Steve Spagnuolo broke Lamar Jackson again and the Ravens looked lost

The Ravens came into Sunday’s contest at 1-2, but not because of Jackson’s lack of performance. In the first three weeks of the season, Jackson had racked up 9 passing touchdowns with a passer rating of 140.4, throwing for 722 yards with no interceptions and rushing for 118 more and another TD. Sunday, Jackson’s completion percentage was still high (70%), but he turned the ball over twice and was pressured on 56% of his dropbacks while being sacked 3 times. The 56% pressure rate was the highest of Jackson’s career when dropping back at least 10 times.

This is not new for Steve Spagnuolo. In Week 2 he frustrated Jalen Hurts to a point where his output was pedestrian in a game that Kansas City had bounce out of its (or Travis Kelce’s) hands, and in Week 3 against the New York Giants, Spags’ pressure had Russell Wilson aiming for targets outside of the field of play during the Giants’ red zone visits. Spagnuolo has, at this point, transcended the title of defensive coordinator and has seemingly learned some dark magic wizardry when it comes to dialing up pressure and taking away opposing offensive strengths.

Some credit is owed to the Chiefs’ front office for continually restocking the shelves on the defensive side of the ball with young talent. 2025 draft picks Omarr Norman-Lott, Ashton Gillotte, and Nohl Williams are already making impacts on the defensive side of the ball in a big way. Kansas City’s defense is one of the youngest in the league, with an average age of 25.3 years old for its starting unit, which makes Spagnuolo’s work in bringing together young players so quickly and effectively that much more impressive.

Back to Lamar Jackson. He’s not permanently broken, albeit he did look that way donning an unbuttoned backward snapback hat with a makeshift hamstring brace comprised of elastic straps, a Gatorade towel, and presumably a heating pad attached to his right leg on Sunday. He will inevitably wow crowds once again in 2025 with the effortless way that he makes the extraordinary seem ordinary.

But the fact that the Chiefs have made a habit out of making Jackson look just plain ordinary can’t be forgotten the next time these teams play, and I’d imagine it won’t be forgotten by Jackson himself.