IS THIS YOUR MVP!? Lamar Jackson is going to win his second NFL MVP award when all is said and done, but his Baltimore Ravens straight up puked all over themselves in a very winnable home game against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken called a grand total of six running plays for his running backs. The Ravens had the No. 1 rushing offense in the NFL during the regular season. Lamar got greedy and threw into triple coverage in the end zone, which resulted in an interception.
Granted, Zay Flowers had a touchback fumble on the Chiefs 1-yard line that would’ve totally changed the tenor of the AFC Championship Game had he scored. Alas, the plight of being a quarterback entails taking the vast majority of the blame when sh*t goes sideways.
Nobody is holding back whatsoever on Lamar, whose defense played absolutely lights-out in the second half. The alleged best player in the NFL this season managed only 20 completions on 37 pass attempts and a 75.5 passer rating. All the Ravens have to show for this entire postseason is beating a Texans team that most people expected to be a bottom-five finisher before the season started. Like…it’s bad in Baltimore right now.
Fair or not, Lamar is going to take the vast majority of this awful “L” on the chin.
What’s more, the Ravens are likely to lose their dynamite defensive coordinator, Mike Macdonald, to a head-coaching gig. You truly hate to see Lamar’s ineptitude be the main catalyst for the Chiefs’ dynasty continuing, because it’s not like Mahomes did much of anything after halftime.
Did the Ravens let their Super Bowl window slam shut, or is this just yet another close call and hard lesson they have to learn before they break through? I think the one man who can help them out of this hole is Lamar.
It’s just a matter of whether or not he’s capable. Sure, he looks great in the regular season when he stays healthy. It’s just that he almost gets too tight in the playoffs, presses, gets impatient, and makes poor decisions under duress. Hard to win that way when it matters most. Not what Baltimore fans want to hear, but at this point, it’s the reality of the situation.
Instead of watching the home team trot off victorious, on their way to Las Vegas to play in Super Bowl LVIII, it looks like we’re getting Taylor Swift in attendance after all! OUCH.
