Early in the second quarter Saturday, Lamar Jackson nearly threw an interception near the goal line that would have cost his team points. The Louisville offense was down in the red zone when Jackson was forced out of the pocket and had to roll to his right. Attempting to make a play on third down, he held onto the ball a bit too long.
Pressure arrived as he waited, and a North Carolina defender started dragging Jackson down to the turf. That’s when the Heisman Trophy winner summoned his inner Jameis Winston and threw the ball up for grabs as he was literally horizontal and about to hit the ground.
Lamar Jackson trying to summon his inner Jameis Winston on that goal line toss up. #Louisville #UNC pic.twitter.com/fnYQTotMTc
— Joe (@Joe4Ducks) September 9, 2017
Thankfully for Jackson the ball ended up hitting the ground, rather than being picked off as it should have been.
In case you don’t get the Winston reference, here’s a throw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback made this preseason.
https://twitter.com/NFLsantaClaus/status/898880159180218369
Ultimately, the Winston interception was called back because he was ruled down before throwing the ball. But in his case and in Jackson’s case, that ball should have never left their hands to begin with.
Thankfully for Jackson and the Cardinals, his mistake was not capitalized on by North Carolina.