Lamar Jackson impeded by falling referee before unlikely safety

Lamar Jackson ran into an unlikely obstacle in the Baltimore Ravens’ matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday. The standout QB dropped back into his endzone, hoping to evade the 49ers. Instead, Jackson tripped over a referee, who had fallen during the scramble.

The play resulted in a safety and the 49ers took a 2-0 lead. According to “Quirky Research,” Jackson’s mistake was the most yardage on an intentional grounding safety in NFL history.

Evidently, the referees were in the giving spirit. The 49ers don’t need any help. San Francisco is on a six-game win streak and the No. 1 team in the NFC West.

Of course, the Ravens are no slouches, either. Baltimore entered the Christmas night meeting with an 11-3 record, the best in the AFC North. While Baltimore’s staff certainly isn’t interested in subbing out Jackson due to one freak play, they have the depth to do so.

This play ended up being a safety for the 1st points of the game.

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— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2023

Lamar Jackson reunites with a familiar face

Per Adam Schefter, the Baltimore Ravens signed Malik Cunningham off of New England’s practice squad. That puts him in a quarterback room that brings him back together with after the two were in a similar position at Louisville back in 2017.

Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 2017 with the Cardinals. He was still top-notch in that campaign, though, with 5,261 total yards, nearly 150 more than his Heisman season. Jackson scored 45 touchdowns overall that year, six shy of what he posted the season prior. He also finished with a better completion rate as he connected on 59.1% of his throws.

As for Cunningham, he redshirted during that season in the first of his six seasons with Louisville. He likely took a few notes from Jackson after arriving as a similar player and the lone quarterback commit in his class as a three-star prospect out of Montgomery, Alabama.

Once Jackson left in the 2018 NFL Draft, that left the quarterback spot to Cunningham to take over during the last five years. In 56 games during that time, he threw for over 9,600 yards and 70 touchdowns on 62.6% completion. He also rushed for an additional 3,100 yards, good for 5.1 per carry. That amounted to an additional 50 touchdowns on the ground.

In Jackson’s final season and Cunningham’s four total as the starter, Louisville won 36 games, including two bowl appearances.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this article.