Lamar Jackson does not enjoy facing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He may get excited for it. He may fully understand the gravity of one of the game’s best rivalries. But there’s no team in the NFL he’s been worse against. His 5:8 touchdown:interception ratio and 66.7 passer rating are both career worsts against any opponent he’s faced as a pro.
That held true in Week 11 when he traveled to the former Heinz Field for a familiar struggle. Jackson had one of his worst performances of the season Sunday. Was he the week’s most disappointing quarterback?
Fortunately, we’ve got a metric that can help figure that out.
Using the advanced stat expected points added (EPA) can gauge how much a quarterback brings to the table compared to a typical player. By comparing each passer’s Week 11 EPA against their 2024 average to date we get a better picture of just how frustrating their performances were. And we can find both of those thanks to The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin and his incredibly useful stats sites RBSDM.com and HabitatRing.com.
This is a metric that gauges disappointment based on what we’d typically expect. Will Levis had a negative EPA in Week 11 while losing to the Minnesota Vikings, but he pretty much always has a negative EPA, so he missed the list. Who was the worst? There were several candidates but only one man can truly call himself the grossest quarterback of Week 11.
Please bear with me for any Twitter embed issues. Our editing software has become a whole problem on that front the past few weeks. Rest assured, if there’s a play alluded to in the text it’s worth clicking through to see if it didn’t make it into the article itself.
David Reginek-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: -7.7
Week 11 EPA: -11
Difference: 3.3 points worse
via habitatring.com
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 6.1
Week 11 EPA: 0.1
Difference: 6.0 points worse
Daniels was once again fine — his performance against the Philadelphia Eagles could have even been encouraging for a typical rookie quarterback. But that’s not what Daniels is; he’s an immediate star who put up MVP caliber numbers his first half-season in the NFL.
On Thursday, he was stymied by an Eagles defense that his evolving into a terrifying presence. Since its Week 5 bye, Philadelphia has only allowed more than 20 points once. Their -0.235 EPA allowed per play over that stretch is best in the league.
That doesn’t explain this interception, however.
ALL ABOARD THE BLANKENSHIP @reedus99_reed | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Q1L5mSvcCm
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 15, 2024
With Terry McLaurin bracketed, Daniels only threw four passes that traveled more than 10 yards downfield in Week 11. He completed as many to Reed Blankenship as his own teammates.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 2.7
Week 11 EPA: -6.8
Difference: 9.5 points worse
For the second straight game, Cousins was kept out of the end zone and threw an interception. That was a difference maker in a close loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 10. But in Week 11 he got boat raced by Bo Nix, which feels so, so much worse.
All day, Cody Barton
: FOX pic.twitter.com/qIXyelKsnS
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 17, 2024
Cousins struggled against a top three passing defense that’s getting an All-Pro season from Patrick Surtain II and a Pro Bowl-ish emergence from Riley Moss. Together, they limited Atlanta’s top downfield targets — Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Kyle Pitts — to six catches and 97 yards on 14 targets. Half of his 18 completions came within one yard of the line of scrimmage.
Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 11.3
Week 11 EPA: 0
Difference: 11.3 points worse
Well, that’s not going to help Jackson’s back-to-back MVP argument. The dynamic dual-threat quarterback was capably wrangled by one of the defenses that knows him best. The Pittsburgh Steelers limited him to 253 total yards and, impressively, a sub-50 percent completion rate at Acrisure Stadium.
Granted, that wasn’t entirely his fault:
Zay Flowers spoils an exceptional Lamar Jackson play with as egregious of a drop as you’ll see given the circumstances. #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/KncJMdaYoG
— Bobby Trosset (@bobbybaltim0re) November 17, 2024
Still, this was a departure from the dynamic downfield passer who’d been able to hit his targets in stride and lead wideouts to big gains after the catch. He threw seven deep balls and only one was caught — and that was by Steelers rookie Payton Wilson in an absurd play.
WHAT A PLAY @payton_wilson21
Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnr6Mc pic.twitter.com/HrLSYaBOrB
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 17, 2024
This led to an overall neutral performance. Jackson, statistically, didn’t add anything to the Ravens’ offense. He didn’t take anything away, either. That doesn’t make him the worst quarterback of Week 11, but it does represent a disappointing performance from the MVP front runner.
Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 4.5
Week 11 EPA: -13.7
Difference: 18.2 points worse
Well, this is unusual. The grossest quarterback of the week faced off with the runner-up and still managed to escape with a win. Even after he did this!
Marlon Humphrey picks off Russ in the end zone!
: #BALvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/DDPaPeZ5Yz— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024
Wilson had his typical moon ball success with George Pickens for a 37-yard gain, but was otherwise short on explosive plays. He averaged just 4.1 yards per dropback, factoring in a single rushing yard on four attempts and four sacks taken.
.@DafeOweh sack trick
Tune in on CBS/@paramountplus pic.twitter.com/VU9r85UJVu
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 17, 2024
Wilson was pressured significantly less often than Jackson (29 percent to Jackson’s 43 percent) but still managed to find trouble. This was a throwback to the Broncos version of the Pro Bowl quarterback. Pittsburgh won regardless because there’s no franchise in the league better suited to survive mediocre passing. Could this be an omen of things to come?
