OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Three years ago, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Arthur Maulet was with the Pittsburgh Steelers and sat in the conference room as they prepared to play quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“Do you want me to tell you that secret?” Maulet said this week.

He went on to describe how the Steelers focused on stopping Jackson on the run option plays. He acknowledged that the game plan may have changed since he was released in May 2023 and later joined the AFC North rival Ravens. But Jackson has also changed over the years.

“Exactly,” said Maulet. “He can throw much better.”

When the Ravens (7-3) play the Steelers (7-2) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), Baltimore can take sole possession of first place and Jackson can show he’s ready to solve his Pittsburgh problem. vanquish. Jackson is 1-3 against the Steelers, the only team he has played multiple times and thrown more interceptions (seven) than touchdowns (four).

The consensus among them is that there is no definitive reason why Jackson has struggled against Pittsburgh and put up NFL MVP numbers against the rest of the league.

“I don’t know what it is, man,” Jackson said.

“I’m not sure,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said.

Here are three reasons why Jackson stumbled against the Steelers and why things could be different on Sunday:

Not effective in the pocket: Jackson’s 21.2 QBR in the pocket against Pittsburgh is his lowest against any team. He has completed just 59.2% of his throws in the pocket against the Steelers, averaging 6.4 yards per pass attempt. But this is an area where Jackson is now flourishing. This season, he is connecting on a career-best 71.5% of his passes in the pocket, averaging 9.3 yards per pass attempt.

Busy: The Steelers have sacked Jackson 20 times, an average of five per game. The biggest problem has been Pittsburgh linebacker TJ Watt, who has sacked Jackson 7.5 times and scored 14 hits in four games against him. This season, Jackson has been sacked 13 times and is tied with the Bills’ Josh Allen for the fewest quarterbacks with at least eight starts.

Interceptions: Jackson’s seven interceptions against the Steelers are his second-most against any team behind the Cleveland Browns (eight). But Jackson has started nearly three times as many games against Cleveland. This season, Jackson has been excellent at protecting the ball. He has been picked off twice in 10 games and has not thrown an interception in 136 passes, which is the third-longest active streak in the league.

“I think Lamar made a conscious decision to play the best he could across the board, and that’s a big part of it,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “There’s so many things that go into playing the quarterback position, and also so many things that go into what you’re talking about. We’ve improved tremendously in terms of huddle, pre-snap communication; we We have to keep getting better at that and then executing the plays at a high level. So all those things come into play, and we would all say we have to continue to improve with a sense of urgency in everything we do.”

The last time Jackson played against the Steelers was October 2023, when Baltimore lost 17-10 at Pittsburgh. Jackson was not at fault as the Ravens dropped a handful of passes, including two in the end zone.

“We owe them,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “We didn’t play that well on the road (game). We gave that away.”

The Ravens-Steelers rivalry has been one of the best in the NFL for years, but for Jackson it was the most unusual matchup.

Since becoming Baltimore’s starting quarterback midway through the 2018 season, Jackson has missed more games against the Steelers (six) than he has started (four). He was sidelined three times by injury and sat out two games as the Ravens had already clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed. He also missed one game due to COVID-19.

“Certain years there are different things going on, and sometimes we were in a good position,” Andrews said. ‘But we’re happy to have him this week. It’ll be fun.’