Nerves Under Fire: Lamar Jackson’s Clutch Gene Questioned After Steelers Loss
Up until Week 10 of this NFL season, Lamar Jackson was the frontrunner for another league MVP award. His performances for the Baltimore Ravens were such that many suggested he has taken the next step needed to win a Super Bowl. But against the Pittsburgh Steelers, former champion Ryan Clark noticed some anomalies.
The Baltimore Ravens have faced top tier defenses this season. But their rivals have the definition of a top-tier defense who play to wreak havoc every game. Jackson and his top ranked offense struggled massively against this variation of the Steel Curtain.
As they posted season lows in points and yards and were even pushed into committing a lot of errors. The two headed attack of Jackson and Derrick Henry could not get going and the rhythm was off all game long. But for Ryan Clark, something about Lamar Jackson‘s game popped that he shared on NFL Live.
Take off Lamar. Multiple times he had the chance to take off, because they were saying, ‘we are not going to come out of coverage’. It’s when he plays his biggest team rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his biggest individual rival, Patrick Mahomes, that he stops being Lamar Jackson, sometimes. Ryan Clark said
The ESPN analyst saw that the Pittsburgh Steelers defense gave clear indications that they were sticking to their task. Despite that, and having multiple opportunities, Lamar Jackson did not use his feet. Stats back up Clark’s words as the 27-year-old averaged 11.5 yards per run against the Steelers.
That happens to be his most he has had all season. But he only ran four times, which is below half of what he averaged in the same span. Clark feels Jackson’s nerves stopped him from exploding and turning the game around.
