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Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith had little time for Ravens fans who booed Lamar Jackson during the team’s 23-17 Wild Card Round defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers.
CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said during the game that Smith spoke with some fans from the sideline after they were calling for Joe Flacco to replace Jackson (h/t CBSSports.com’s Will Brinson).
“For fact that you’re a fair-weather fan that quickly, when things go rough, you turned your back on him,” Smith said of that interaction, per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. “That just got under my skin a little bit. I went to them and told them, ‘Yo, you either ride or die, or you get the hell out of here.'”
Jackson went 14-of-29 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Both of his passing touchdowns came in the fourth quarter after he struggled for much of the game.
With Baltimore’s offense unable to move the ball, some wondered whether Ravens head coach John Harbaugh would make the switch to Flacco. After the defeat, Harbaugh told reporters he and his coaching staff “were considering” going to Flacco but that they all agreed to stick with Jackson, per Sports Illustrated‘s Conor Orr.
One could argue the Ravens’ two scoring drives in the fourth quarter validated Harbaugh’s decision. The counterargument is that Baltimore may not have been down 20 points in the first place if Flacco received the keys to the offense earlier in the second half.
While it’s easy to second-guess Harbaugh, inserting Flacco into the game wasn’t guaranteed to deliver better results.
Jeff Zrebiec @jeffzrebiec
Say what you want about QB situation. But Ravens offensive line has been absolutely brutal. Gotten whipped all day. I could see why some want Flacco in and at this pt why not? But Flacco against this pass rush also a scary proposition.
T.J. Ward @BossWard43
You roll with who got you there. I dont care what’s goin on, just ain’t they day. All this put Flacco in talk is trash. It’s a reason he on the bench. ROMO feeding y’all all this talk and you just eat it up. LA just a better team
He’s a career 56.6 percent passer in the postseason and averaged 214.9 yards in 15 playoff games—189.4 yards if you exclude the Ravens’ Super Bowl run in 2012.
One thing is clear: Sunday was almost certainly the last time Flacco wears a Ravens uniform. Jackson is the team’s starter going forward, and Harbaugh already started talking up Flacco’s value for another team, per NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala:
Aditi Kinkhabwala @AKinkhabwala
John Harbaugh on Joe Flacco: “Joe can still play… Joe’s going to have a market, a lot of teams are going to want Joe. … Joe Flacco is a great talent, he’s a better person, he’s the best QB in the history of the Ravens… he’s going to be just fine.”
If the football gods have a sense of humor, Flacco will land with an AFC team this offseason to set up a potential playoff matchup with Jackson and the Ravens next year.
from Viral News Show http://bit.ly/2Fd00sJ
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