Are the Lamar Jackson Ravens overrated in this era?

[stuvian]

The Ravens playbook is designed for a team that is physically dominant yet they no longer are. 

The conference championship game against the Chiefs exposed Lamar. For whatever reason he tried to win that game without running. He began to force things that weren't there and turned the ball over. 

[BarleyNY]

I’m very happy that the timing of John Harbaugh firing led to Jesse Minter’s hire rather than Mike Macdonald’s. I’m glad that MM went to the NFC a couple seasons ago instead. The Ravens wouldn’t have been a soft also-ran team under him. 

Edited May 6 by BarleyNY

[BUFFALOBART]

Lamar is a very good QB, who has a gag reflex. 

[colin]

On 5/6/2026 at 5:58 AM, stuvian said:

The Ravens playbook is designed for a team that is physically dominant yet they no longer are. 

The conference championship game against the Chiefs exposed Lamar. For whatever reason he tried to win that game without running. He began to force things that weren't there and turned the ball over. 

 

they lost the best interior lineman in football, their best blocking TE, IMO their most dynamic te in likely, and their secret mis match blocking weapon in ricard.  they ran these jumbo condensed sets with quick motion and misdirection, and either went downhill w power or used their insane speed and misdirection, which also lead to wide open guys for passes.  their tempo was hard to manage, they'd have lamar or henry going full speed in a split second, or put a hat on a hat and then have henry going full speed, a wide open easy pass, or lamar would just buy time and do a lamar only play.  i'm excited to see how we play them this year, on paper we are wayyyyyyy better on the edge especially against run plays, and with ricard and the c gone, i just don't see them blocking up walker and oliver in the interior.  instead of aj or whoever giving up a charin soft edge vs monster blocking, or taron johnson or bernard in the b gap getting trucked (or rapp outside the tackle box, remember that "attempt" of a tackle in game 1 of last season?) our front 6 might be consistently pressing and stressing their gaps and making hard hits early.

 

a counter puncher who loses his power is just a punching bag, god i hope that's them this year.

[BigAl2526]

I think the 2026 Ravens are very much an unknown quantity.  We do know some things about Lamar Jackson.  He is supremely athletic, but there are some limitations to his game and at 29 there are risks to dependence on Jackson's physical traits.  He missed 4 games due to injury last season.  It can on ly get harder to expect a full 17 game season out of him moving forward.  

 

The Ravens have a new coaching staff this season, like the Bills.  That likely means there will be a learning curve both for the offense and the defense.  Both the head coach (who comes with a defensive background) and their defensive coordinator have some history with Baltimore, but not for the last couple years.  The offense will be brand new.   By comparison, with Buffalo, it is the defense that will be brand new and the offense will likely have more subtle changes.  The offensive terminology will stay the same.