Has Ravens' Lamar Jackson Era Become a Failure?

In what was the most crushing defeat of the 2025 season, the Baltimore Ravens, in a game they desperately needed to win, saw the game slip away with a 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 16.

The biggest storyline from the game was Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson leaving the game early with a back injury after taking a knee to the back on a slide. Tyler Huntley finished the game for the team, but could not finish thanks to a Zay Flowers fumble on the final drive of the game.

Now the Ravens, sitting at 7-8, have a long shot at making the postseason as they will need to beat the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers to lose to the lowly 3-12 Cleveland Browns to have any shot at making it. This has led many to start wondering about Jackson and his time with Baltimore after eight years with the team.

Should Ravens fans see Lamar Jackson's time in Baltimore as a failure?

This has easily been the worst season in the Jackson era, as he has gone 6-6 as the team's starting quarterback, and they are on the verge of missing the postseason for only the second time since he became the starter. The last time the Ravens missed the playoffs with Jackson was back in 2021 when they were 8-9.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Jackson's stats are great in the regular season with 22,370 yards passing and 184 touchdowns to 55 interceptions in 115 games. He's also rushed for 6,513 yards and 35 touchdowns in that same span. The regular-season record is fantastic, with a 76-30 record in games Jackson started.

Where Jackson has fallen short is in the postseason, as he has gone 3-5 as the starter. He's completed just 60.6% of his passes for 1,753 yards and 10 touchdowns to seven interceptions. To his credit, he has thrown seven touchdowns to two interceptions in the last two years in the postseason.

It would be fair to criticize Jackson for his lack of success in the postseason, but to call his career with the Ravens a failure is a stretch. This season has been plagued by an unfortunate number of injuries that have just plagued him.

The biggest failure has been the team's inability to build the right offense around Jackson. While Derrick Henry has been a massive signing over the two seasons, Jackson has never had the weapons around him in the passing game. From Zay Flowers's multiple drops and fumbles to DeAndre Hopkins at the tail end of his career, Jackson didn't exactly have the right pieces around him to be successful.

Before completely pointing the finger at Jackson, maybe the Ravens should help their 28-year-old quarterback with some better weapons around him.

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