty," Head Coach John Harbaugh said.
"The pretty games will be there. They'll be there for Lamar Jackson; you can bet on that. But I'm proud of him right now. I'm really proud of him and the way he's fighting to win football games."
Despite the win, it was clear after the game from Ravens offensive players that they expect a higher standard.
The red-zone offense has been a struggle. While Henry's two goal-line touchdowns, including one perfectly blocked on fourth down, helped secure the win, Baltimore was still 2-for-5 overall inside the 20-yard line.
Jackson also isn't gouging teams with his legs like he's done over his career. He had seven carries for just 11 yards against the Jets. Jackson has run for more than 50 yards just once this season – Week 1 in Buffalo.
"Play better. Execute. I don't know what else to say," Henry said. "We just need to play better, and everybody just has to do their job."
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley said the Ravens need to start faster in games. As they approach Thanksgiving, they know it will be about finishing stronger than it's playing right now.
"For me, and I know Lamar, we believe that to win a Super Bowl, that's the type of offense we're going to need to have," Stanley said. "While winning is great, to reach our goals, we know we need to be better."
