The rivalry between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens is filled with “villains on both sides,” as Steelers coach Mike Tomlin put it. Lamar Jackson, however, is still waiting for his chance to become one of those villains.
In his seventh season, Jackson has more NFL MVP awards (two) than he has wins against the Steelers. He enters Sunday’s game at Acrisure Stadium with a 1-3 record as a starter against Pittsburgh.
When asked if the lack of success in this heated rivalry bothers him, Jackson nodded. “Yes, definitely,” he said. “But I get a chance to go up against them this year, so I’m good, right now.”
Jackson might be even better than just “good.” The 27-year-old leads the NFL in quarterback rating and touchdown passes, running one of the league’s most explosive offenses. Jackson appears to be at the top of his game, which is one of the reasons Tomlin, the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, has referred to him as “Mr. Jackson” several times this week.
“He’s a challenge,” Tomlin said. “He’s a challenge in all circumstances.”
But when the Steelers (7-2) face him, they’ve often been successful where others have failed. Jackson hasn’t yet scored a rushing touchdown against Pittsburgh.
He has thrown only four touchdown passes and been intercepted seven times. However, Steelers veteran defensive tackle Cam Heyward isn’t sure his team has found a way to stop Jackson, who is in many ways the football equivalent of a cheat code.
“It’s not like he’s not dicing us up,” Heyward said. “You know, he’s a heck of a talent that you try to bottle up, but you never can.”
Jackson and the Ravens (7-3) are in many ways due for a breakout performance, but they will be facing the NFL’s second-ranked scoring defense. If that happens, Pittsburgh believes its defense has the tools to keep up, a big change from recent years when every first down, let alone touchdown, felt hard to come by.
The Steelers have been playing better since Russell Wilson returned from a calf injury last month. Pittsburgh is undefeated in his three starts, with the offense averaging 30 points per game.
“I think that we can definitely score points and we can do some special things,” Wilson said.
Wilson gave a glimpse of what’s possible late in last week’s 28-27 win against Washington. On Pittsburgh’s second-to-last drive, Wilson pulled aside newly acquired wide receiver Mike Williams and drew up a route in the dirt. Williams then caught a long pass from Wilson for the go-ahead touchdown.
Rookie center Zach Frazier, who watched the play unfold, couldn’t help but think about the potential of this offense. “That play alone was special,” Frazier said. “Being able to come back in close games like that, it’s cool. I think we’re on the right track.”
The Ravens, however, are looking to disrupt that progress. As Jackson put it, “It’s always the same goal; we want to win. We want to be the ones that come out victorious, and that’s going to be the goal going into this game.”
