First Call: Ravens coach defends risking Lamar Jackson, Bruce Arians blunt about Tom Brady

Tim Benz | Tuesday, September 15, 2020 6:52 a.m.

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh in the second half during an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Baltimore.

Tuesday’s “First Call” gives us John Harbaugh’s defense of Lamar Jackson staying in the Baltimore Ravens’ blowout win Sunday. Bruce Arians isn’t afraid of criticizing Tom Brady. The Dallas Stars are onto the Stanley Cup Final. And Pitt is a big favorite on Saturday.

Leavin’ Lamar

The Baltimore Ravens destroyed the Cleveland Browns 38-6 Sunday. And they risked Lamar Jackson’s health in the process.

But head coach John Harbaugh doesn’t seem to care.

Harbaugh kept Jackson in the game when the Ravens started a series leading by 32 points. That was with 10 minutes remaining. Jackson — the reigning NFL MVP — dropped back to pass three times. He was sacked once.

But, via ESPN.com, Harbaugh insists the exercise was worthwhile.

“A lot of things can happen,” Harbaugh said. “I’ve seen teams come back in the fourth quarter. It’s the first game of the season. We’re trying to work on things as well. It’s just a criticism that you guys can keep asking me about and I’m going to keep telling you the same thing. I think if you study football and look at what other teams do, you’ll see that people don’t do that and there’s a reason for it.”

There’s also a reason why teams have backup quarterbacks, John. It’s in case your starter gets hurt. Wanna keep risking that unnecessarily with Jackson?

Be my guest.

B.A. calls out TB12

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians isn’t afraid to shoot straight about his starting quarterback.

Even though his starting quarterback is now Tom Brady.

The Bucs lost in New Orleans Sunday, 34-23. Brady went 23 of 36 for 239 yards. He had two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

“He looked like Tom Brady in practice all the time, so it’s kind of unusual to see that in a ballgame because they didn’t do things that we didn’t get ready for. Everything they did, we thought we were ready for,” Arians said.

In other words, it wasn’t coaching, it was execution.

“He knew he didn’t play very well. It’s not what he expects from himself, nor do we expect. I would anticipate him to have a little more grit, a little more determination this week,” Arians continued.

That’s interesting.

I didn’t notice a lack of grit. I noticed inconsistent arm strength and accuracy. It was there on a gorgeous deep throw on the game’s first drive. It wasn’t there on that pick-six later in the contest.

Arians was always a big defender publicly when it came to Ben Roethlisberger as the Steelers offensive coordinator. It’s interesting to see him challenge Brady so publicly so quickly.

And it’ll be even more interesting to see how Brady responds Sunday versus the Carolina Panthers.

Big spread

One game into the 2020 college football season doesn’t tell the whole story.

Pitt smoked Austin Peay 55-0, and Syracuse lost to North Carolina 31-6.

Now the Panthers host the Orange as 23.5-point favorites Saturday. That was the opening point spread for the game at Heinz Field.

The Panthers rolled to an easy victory over the FCS-level Governors thanks to 456 yards of offense. Meanwhile the Orange looked like an FCS program at times in Chapel Hill.

Dino Babers’ club missed short field goals. Failed to score after gifted turnovers from the Tar Heels. Averaged just 1.9 yards per rush. Burned timeouts. And committed eight penalties.

Not to mention going 4 for 20 on third and fourth downs and totaling just 202 offensive yards.

By comparison, the Orange were 23-point underdogs to the 18th-ranked Heels. And Pitt was favored by 28 against Austin Peay.

The Panthers have won 13 of their last 15 games against the Orange.

Star struck!

One half of the Stanley Cup Final matchup is set. And it’s from the Western Conference.

The Dallas Stars eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime Monday night. Denis Gurianov got the game winner to close out Game 5 on a power play.

"THEY WIN THE SERIES, THEY WIN THE WEST AND THE DALLAS STARS ARE HEADED TO THE STANLEY CUP FINAL!"@ChoctawCasinos | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/WJwmr3o8qR

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 15, 2020

That was Gurianov’s eighth postseason goal and his 15th point.

Dallas gets either the Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Final. Those teams play Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final Tuesday. The Lightning lead that series 3-1.