Lamar Jackson is Back to Save the Ravens from a Midseason Crisis

The Baltimore Ravens are finally pulling the fire alarm. According to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, the team is officially expecting Lamar Jackson back under center this week, putting out a quote that basically begs everyone to stop panicking.

You can not blame them for rushing the announcement. Watching your team get dismantled 35-13 by the Cincinnati Bengals is the kind of experience that makes a front office want to text the media at all hours just to change the subject.

"“We do think we’ll have Lamar this week so go ahead and put that out there.”"

Jackson has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury, leaving the offense stuck in the mud. In the four games he actually played this season, he racked up 967 passing yards and kept the chains moving in a way that simply does not happen when he is in street clothes.

The stakes right now are entirely too high for Baltimore to play it safe. At 4-3, the Ravens are somehow sitting at the bottom of the AFC North, looking up at the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. In a division where everyone is suddenly a heavyweight, dropping another game is a fast track to watching the playoffs from the couch.

Oddsmakers are obviously going to scramble to adjust the numbers for this weekend. A Ravens team with a healthy Jackson is a completely different math equation for anyone looking at the spread, especially against a top-tier opponent.

That opponent happens to be the 5-1 Buffalo Bills. Jackson returning just in time for a Sunday road trip to upstate New York is the exact kind of high-stakes theater the league loves, and it is the only thing standing between Baltimore and a full-blown midseason crisis.