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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson makes his London debut this weekend
In her latest column, Sky Sports NFL’s Phoebe Schecter looks at some of the key storylines heading into the final London game of the season as the Tennessee Titans take on the Baltimore Ravens at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…
Lamar magic
I think everybody is talking about the dropped catches against the Pittsburgh Steelers from last week. That’s obviously something they will have been drilling in. Lamar Jackson is throwing better than ever and Baltimore’s passing offense is better than ever before, so there was an irony to all those drops.
He’s still only 26 years old so he’s still go so much growth in him, and a lot of it is going to those receivers. When you’ve got this speed of Zay Flowers, you still have the anchor in Mark Andrews, all of these athletes allow him to do what he does best.
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A look at Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s top plays from the 2023 season so far.
We get to see him in the pocket, and then he still has the magic where he is running around, juking people in the open field.
You have Lamar Jackson, he is going to be the definition of that ‘IT’ factor. If you’re looking at the two quarterbacks, Ryan Tannehill and Lamar Jackson, teams struggle coming over here and playing no matter what, so Lamar is probably going to have to be the guy that gets things going. Whereas Tannehill doesn’t really offer that as a threat.
Ravens rankings through Weeks 1-5
| Offense | Defense | |
| Total | 13th | 2nd |
| Passing | 26th | 3rd |
| Rushing | 4th | 7th |
| Scoring | 18th | 3rd |
King Henry
Derrick Henry is built like a defensive end so you’re already looking at that size and stature. Imagine trying to tackle him.
One of the most dangerous things about him is when he starts getting running, once he hits that line and has space he’s almost impossible to bring down. I know people love to talk about his stiff arms and what he can do but you need more than one person to take away his legs because he’s so physical and still able to have this low centre of balance for such a big person on the move. This Ravens defense will have to work really hard to slow him down.
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A look at the best plays from Titans running back Derrick Henry from this season so far.
Derrick Henry versus Roquan Smith is a key matchup because he is so dangerous when he’s out on the field. The way Smith is going to have to fill in is going to be a key part of success to his game.
If we look at how people have kind of squashed or like Titans run in particular, it’s kind of by suffocating them at the line and if you can stop either Derrick Henry behind the line of scrimmage or kind of getting his face, he doesn’t have that bounce ability like some of those other little backs, just slowing him down is so key.
Ultimately, it’s going to be… can the Ravens stop the explosive plays? You look at last weekend and that one-two punch of Jaylen Warren and George Pickens giving them a tough time. This week, you’ve got Derrick Henry and DeAndre Hopkins. I’m interested to see how they they manage that.
Titans rankings through Weeks 1-5
| Offense | Defense | |
| Total | 24th | 16th |
| Passing | 28th | 23rd |
| Rushing | 18th | 9th |
| Scoring | 26th | 9th |
OBJ and D-Hop
To have Odell Beckham Jr out here, playing in a Ravens jersey and just being here means so much to the fans.
When he was over here with the Giants the kids would swarm him. If you didn’t know much about the sport, everybody knew that iconic one-handed grab by OBJ, the kids were trying to emulate it.
I think he’s made a lot of people fall in love with the sport because that’s who they are trying to be. You have the NFL Europe and older generation fans who have had the chance to follow the Miami Dolphins, the Chicago Bears, the Raiders and then the new wave coming through – and so many are OBJ fans permanently.
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Odell Beckham Jr described his iconic catch against the Cowboys in New York as both a blessing and a curse and explains his philosophy around not getting caught up in criticism.
On the other side there is DeAndre Hopkins, who was under consideration for the Ravens this offseason before they eventually signed OBJ and Hopkins landed with the Titans. He is one of the toughest players they have to stop on their team Sunday.
When you look at his contested catches there are very few people in the league that can match up with that. That’s what makes them so dangerous.
It was great to hear him in the offseason say ‘I want to be part of a team that can make it to the Super Bowl and have consistency’. Working with Coach Mike Vrabel, he’d been around him before and I think he wanted that community too.
He adds such a dangerous value and that’s where the whole picture comes together. You’ve got Derrick Henry in the run game and you have to respect that and then D-Hop whose contested catches are insane.
How far can Tannehill take the Titans?
It is always a funny one for me with Ryan Tannehill. He kind of manages the game, he does the right things. But he is never going to be the guy that’s going to get you to a Super Bowl, at least from my perspective.
