NFL 2020: Week 3

garion333 wrote:

Some of that might be on Lamar as he's had it pretty easy so far kicking ass left and right. Being the fastest person on the field does that
Tough games and losses will do his head some good. Learning pains and all.

I feel like the narrative on Lamar swung from one extreme to the other. He was dismissed by way too many people as a running back or wide receiver during draft season, and now that he's had the extreme success of a 2nd year MVP season, the discussion has gone so far the other way that people forget he's still a young, developing QB with plenty of areas to his game that still need work.

Right now there's a defensive formula that is working against him - as Lamar himself admitted, what KC did is the same basic thing the Titans did in the playoffs to beat him. The corners press the receivers, the safeties play top-down to take away deep shot plays, and the defensive front funnels his scrambles and runs to the outside and uses the sideline as a defender, rather than aggressively trying to make (and end up missing) tackles for losses. It disrupts the timing passing game, and neutralizes the big broken-play runs downfield.

It challenges Lamar to stay disciplined in the pocket and wait for guys to get open on the intermediate routes between the press coverage and the safeties that are maintaining their depth. Ironically, it's the bend-don't-break defenses, rather than the attacking defenses that are more en vogue, that puts the most pressure on Lamar.

I don't think it's some fundamental secret formula for beating Lamar, it's just a defensive look he hasn't figured out how to punish yet. Though I do think taking away the instinctual big-play scramble runs will probably always be a smart approach for playing against Lamar Jackson. Maintaining lane discipline is likely always going to be worth the trade-off of having to be less aggressive in the pass rush.

Top_Shelf wrote:

wHaR bE wEeK fOuR tHrEaD?

Looks like we have a comedian. Here's your Week 4 thread.