NFL Week 2 Awards: It’s time to panic about Lamar Jackson’s slow-starting Ravens

The second week of any NFL season is the first time we see how squads course-correct. It's the first instance we see them processing and responding to legitimate adversity as they embark on a football marathon they're hoping goes in January and February. An NFL season is long and exhausting, necessitating teams to respond to its ebbs and flows in a healthy fashion.

By this measuring stick, the Baltimore Ravens failed their first test in spectacular fashion. I'm not trying to be hyperbolic either.

After blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to the Las Vegas Raiders in their home opener, it's time to panic about John Harbaugh's squad. We're in mid-September, and this 0-2 team that had the NFL's best record last year is already in huge trouble.

I will readily admit that I expected a convincing rebound from the Ravens after coming this close to upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1. It's a tough pill to swallow, but losing to the two-time defending Super Bowl champions on the road is still respectable. Most would not expect an underdog to leave the Chiefs' home stadium with a victory. But beating Antonio Pierce's Raiders, who have no expectations and will probably be an average team at best in 2024, should've been a given.

It's this failure that makes me think we have probably excused the Ravens' lingering flaws a bit too much.

Let me give you some examples.

Lamar Jackson is behind a struggling Baltimore offensive line, but he's still the reigning MVP, a veritable top-five quarterback capable of winning a game by himself. Derrick Henry has likely lost a step, but he's still a Mack Truck tailor-made for the Ravens' offensive scheme. The Ravens' receivers are nothing to write home about, but Zay Flowers is a tremendous weapon and Baltimore's strength was never in that position group anyway. Losing ex-standout linebacker Patrick Queen undoubtedly hurt the Ravens' defense, but they still have All-Pro caliber players like Roquan Smith, Nnamdi Madubuike, Kyle Hamilton, and Marlon Humphrey. They should be able to lock most opposing offenses down without blinking.

Yet, somehow, all these issues came back to bite the Ravens against the Raiders.

The Baltimore offensive line couldn't consistently hold up against Maxx Crosby and Co. Henry remains a bruising runner, but he did have an alarming number of negative plays that put the Ravens' behind the eight ball. Two games into 2024, Flowers is the only Ravens receiver above 100 yards. The Ravens don't need a special receiving corps, but it can't be that underwhelming from top to bottom. And I'm not sure what's particularly off about Baltimore's defense, but when it's mattered most, it hasn't been able to stop Patrick Mahomes (that's fine) and Gardner Minshew (c'mon now).

In the week ahead, the tenured John Harbaugh is going to preach patience. He will say the Ravens' underwhelming play has been unacceptable so far, but he still believes in his team. You know, all the usual coach-speak platitudes. Given Harbaugh's tremendous, extended track record, it's not hard to believe the Ravens eventually turning this operation around. It wouldn't be unprecedented for one of the NFL's best franchises.

But you know the deal about starting 0-2 in the NFL. Let's make the data more recent and relevant.

Since the playoff expansion to seven teams per conference in 2020, only six percent of squads who started 0-2 the year made the playoffs. That's two of ... 32 teams, dearest readers. Factor in a challenging AFC North and deep AFC conference, and it's time to really start worrying about the Ravens. This hole might be too big to dig out of.

The Ravens have got the Dallas Cowboys on the road next week. If they don't rebound here, then we'll be having another pertinent discussion soon. We'll be talking about how Baltimore wasted another year of Lamar Jackson's prime.

Elsewhere in this week's NFL awards, Will Levis and Bryce Young continued to disappoint, Kevin Harlan is an improvising master, and Marvin Harrison Jr. has a VERY bright future.

Let's dive in, folks

Worst playing surface: The Washington Commanders' home stadium because it had multiple dead spots of grass

A poor playing surface is, unfortunately, not a unique happening in the NFL. But what the Commanders had going on Sunday at home takes the cake a lot more than usual. Three significant brown spots on the Commanders' field were literally dead grass because of broken irrigation heads.

If that isn't a microcosm of the Commanders as a franchise, I don't know what is:

Worst decision when everyone already thinks lowly of you: Will Levis, for this pointless shovel pass/fumble

After costing the Tennessee Titans a Week 1 win, Will Levis had a chance to start shaking the reputation that he doesn't really think on the football field. He failed in spectacular fashion.

With the Titans sitting pretty in the red zone against the New York Jets, all Levis had to do was just live to see another day, and they would've left with some measure of points. Instead, while getting sacked (again), Levis shoveled a backward pass to the left, turning the ball over for no good reason (also again).

I gotta admit that the NFL is so much more entertaining with funny quarterbacks like Levis:

Best one-man show: Justin Jefferson on this unbelievable 97-yard touchdown

In the lead-up to the Minnesota Vikings' matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, Justin Jefferson (respectfully) declined a comparison to Garrett Wilson, noting that elite defenses afford him a different kind of high-level attention. Folks ... he wasn't wrong.

With the Vikings backed up near their own goal line, Sam Darnold launched a perfect rainbow to Jefferson in stride, who proceeded to outrun the 49ers' secondary the rest of the way to an unbelievable 97-yard touchdown.

The game's finest playmaker always backs up his talk, dearest readers:

Best reaction to a bone-headed play: Brian Callahan, who had a NSFW message for Will Levis

Titans head coach Brian Callahan was already fed up with Will Levis after his end-game antics last weekend. After another costly turnover taking likely points off the board for Tennessee, Callahan couldn't help but ask one important NSFW question to Levis.

I get it, man. Everyone watching at home was thinking the same:

Worst improvised scramble play: Bryce Young, for ... whatever he was trying to accomplish here

The start of Bryce Young's NFL career has been rough, to say the least. We're quickly entering the point where invoking the word "bust" for him no longer feels like an overzealous prospect. On Sunday, while struggling mightily against the Los Angeles Chargers, Young scrambled to his left, trying to find a receiver downfield. He appeared to signal to a receiver to keep running, only to get leveled a second later, showing his spatial awareness and timing in that moment was sorely lacking.

I'm not sure this young man will ever figure it out at this level of football:

Worst nose for the end zone: Josh Jacobs, for fumbling not once but twice near the goal line

If you just look at the box score of Josh Jacobs' Week 2 performance against the Indianapolis Colts, you'd assume he had a marvelous outing. The Colts could do nothing to stop the high-priced Green Bay Packers star running back, who rushed for 152 yards and averaged just under five yards per carry.

There was one problem: Jacobs had TWO fumbles near the goal line (twice in one half!), costing the Packers valuable points when they were trying to stay afloat without Jordan Love. Fortunately, the Colts didn't seem up to the task of making the Packers pay for these dire mistakes.

Though, to be fair, I'm certain bettors and fantasy players weren't happy with Jacobs.

Best tribute to a franchise legend: Zay Flowers, for this TD celebration honoring Jacoby Jones

Jacoby Jones was an electric playmaker for the Baltimore Ravens, who played a big part in their run to win Super Bowl 47 over a decade ago. Earlier this year, the Ravens great died at the age of 40.

In their home opener, after the Ravens showed an elaborate video celebrating Jones, Zay Flowers put his own spin on the matter. He caught a touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson and proceeded to do Jones' famous "Choppa City Juke" celebration. Man, that's so special:

Best improv in front of a live audience: Kevin Harlan, after Nate Burleson's sound malfunctioned

Kevin Harlan truly does it all as an announcer. When calling sporting events, he brings impeccable energy, engagement, and attention to detail on the broadcast. And when asked to go above and beyond, he never blinks. We saw an example of this as the announcer called the Vikings' matchup with the 49ers on Sunday.

When Harlan sent it to CBS's Nate Burleson for a studio update, Burleson's sound wasn't working. Rather than let the segue turn into an awkward blooper for the network, Harlan started doing Burleson's job, announcing a Tennessee Titans highlight touchdown.

And it was hilarious:

Worst drop after distancing yourself from your QB: Malik Nabers, who sunk the Giants at the worst possible time

Last week, after a horrific performance from Daniel Jones, we saw Malik Nabers coldly distancing himself from the veteran quarterback. The thing about these kinds of gestures is that you have to come through for your team at all costs after the fact. In a battle against the woeful Washington Commanders, it seemed like Nabers would do this in a performance where he caught 10 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown.

That is until Nabers was asked to catch a crucial fourth-down pass with the game on the line. A pass he ... dropped. Oof, a brutal turn of events for the rookie:

Worst safety when your team needs you: Trevor Lawrence, while cementing an 0-2 Jaguars start

To say Trevor Lawrence has looked lost lately would be an understatement. The former No. 1 pick has looked like a shell of a player many once thought would be a generational quarterback. Lawrence was particularly terrible against the Cleveland Browns' tenacious defense on Sunday, putting the Jacksonville Jaguars in another 0-2 hole.

With the Jaguars trying to mount (an admittedly unlikely) comeback from the shadow of their own end zone, Lawrence took a game-losing safety ... on first down. Buddy, at that specific challenging moment, I know it's really hard to avoid, but you can't let this happen:

Best home debut for a rookie: Marvin Harrison Jr. in an electric performance

Some Cardinals fans were seemingly concerned about Marvin Harrison Jr. managing just one catch for four yards in his NFL debut in Week 1. I have no idea why anyone would overreact to one game of sample size to start the season, but hey, that's the passion of football fandom for you.

It's not necessarily rational.

In front of the Arizona Cardinals' faithful at home in Week 2, Harrison quickly washed away the bad taste of Week 1 by catching two touchdowns (back-to-back) on his first three targets. And both were marvelous in an overall four-catch, 130-yard, two-touchdown performance.

Yeah, I feel safe saying Harrison will live up to the hype. Keep NFL cornerbacks in your thoughts:

Worst football hygiene: Packers center Josh Myers, who vomited on the ball before snapping it to Malik Willis

A quarterback-center relationship is a sacred thing. It is the start of just about every single offensive play and basically has to be flawless. But sometimes, a center might launch a ball over his quarterback's head. They might even leave it low or never get the ball to their quarterback in the first place. Those kinds of mistakes feel like they pale in comparison to what Packers center Josh Myers subjected Malik Willis to.

According to Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur, Myers threw up on the ball right before a play and had no choice but to snap it to Willis. Uh, gross? Can someone PLEASE get the guy a towel or check on him beforehand next time?

Worst analysis of an obvious unintentional incompletion: Tony Romo, while describing this Patrick Mahomes pass

Look, almost everything Patrick Mahomes does on the football field is incredible. The three-time Super Bowl MVP is a wizard of the highest order. But we don't have to commend him for missing his receivers on open throws. He's not playing mind games or using his instincts to leave footballs at the feet of his playmakers.

Well, according to Tony Romo, that's what Mahomes did when -- from a clean pocket -- he left a pass low at Travis Kelce's feet. Yeah, let's dial this conversation down a tad:

Best betting trend that went into the blender for a week: The idea that West Coast teams can't win early East Coast games

It's a cliche because it's mostly true. West Coast teams are usually fighting a ton of jet lag if they have to play an early-afternoon game three time zones away. Then they get clocked because they're tired. What this doesn't account for is when those West Coast squads are playing some of the NFL's worst teams.

So, of course the Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and Las Vegas Raiders (who beat the actually formidable Ravens) weirdly bucked this West Coast trend. The lesson here?

No one knows anything.

Worst time to throw a temper tantrum: Ja'Marr Chase, after throwing a fit with the Bengals in field goal range

I'm sympathetic to receivers like Ja'Marr Chase thinking NFL cornerbacks like the Kansas City Chiefs' Trent McDuffie get away with too much. Because they probably do! But arguing an apparently missed hip-drop tackle with the Bengals sitting in field goal range in the fourth quarter is not the time to start berating officials about it.

From an overarching perspective, Chase more than earned this unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He's lucky Bengals kicker Evan McPherson has nerves of steel:

This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL Week 2 Awards: It’s time to panic about Lamar Jackson’s slow-starting Ravens