Lamar Jackson’s first two weeks have come with a familiar problem hanging over the Ravens: too much pressure, too often.
Baltimore’s offense has looked sharp in the run game, where the team sits first in ESPN’s win rate and second in PFF’s grading. But the flip side has been brutal.
In pass protection, the Ravens rank 30th in ESPN’s metric and 32nd in PFF’s. That split has helped put Jackson among the NFL’s most-pressured quarterbacks to open the 2026 season.
According to Next Gen Stats, Jackson has been pressured on 41.2% of his dropbacks, the sixth-highest rate in the league. PFF has him in the same neighborhood, listing him as the sixth-most-pressured quarterback among qualifiers at 42.6%. Under pressure, Jackson has posted a 47.1 PFF grade and -0.280 EPA per play.
The raw production has been uneven. Jackson is averaging 8.6 yards per attempt under pressure, which ranks sixth among 32 qualifiers, but he has also been sacked five times and charged with two turnover-worthy plays.
His 6.5% turnover-worthy play rate ranks 10th at the position, which helps explain why the efficiency numbers have dipped even when he’s still generating chunk gains. Next Gen Stats has him at -0.31 EPA per play under pressure, essentially matching the PFF picture.
That kind of pressure has not defined Jackson’s game in recent seasons. He dealt with injuries last year, but in 2023 and 2024 he was among the league’s best passers against pressure, and that came without even factoring in his scrambling.
Some of the issue against the Saints was schematic. New Orleans used linebacker blitzes to attack Baltimore’s under-center offense, getting closer to Jackson while his back was turned and throwing off the timing of the offense.
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford can do more to prepare for that kind of approach going forward, and Jackson plus his blockers will need cleaner pre-snap adjustments at the line. If center Jovaughn Gwyn keeps having trouble in pass protection, the Ravens may look at veteran Ethan Pocic as a possible replacement to steady the middle.
The offensive breakdown against the Saints also wasn’t just about Henry. As Ben Solak noted, Baltimore never really reached a point where it could just grind the clock and hand the game to Derrick Henry because it never built the kind of lead that would have allowed it to do that.
The Ravens were already dealing with losses at wide receiver, with Zay Flowers and Ja’Kobi Lane exiting, and Ronnie Stanley left in the third quarter with a toe issue after struggling against Chase Young. New Orleans also started run-blitzing in the second half to take Henry out of the plan, and while Declan Doyle had some good answers for that, the pass protection fell apart anyway.
Solak’s view was blunt on the broader issue: “Could the Ravens have funneled more runs to Henry? Sure.
The larger issue is that they never put the Saints to bed in the bulk of the game; the Ravens were too lacking in talent on offense, and defensively, their dam burst as the Saints made second-half adjustments. I still like the Ravens from a season-long perspective, but this is a growing team.
The Ravens get an unbelievable soft stretch of defenses over the next three weeks (Cowboys, Titans and Falcons) with a potential return of Flowers. This is good soil from which to grow confidence and cohesion on offense.”
That stretch starts Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, where the Ravens are set to face the Cowboys at Maracaña Stadium. The NFL still intends to move forward with the game despite concerns about the playing surface, and the expectation is that the field may not look good on TV. Early access to the field will matter, too, so players can make the right call on footwear before kickoff.
In Other News...
Ravens Face An Early Derrick Henry Decision After Costly Loss
A late lead against the Saints still turned into an uneasy conversation point for the Ravens, and it centered on Derrick Henry. Baltimore leaned on him for much of the afternoon, but his workload in the fourth quarter drew attention after the offense seemed to drift away from its biggest back when the game was there to be finished. Henry still produced 68 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, but the way he was used after halftime became part of the postgame scrutiny.
Jamal Lewis added to that conversation by urging Baltimores coaches to make better use of Henry as the workhorse he has been throughout his career. For a team trying to steady itself after a costly loss, the question is not whether Henry can handle the load, but whether the Ravens will trust him with it when the game tightens. The issue now hangs over a short week of sorts as Baltimore turns its attention to the Cowboys, where the margin for another late-game misstep figures to be just as thin. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Face A Real Problem Ahead Of Rio Showdown With Cowboys
The NFLs first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro is still on the calendar, but the setup around Maracan Stadium is already drawing attention for all the wrong reasons. When the Ravens and Cowboys meet there on Sept. 27, they will do so on a grass field that has taken a beating from heavy rain, intense heat and a packed soccer schedule, leaving the surface in poor shape even as the league moves forward with plans to stage the matchup.
For Baltimore, the issue is bigger than just a novelty trip to Brazil. Both teams are 1-1, so this is an early-season game with real standing implications, and field quality could become part of the story in a hurry. A messy surface does not favor either side, but it does raise the possibility that execution, footing and game plan flexibility matter as much as talent when the Ravens finally take the field in Rio. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Offensive Growing Pains Are Becoming Harder To Ignore
Early-season sloppiness has become a real issue for the Ravens offense, and the penalties are piling up fast enough to draw attention beyond the usual September growing pains. Baltimore has been flagged 12 times, tied for the third-most in the NFL, and the problems have shown up in the kind of operational details that can stall drives before they ever get started. With a new offensive coordinator, new players and new concepts in the mix, the unit is still working through the sort of communication and coordination issues that often show up first on the offensive line.
Jesse Minter has made clear that the team is not treating the flags as a convenient excuse for a new system. Penalties remain a major point of emphasis, and the coaching staff is looking at habits, not just transition pains, as the source of the breakdowns. For a Ravens offense trying to find rhythm early, the concern is not merely the volume of the mistakes but whether they are the kind that can be cleaned up quickly or the kind that keep interrupting the offense's ability to settle in. [Read more 🡒]