Quarterback Lamar Jackson looks more dangerous than ever as the Baltimore Ravens erupt for 42 first-half points against the Miami Dolphins
Look out NFL, Lamar Jackson has learned how to throw the ball.
Jackson, in his first full season as starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, had a nearly perfect first half against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. He completed 10/11 passes for 210 yards and four touchdowns as the Ravens built up a 42-10 halftime lead in Miami.
Jackson won the Heisman Trophy at Louisville and led the Ravens to the playoffs a year ago after replacing Joe Flacco due largely to his running ability. His passing was a sore point. Jackson completed just 58.2 percent of his passes and threw six touchdowns in seven starts in his rookie season, but gained 695 yards on the ground.
The last time he took the field, in the Wild Card round against the Los Angeles Chargers, he was just 2-of-8 for 17 yards in the first half. It was only after the Chargers built a 23-3 lead in the fourth quarter did Jackson throw for two late touchdowns to put up a respectable stat line.
In the first week of his second season, however, Jackson looks like a passer who’s made rapid improvements. His first touchdown came on an option play, completing a pass to a slanting Marquise Brown for 47 yards. On the third play of Baltimore’s next drive, Jackson connected with Brown again and the Ravens rookie ran past Dolphins’ safety Minkah Fitzpatrick for an 83-yard touchdown.
Jackson added two more touchdowns in the second quarter, throwing a perfect pass to Willie Snead down the seam for 33 yards before finally hitting Miles Boykin in the end zone for five yards. Mark Ingram, a new addition to the Ravens after spending his entire career in New Orleans, added two touchdowns on the ground as the Ravens set a franchise record for points in the first half.
Playing in a stadium just 20 miles from his hometown of Pompano Beach, Jackson already has more passing yards in the first half of the 2019 season than he did in any game in his rookie year. His first incompletion didn’t come until there was 3:31 remaining in the second quarter. Perhaps the most surprising thing about his play was that he ran only three times for six yards.
Jackson seems to have found a favorite target in “Hollywood” Brown. The Ravens first-round pick in April’s draft out of Oklahoma, Brown finished the first half with four receptions and 147 yards, a new Ravens record for yards by a receiver in their team debut.
On the other side of the ball, Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t have as enjoyable a first half. The veteran quarterback, starting for the eighth team in his 15-year career, was constantly pressured by the Ravens defense and hit seven times in the half. Fitzpatrick finished the half with 163 yards on 12 completions, throwing a late touchdown to Preston Williams.
Jackson would add a fifth touchdown pass on the Ravens’ first drive of the second half, tying the Ravens franchise record.