Ravens' Lamar Jackson Has One Thing Left To Prove After Two-Time MVP Run
It's crazy to think a 27-year-old quarterback who is one of just nine players to win the NFL MVP award twice in his career has anything left to prove.
Unfortunately for Lamar Jackson, that's still the case.
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Jackson's dominant 2023 season culminated in his second MVP trophy - making him the youngest two-time winner in NFL history. He joined other quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Steve Young, and Joe Montana as other players to achieve that mark twice.
What's the one thing each of those other legends has that Jackson doesn't to this point though?
A Super Bowl ring.
To be considered among the greatest at a position in the NFL, regular season success can only go so far. How a player performs on the game's highest stage is how a legacy is cemented.
Take players like Eli Manning and Jackson's former teammate Joe Flacco.
Both quarterbacks did not pass the eye test during the regular season consistently throughout their career. When the playoffs came, though, the two turned into elite signal-callers. Manning ended up beating Brady twice in the Super Bowl, and Flacco's playoff run in 2012 is still considered one of the greatest runs by a quarterback ever.
Both may be considered flaws in the annals of NFL history, but their championship runs will keep them immortalized forever.
In a way, Jackson has surpassed players like Manning or Flacco. Neither quarterback ever came close to being a single-time NFL MVP, let alone a two-timer.
But the point remains the same.
If Jackson wants to be considered among the greatest of his position of all time, performing in the playoffs is part of that discussion. Unfortunately for him, it has been his biggest albatross to this point.
The former Heisman Trophy winner is 2-4 in the postseason and has completed less than 60 percent of his passes in four of those games. In Baltimore's 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Title game this past season, Jackson completed just 57 percent of his passes while fumbling once and throwing an interception.
The accolades of getting awarded an MVP is excellent.
It's time for Jackson to finish the one thing he has left to prove - win and perform well when it matters most. At the very least, that's his understanding as well.
"(Flock Nation) We’re sorry we couldn’t make it happen for you guys, but we’re trying to bring something back to home."
