Lamar Jackson has the Bengals thinking about how to defend him

In 2019, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens took the league by storm with a “revolutionary,” run-heavy offense that led the league in scoring.

They do it again five years later, but in a different way.

Jackson’s development as a passer is prompting shrugs from NFL coordinators and opponents. After Baltimore’s 35-34 win on “Thursday Night Football,” the Bengals (and the rest of the league) are probably wondering: How do you stop this guy?

In Week 5, the Bengals decided to attack Jackson at a very high rate (42.6%). He made them pay with 348 yards, four touchdowns and 55 rushing yards, including a 131.9 passer rating against the Lightning. Jackson entered Thursday night as the league leader in QBR vs. Blitz play.

The Bengals had a little more success playing in zone coverage the first time around. Jackson threw all four of his touchdowns against man coverage and posted a passer rating of 142.2 versus 82.4 against zone coverage.

So what did the Bengals do in the rematch? They didn’t blitz nearly as much and played more zone. And Jackson ate it again.

The Bengals only beat Jackson 13.9% of the time in the rematch. When they didn’t attack him, he completed 21 of 28 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. When they played zone coverage (77.8%), Jackson completed 19 of 25 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown.