As ESPN's Pat McAfee watched Lamar Jackson captivate a rowdy, sold-out crowd at Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã Stadium this past Sunday, he gained a new perspective on Jackson's global impact on the sport.
"Just watching that made me think about how we need the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson to get to the Super Bowl, because there's a lot of people around the world that that's the only football game they watch every single year," McAfee said on "The Pat McAfee Show." "Could you imagine Lamar Jackson popping on the screen and just being like, 'I didn't know he's the fastest guy, he can throw better than everybody, he's seemingly one of the best leaders that we have, and what else? Yeah, he's about to win a Super Bowl.' Wow.
"He would change the world's view on football."
J.J. Watt, who was the color analyst for CBS Sports' broadcast of the Ravens' win over the Dallas Cowboys in Rio, saw firsthand how much the Brazilian fans adored Jackson.
"They absolutely love Lamar in Brazil," Watt said on McAfee's show. "Lamar was a bigtime fan favorite. When he ran out onto the field for warmups, the place went nuts."
FOX Sports Radio's Jason Smith said Jackson's performance in Brazil reminded everyone why he's a generational talent.
"I don't know that even though what we've seen him do in his career, that people really understand how great of a player Lamar Jackson is, how well he throws the football," Smith said on "The Jason Smith Show." "If you want to go back like the past 30, 40 years of football, he's having a top five all-time career."
Zay Flowers Had an 'Outrageous' September to Remember
Wide receiver Zay Flowers' September production wasn't just good, it was unprecedented.
"With 234 total receiving yards on 26 routes, Flowers' 9 yards per route run is the highest mark of any player with at least 25 routes over the first three weeks of a season since at least 2016, according to Next Gen Stats," The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer wrote. "It's also over three times better than his production last season, when Flowers (2.6 yards per route run) finished sixth among qualifying NFL receivers."
After recording five catches for 150 yards and a touchdown in the first half of the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, Flowers suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the second half as well as the Week 2 game against the New Orleans Saints.
A game-time decision for the Cowboys game in Week 3, Flowers returned to action and racked up 84 yards on just 15 routes, per NGS, including a 27-yard reception that set up Tyler Loop's game-winning 56-yard field goal.
"Flowers' down-to-down efficiency and league-leading target rate (48% of routes) will drop as his playing time increases, but an uptick in participation only will make the Ravens more dangerous, not less," Shaffer wrote. "Flowers leads the NFL with 19.5 yards per target, 0.7 expected points added per route and a 38.5% first-down rate, according to NGS. Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle has especially weaponized him on crossing routes, with five such catches on six targets for 83 yards."
Rich Eisen Believes Derrick Henry Could Have an Epic Performance Against His Former Team
All eyes will be on running back Derrick Henry on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium as he goes against his former team, the Tennessee Titans, for the first time since joining the Ravens in 2024.
"It's still like family there, so it's always love, but it's not going to be much love on Sunday though," Henry said on Wednesday.
While Henry said he's "not trying to make too much" of facing the Titans, ESPN's Rich Eisen believes Henry's going to run all over them, perhaps even breaking the single-game rushing record of 296 yards set by Adrian Peterson in 2007.
"Maybe by halftime," Eisen quipped on "The Rich Eisen Show."
While Eisen was being facetious, co-host Chris Brockman wasn't kidding when said "it feels like 200 yards and two touchdowns is a lock."
The Titans (0-3) have the 24th-ranked run defense.
Rob Gronkowski Doubles Down on Ravens Super Bowl Prediction
FOX Sports analyst and former tight end Rob Gronkowski picked the Ravens to win the Super Bowl before the start of the season, and he's sticking with it.
Kay Adams of the "Up & Adams Show" noted that the Buffalo Bills are 3-0 and the new betting favorites to win the Super Bowl. She offered Gronkowski a mulligan on his Ravens pick so that he could switch to the Bills, but he wasn't interested.
"I gotta stick [to] my guns," Gronkowski said. "'[The Ravens] went to Brazil, they had to travel all that way against 'America's Team.' It was about to be 'Brazil's Team' with the Dallas Cowboys, [but] they shut that down, they got that win.
"You gotta learn how to win as a team in the last minutes of games, and that's what Baltimore did, so I'm going to stick with Baltimore, even though I'm very fascinated with the Buffalo Bills right now."
The Ravens (+950) are tied with the Seattle Seahawks for the third-best Super Bowl odds on FanDuel, behind the Bills (+650) and Los Angeles Rams (+700).
Quick Hits
- The Ravens won't face the Steelers' top cornerback entering the season, as Joey Porter Jr. was traded to the Dallas Cowboys late last night.