I don’t see him as adding that magic. And of course, it’s hard, right? Because you look at Lamar Jackson coming in whose passing game has increased, he’s so much more accurate, and then he’s got the threat of his legs, they seem to have a more concrete team.
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Dan Hanzus and Marc Sessler from the Around the NFL podcast preview the London game between the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans.
I never really saw the love for Tannehill, but he does the job. He does just enough to keep the role but he’s not that guy. I guess it’s almost how people saw Jared Goff before going to the Detroit Lions. He’s not doing anything wrong, but will he really be the one that you want to lean on?
You look at the end of last year and how many injuries the Titans had and even this year, like they’ve had a few injuries, so it’s not that straightforward. He’s experienced but just doesn’t have that ‘IT’ factor for me.
Vrabel’s Titans always a danger
Mike Vrabel is great and he’s done a really good job. All of his players love playing for him, his coaches love working for him, he’s created a great environment.
They’re very clear on what that standard is, and then defensively he’s always done a really nice job. His guys know their responsibilities and they play hard for him. He makes more with less in the sense of, there are multiple times where he has not necessarily had lots of talent or star names but he still gets everybody to go out there and play hard.
Even looking to the end of last season again, they were really struggling from an injury perspective and everyone every week was still playing hard into the end of the season. You can never count out Vrabel’s Titans.
Lamar’s main man
Mark Andrews is a huge factor for this Ravens offense and Lamar Jackson’s favourite target. He has always been the guy in terms of, like, a friendly body. So far this season he’s got 20 receptions for 225 yards and three touchdowns – for a tight end who is also a good blocker.
He’s got this really great feel with Lamar and I think that’s what you want from your tight end, somebody with a big catch radius, steady hands. He’s going to be the guy that gets you yards, he’s physical and will hit you and get yards after the catch.
And with a lot of these guys in Baltimore there’s a certain aura about the place where you come to beat somebody up, if you’re looking at that Ray Lewis era, that mentality is still in the building. Mark Andrews kind of helps to embody that in his playing type.
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Odell Beckham Jr shows his excitement at being able to link up with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and says he’s worth all the money in the world.
The stars are in town
There are so many superstar names playing on Sunday and I think what people want to see, right? Right? So many kids have been inspired to play or be fans by Lamar Jackson and Odell Beckham Jr. If you don’t know much about American Football people still know that iconic OBJ catch when he was with the Giants, and that’s propelled him forward in a lot of ways. Perhaps there’s a lot of pressure on him with that, too.
On the other side, you have Derrick Henry and DeAndre Hopkins who have been around for years, and it was cool to hear Around the NFL’s Gregg Rosenthal talk about how much he was excited to see Lamar Jackson play in person. The speed, the decision-making, to see that all in real-time is something fans should definitely be excited for.
2023 expectations?
For me, I think I’d always look more to the Ravens being able to make it further on that Super Bowl run just because you have an MVP player in Lamar Jackson and a stout defense. So when you’re looking at that time of year, those are the keys that I would look for. I think the Titans are still missing a few key pieces of their team in order to get them to that place, but Vrabel is such a great coach and he could carry them there. If the Ravens can clean up some of the issues that have got them in trouble for the past couple of weeks then they definitely have an opportunity to make it far.
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Take a look back at the most memorable moments from the NFL London games including the Saint double-doink loss, Aaron Rodgers’ big reception, Landon Collins’ incredible pick-six and the Jags mascot bungee jumping.
The final London game of 2023
I think we have seen more and more of the same colour jerseys of the teams that are actually playing this year, so you’re almost getting more of single fan bases. There will always be lots of different jerseys, but last week in Tottenham the absolute noise of the stadium was incredible. I think it was also great to have the Jaguars here for two weeks and there have been bigger, better between-game events.
The NFL Experience at Battersea Power Station was huge and I think it introduced the sport to so many new people as well, even just people who happened to be at Battersea kind of mooching about. There are so many more people getting involved.
We also had the NFL Academy game and a girls’ Flag Football event at Tottenham; it just feels like a full on celebration every day of the week. There’s always something going on and I think it’s all been positive for the sport. It will be sad when it’s gone, these are the weeks we look forward to so much.
Watch the Baltimore Ravens against the Tennessee Titans in the final NFL London game of the season live on Sky Sports this Sunday, with coverage beginning at 1pm ahead of kickoff at 2.30pm at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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