National Football League

Ravens on brink of Super Bowl by trusting Lamar Jackson: 'I have the keys to offense'

Published Jan. 24, 2024 7:15 p.m. ET

After the Ravens beat the Texans in the AFC divisional round Saturday night, securing Baltimore's first conference championship game appearance in 11 years, Lamar Jackson spoke from a position of authority at the podium inside M&T Bank Stadium.

He mentioned how the halftime locker room, with the game knotted at 10, got fiery — and proudly acknowledged that he was at the forefront of the expletive-filled tirade that inspired the 24-0 run in the second half. But the most important thing Jackson said may have been his response when asked how much control he had in the game, compared to past playoff experiences.

Before Saturday, he had a 1-4 record in the postseason, with just four total touchdowns and seven giveaways.

"I have the keys to the offense," Jackson responded, "and when I see it, I just try to put the team in the best position that I could."

I have the keys to the offense.

Expected to win his second MVP award this season, Jackson appears to be more empowered than ever before in Baltimore. That's the biggest difference this year for the Ravens, who, with a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, will be in the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2012 season.

The Ravens' efforts to empower Jackson began in the spring, before he signed his record-setting, five-year, $260 million extension in May. It started while the quarterback — who at one point requested a trade — and the franchise were still at a contract impasse.

Wide receiver play had been an Achilles' heel early in the Jackson era — even in 2019, when the team led the league in scoring and Jackson won his first MVP. From then through 2022, a wide receiver had led the team in receiving yards just once: Marquise Brown, who had glaring shortcomings as a No. 1 wide receiver and was eventually traded to Arizona in April 2022. Baltimore utilized a run-first scheme, but Jackson didn't have any elite targets in the pass game apart from star tight end Mark Andrews. The organization had whiffed on wide receiver draft picks.

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That changed this year. The Ravens used their first-round pick on dynamic Boston College standout Zay Flowers, who broke single-season franchise records for rookies with 77 receptions and 858 yards, both of which were team highs. Signing former Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year, $15 million deal was a move encouraged by Jackson. The veteran wideout was second on the team with 565 receiving yards.

The emergence of second-year tight end Isaiah Likely has also mitigated the impact of losing Andrews, who has been sidelined since Week 12 with an ankle injury. Since then, the former Coastal Carolina star has a team-leading 322 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 21 receptions (second to Flowers' 24).

With the chance that Andrews plays in the AFC Championship Game — he was designated to return to practice ahead of the playoffs — Jackson would have the weapon that he has trusted most over the years as another option. In totality, this is the most robust pass-catching core that Jackson has had in Baltimore.

Replacing Greg Roman, new offensive coordinator Todd Monken has also had a tremendous impact on Jackson, who has grown by leaps and bounds as a pocket passer this season, while maintaining his dynamic rushing ability.

His passing touchdowns total (24) may seem relatively average. But this season, Jackson has registered career-highs in passing attempts (457) and yards (3,678), completion rate (67.2%) and yards per attempt (8.0). According to Next Gen Stats, 90.3% of his dropbacks in the regular season were out of the shotgun and 85% of his dropbacks ended inside the tackle box, the highest rate in his career in both categories.

The two-time All-Pro selection has also made faster decisions in the passing game this season. Per NGS, 42.9% of his throws were made in 2.5 seconds or fewer, the highest rate of his career. Quicker throws were also a remedy to break the Texans' heavy blitz usage in the second half of the divisional-round game.

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Jackson's rushing numbers were slightly down this season, but he still led the league with 5.5 rushing yards per carry. He posted 148 carries for 821 yards and five touchdowns.

"It means a lot for your [offensive coordinator] to trust in you to be out there and putting our team in a great situation," Jackson said of Monken. "That's all I need, and we're going to go from there."

Just maybe, all the way to the Super Bowl.

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.