NFL

Jets’ only hope to squash Lamar Jackson’s revenge tour

Next up on the Lamar Jackson Revenge Tour: the Jets.

In his first 20 career starts, the Ravens’ second-year quarterback already has beaten the other three teams that drafted quarterbacks before he was taken in spot No. 32.

Now, the No. 3 pick Sam Darnold-led Jets could join the Browns (No. 1 Baker Mayfield), Bills (No. 7 Josh Allen) and Cardinals (No. 10 Josh Rosen), as well as the Dolphins with a traded Rosen coming off the bench in the game.

The only way for the Jets to avoid their seemingly sure fate against the NFL’s hottest team — winners of nine straight and owners of the NFL’s best record at 11-2 — might be to go punch-for-punch with Jackson. The Chiefs scored 33 and the Browns 40 to beat the Ravens in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively.

“We can’t be going three-and-out and giving them more opportunities than what they already are going to get,” coach Adam Gase said. “That’s the hardest thing about calling plays — you feel like every play is valuable, there is no throwaway plays, no ‘Hey, let’s try this.’ You have to make sure you do a good job of moving the ball, converting on third down and scoring in the red zone.”

Darnold answered both of the Dolphins’ go-ahead fourth-quarter scores Sunday by leading the Jets to scores of his own. The teams traded two field goals apiece in the final seven minutes, and the Jets won for the fourth time in five games on Sam Ficken’s 44-yard walk-off kick.

“This team [Jets] has found a winning formula,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “Sam Darnold is playing really well, making plays. We know all about him. We studied him a lot.”

But a feel-good finish masked a problem earlier in the second half. The Jets went interception, turnover on downs, punt and punt on four straight possessions with four total first downs as the Dolphins turned a 16-6 deficit into an 18-16 lead. That kind of drought will spell doom against Jackson.

“We definitely have to be better than [Sunday],” Darnold said. “But ultimately it doesn’t matter who we are playing. We just have to do our job every single game. Really every possession, we have to make the most of it.”

The Ravens lead the NFL in points (33.1), time of possession (34:24) and rushing yards (200.9) per game — a rare combination that suggests their offense is both big-play explosive and capable of chewing the clock to limit an opponent’s possessions. All because of Jackson’s dual-threat capabilities.

As head coach of the Dolphins in 2018, Gase said he did not evaluate Jackson because he was not in the market for a quarterback. As a Miami-area native, Jackson, whose pre-draft projections were all over the map, “worked out” at the home team’s local pro day.

“We weren’t sure really where he was going, anyway,” Gase said.

Trying to outscore the Ravens is easier said than done. The defense has allowed 15.1 points per game during the winning streak, with a cap of 23 by the Steelers in Week 5.

“That’s my boy, and I respect what they’re doing over there,” wide receiver Robby Anderson said of Jackson. “But every week you are expecting to outscore who you are playing.”

One way for the Jets to potentially keep pace is to feed Anderson. On the heels of a three-game stretch of four catches for 50 yards combined, Anderson has 18 for 303 in the past three games.

“He’s super, super fast, and sometimes teams struggle to guard him,” Darnold said. “When he wasn’t putting up the numbers that he is the last few weeks, he was affecting the defense in other ways, whether that was the post safety going over the top of him or any other different way of trying to double [team] him.”

If Anderson is the fastest player when the Jets have possession, Jackson fills the shoes on the other side of the line of scrimmage. The Jets will find out if they are capable of winning a track meet.

For more on the Jets, listen to the latest episode of the “Gang’s All Here” podcast: