Lamar Jackson Reveals 'Underdog' Mentality Propelling Ravens to AFC's No. 1 Seed
The Baltimore Ravens are fresh off a 33-19 beatdown of the San Francisco 49ers as they signaled their Super Bowl intentions in dominant fashion.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson had an "MVP" performance against Steve Wilks' defense, with the underdog mentality pushing the team to buck the trend and slay the 49ers juggernaut.
Many weren't giving the Ravens a chance at beating San Francisco in Santa Clara (yes, you Mike Florio), and Jackson stated post-game that the team plays better when being faced with pressure in big moments.
Given how well Baltimore has played this season, it likely felt disrespected at how little faith the outside world had in them rolling into Levi's Stadium and emerging with a win.
But for Jackson, why does a team that has a 12-3 record and has just pummeled the supposed best team in the NFC, have any underdog mentality at all?
“I believe we got a bunch of guys who's been doubted," Jackson said. "A bunch of guys who got things to prove on our team on both sides of the ball, so I believe in time we're the underdogs, we going to always rise to the occasion but we got to stay locked in to do that.”
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So far this season, when the Ravens have been challenged, they have responded emphatically, and they will get the chance this week as well against a Miami Dolphins team looking to take the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Baltimore is the favorite to secure the top seed in the AFC against the Dolphins but despite the Ravens being picked by nearly everyone to beat Miami, Lamar is still locked into that mentality that has served the team so well.
"We the underdogs," Jackson said.
The Ravens have won nine out of their last ten games, which includes winning their last five as they now have the best record in the NFL.
With an offense that is ranked fourth in the NFL for points scored per game (27.8) and a defense ranked first for points allowed (just 16.3), the Ravens are perhaps the best team in football right now, not that they will feel that way.
Ravens underdogs? Not anymore.
