Ravens MVP of the week: Lamar Jackson

After fending off the Arizona Cardinals in a 23-17 victory at home, the MVP for the Baltimore Ravens for the second straight week is quarterback Lamar Jackson. Jackson has started his sophomore season about as well as you could imagine, throwing for seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. Through the first two games, Jackson’s accuracy has been greatly improved from a season ago when he took the reigns from Joe Flacco. Against Arizona, Jackson completed 24 of 37 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 120 yards on the ground, out gaining the entire Cardinals team in rushing yards.

Jackson displayed pinpoint accuracy on his first drive as he completed an 14-yard pass to tight end Nick Boyle on the first play. He connected with rookie Marquise “Hollywood” Brown three times on the first drive, for a total of 33 yards. The drive ended with a 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews. On the play, Jackson faked a throw to Brown after sending him in motion, which deceived several defenders in the area, allowing Andrews to get wide open behind them.

Jackson’s second touchdown of the day came with just under four minutes left in the first half. On 1st-and-goal, Jackson rolled out and delivered a one-yard pass to a wide-open Hayden Hurst in the end zone.

Although this was the last touchdown score on the day for Jackson and the offense, he continued to make game-altering plays that led to the victory.

The biggest throw of the day, and possibly of Jackson’s entire career, came on a third down with 3:05 left to play. Only up by six, Jackson needed to keep the drive alive to prevent Arizona from getting the ball back. On 3rd & 11, Jackson dropped back in the pocket, and while facing pressure from the right side, delivered an absolutely perfect pass down the right sideline to Brown for 41 yards, effectively ending the game and any hope the Cardinals had of completing a comeback.