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Legacies, not just the opportunity to spend a week in Las Vegas, are in play during this NFL conference championship weekend, and no one feels that pressure more than Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
He would have an impeccable list of accolades with a Super Bowl win. Before he can get to that point, Jackson has an AFC championship game date on Sunday afternoon with one of the better coordinators in the league, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Steve Spagnuolo, who pulls the strings on an immensely talented defense.
For the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, the Chiefs’ defense arguably was the reason why they made it to the playoffs in the first place. According to RBSDM.com, the Chiefs were sixth in expected points allowed per play (-0.076) and fourth in success rate (39.8%). Beyond their personnel, Spagnuolo’s willingness to run a diverse brand of defense has allowed KC to flourish. According to Sports Info Solutions, the Chiefs saw the sixth most passing attempts in blitzing situations (178) and ranked fifth in expected points allowed (-0.25) per passing attempt where they blitzed.
“Whatever you’re going to run, you better have the answers for what they’re going to give you,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken told reporters on Thursday.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) pictured during an NFL divisional round playoff football game against the Houston Texans on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)
Changing the looks from week to week has allowed the Chiefs to be a difficult defense to play against, but Jackson is a tough test as well. He is arguably playing the best football of his career and just solved the puzzle of the blitz-happy Texans last week, completing 13 of his 18 passing attempts for 120 yards and two touchdowns, a whopping 75% of his dropbacks for the game. Don’t expect the Chiefs to blitz at that rate — the Chiefs’ highest blitz percentage in a game this season was 48.6% against the Las…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/heres-why-lamar-jacksons-toughest-test-this-season-could-be-the-chiefs-defense-024704654.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-01-26 02:48:00
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