How the Steelers have contained, and beaten, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens more often than not

Although the two have been acquainted for nearly a decade, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is very particular about referring to the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens as “Mr. Jackson.” This is true even though for most who follow football, this player is becoming one who needs no last name. Lamar fits very much in the company of LeBron, Shohei, Caitlin and precious few others.

Tomlin is not one of those football coaches who’ll come into a press conference referencing opposing players by their jersey numbers. He owns a surpassing knowledge of NFL player personnel – and understands the talent and commitment necessary to endure in the NFL.

For Lamar, Tomlin reserves a special degree of respect.

But why?

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Mr. Jackson is leading the NFL in passer rating, tied for the lead in touchdown passes and ranks second in passing yards. He leads the league’s quarterbacks in rushing yards. He is the clear betting favorite, according to Caesars, to win a third MVP trophy. Those are all good reasons.

In his career against the Steelers, though, Jackson has been less than ordinary.

Jackson is 1-3 against the Steelers; they're one of only three teams with a winning record against him. The Ravens did not produce more than 24 points in regulation in any of those games. He has completed just 77 of 141 passing attempts, a .546 completion percentage, accounting for 858 yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions. All of that computes to a passer rating of 61.7, which would rank 39^th out of 39 quarterbacks with at least four starts this season.

And it’s not like he’s been punishing them on the ground. He has not gained more than 65 yards in any game. And neither have the Steelers accomplished this by sitting back, consumed by the fear he might scramble away from their pass rush. They’ve sacked him 20 times in those four games.

“I don’t know what it is, man,” Jackson told reporters in Baltimore. “It’s just, I believe, that rival atmosphere. I believe last year we were supposed to have them, but things just didn’t go our way. The football gods weren’t on our side. But it’s a whole ’nother year. It’s a new year. We’re looking forward to the game.”

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In their most recent victory over Jackson, the Steelers gratefully accepted the Ravens’ seven dropped passes and won, 17-10, on a 41-yard touchdown reception by George Pickens. But their only loss to Jackson was five years ago, when the Steelers played most of the game with Duck Hodges at QB, and even then the Ravens benefited from an overtime fumble by wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster that set up Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal. Jackson threw three interceptions that day.

“The Steelers have been very fortunate to be as talented up front as they have been in the era of Lamar Jackson,” Chris Carter, host of the Locked On Steelers podcast, told The Sporting News. “They made the investments in their defensive fronts: Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith … they have a lot of really good players who are attentive, who are detailed in their work. I think that plays a huge role in what they’re able to do in general against Jackson.”

Former NFL scout Matt Williamson, in his “Scout’s Eye” podcast on the DK Pittsburgh Sports site, explained the Steelers controlled Commanders rookie star Jayden Daniels by using their edge rushers in read option situations to encourage handoffs to the running back. That’s a risk with the Ravens bringing to Pittsburgh the great Derrick Henry, already a 1,000-yard rusher for 2024, but Jackson is even more dynamic and would retain the threat to pass in some situations. Better not to deal with any of that.

Having Watt and Highsmith set the edge on run plays and not rush past him on passing downs has been an essential ingredient. The fewer defenders Jackson must navigate, the more space there is for him to express his wizardry.

“That’s what’s going to be interesting this time around. I think the defensive front is going to be able to contain his running ability. They’ve gotten pretty used to that. We saw them do that against Jayden Daniels,” Carter told TSN. “What’s going to be interesting is: Can they contain his passing ability. I know a lot of Steelers fans say, ‘Oh, he’s just a running back.’ No, he’s not. There’s a reason he’s been a multi-time MVP.

“The Steelers defense, which has been very good this year, they’re going to have to be attentive not just up front, but also in coverage.”

It’s not just that the Steelers see Jackson so often that they’ve been able to succeed. For one, they haven’t seen him that much, even though he’s been the Ravens’ fulltime starter since late in the 2018 season, and the teams play twice annually as members of the AFC North.

They’ve played 10 times since 2019, with the Steelers winning seven of the past eight, but Jackson has missed more of those games than he’s played. In two, he was rested because it was the final game of the season, and the Ravens’ playoff position was established. In four others, he was absent because of injury.

And just playing frequently against the uncommon threat Jackson presents, as the most dynamic runner ever at the quarterback position and a passer with a powerful arm, has not automatically conveyed success. The Bengals have faced him a dozen times – and beat him just twice.

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“Mr. Jackson … he’s a challenge,” Tomlin said at his weekly press conference.

“We faced a significant challenge a week ago. Not trying to compare the two, just acknowledging that we face another hot offense with a multi-dimensional quarterback and a really good running game and an offense that’s ringing up the scoreboard. If I know anything about our group, that fires them up. But it fires them up in the appropriate way.

“I expect to see a group that’s really locked in, in every prep environment, whether it’s classroom or walkthrough or practice. Usually, when we do that, we position ourselves to be what we desire to be.”

Usually, when the quarterback on the opposite side is Lamar, the Steelers get the desired result.

It’s a small sample size, though. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.