The NFL may be ready to admit its mistake, but Lamar Jackson and other members of the Baltimore Ravens aren’t about to forget that mistake cost them a spot in the playoffs.
Jackson reacted on Tuesday, February 24, after the league admitted tight end Isaiah Likely having a touchdown wiped out after replay against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14 was the wrong call.
A 27-22 defeat at M&T Bank Stadium tipped the balance of power in the AFC North to the Steelers. That’s why NFL Executive VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent telling The Washington Post’s Mark Maske, “There was the Likely play… [during] Ravens-Steelers in the end zone. And then you had the one-there was a Jets play. But it was the Likely play that you go-that was interesting because of the third step and they were talking about the ball extended out. So it was: What constitutes that third act? When you watch, there was about five plays…. Of the 171 plays that we called on replay or replay assist that came back to the booth, there were five that we said if we had to do it again —on just the replay assist, in general. Of that 171 that occurred during [the] regular season, there were five after we kind of took a step back and breathed-four of them [were] in the 1 o’clock window. Just volume and you go, ‘Ah, if we had to do that
one again, just looking at it.’”
This apparent admission of a critical error left Jackson to comment, “So technically we won? 10-7 1st offseason win ever.”
Being granted the win Likely seemingly earned on December 7 would have meant the Ravens didn’t face win-or-go-home stakes for Week 18’s rematch in Pittsburgh. Having this painful what if? scenario confirmed by the league prompted a more intense response from one of Jackson’s teammates.
Ravens Fuming About Botched Call
Pro Bowl outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy wasn’t quite so tongue in cheek with his response to the NFL’s words about Likely’s score that might’ve been. Instead, the 34-year-old edge-rusher took the league and its officiating to task for getting more than one call wrong.
Van Noy unleashed a tirade on ‘X,’ asking “Have we ever seen the NFL come out months after a game has been played ( a couple weeks after the entire nfl season finished) and admitted they didn’t get 1 huge crucial call in the biggest NFL rivalry game. But they got 2 Crucial calls in same Game wrong!!! So the total was 3 horrible calls in 1 game…. Thats insane! 1. INT Rodgers , 2. Likely touchdown , and 3. Travis jones 15 yarder on field goal (they came out with this Tuesday after the game saying they got it wrong) Wow !!!! Accountability kinda sorta not really but something kinda… We need some sort of action now because this can not happen at the highest level. I understand 1 but 3????? Smh”
This isn’t the first time Van Noy has called out referees. He and the Ravens can feel aggrieved about being on the wrong end of some critical calls, but those missteps alone don’t explain everything that went wrong with their season.
Bad officiating can’t be blamed for rookie kicker Tyler Loop missing what would have been a game-winning kick to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Winning the final game of the regular season would’ve rendered the earlier, controversial defeat to the Steelers moot, but that loss wasn’t the Ravens’ only problem.
A suspect defense undermined by a soft pass rush was a major weakness. There were also setbacks on offense, where Jackson’s issues with durability and consistency proved costly.
Those flaws are why the Ravens have a new head coach, and Jesse Minter knows fixing Jackson is the best way to avoid again being reliant on the officials to determine another season.
Ravens Have New Lamar Jackson Plan
Minter and his new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle will make better protecting Jackson a priority. How they do it will depend on the talent surrounding Jackson, and he has his own ideas about the ideal supporting cast.
Specifically, Jackson wants the Ravens to re-sign one of his favorite targets ahead of 2026 NFL free agency. That’s a tricky decision for general manager Eric DeCosta, who must first concentrate on how he’s going to pay the franchise quarterback.
Securing Jackson’s future and making better use of his skill-set are how the Ravens go from a team simply hoping to back into the playoffs, to one powering its way to the postseason.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Lamar Jackson, Ravens Slam NFL’s Apparent Admission of Guilt appeared first on Heavy Sports.