OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — For a second straight year, Lamar Jackson is completing the same cycle.
A spectacular season ends with an agonizing playoff loss. Then months later, Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are given a chance to avenge that defeat when they face the same opponent again in Week 1. Last year they opened at Kansas City after losing to the Chiefs in the postseason. This time it's Buffalo.
On one hand, it's an early opportunity to put the sour taste of January behind them. On the other hand, it's both too late and too early to silence the doubters.
In some ways, this weekend's game against the Bills is emblematic of Jackson's reality as he begins his eighth season. So much of his career has been spent quieting one line of criticism or another. First, there were those who wondered if he could succeed as an NFL quarterback at all. Then there were the questions about his ability as a passer — and whether he was too injury-prone to sustain his greatness.
Almost all of those concerns are in the past after he won his second MVP in 2023 and followed that up with a career-best passing season last year. Now it's a different type of skepticism Jackson is facing. Almost everyone acknowledges his all-around excellence and what he means to his team, but until he produces at a high level in the postseason, he'll have his detractors.
“We’re getting there, but we’re not finishing. How can we get better? How can we make the Baltimore city even more happy?" Jackson said recently. “We’re having regular-season success, we’re making it to the playoffs, but we have to get to that dance.”
Jackson is hardly the first quarterback to put up gaudy numbers — and earn MVP honors — while enduring playoff disappointments. John Elway, Steve Young and Peyton Manning all faced criticism similar to what comes Jackson's way, and they all eventually won Super Bowls. They were all in their 30s when they won their first titles as starters. Jackson is 28.
Last year Jackson finished the regular season with a near-record passer rating of 119.6 and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 41-4. And yet, the Ravens fell at Buffalo 27-25 in the divisional round of the playoffs. Jackson threw an early interception and lost a fumble that helped the Bills take a 21-10 halftime lead that Baltimore never completely erased.
He also threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns, and he led an 88-yard drive that would have tied the game late if not for a dropped 2-point conversion by tight end Mark Andrews. If you include Baltimore's first-round win over Pittsburgh, Jackson's passer rating last postseason (122.5) was even higher than his regular-season mark.
Still, the mistakes eat at him.
“Just hold on to the ball, man. How many interceptions did I throw in the regular season? Four?” Jackson said. “It just happened. (It was the) first snow game — not trying to (make) an excuse — but that’s the first snow. Things happen. It happens, man. It’s football.”
Within the Ravens, the notion that Jackson might hold them back in the postseason seems absurd. If anything, they say the opposite is true — that Baltimore will remain a Super Bowl contender as long as he's the quarterback, no matter how the supporting cast changes. Safety Kyle Hamilton suggested as much after agreeing to a contract extension. Linebacker Roquan Smith seconded that this week.
“I’ve been saying that when I first got here — any time Lamar is on the team, you have a chance to hoist the Lombardi (Trophy), but I think that’s everybody’s plan going into the season,” Smith said. “So, it’s about each and every one of us looking at ourselves in the mirror and saying, ‘What are we going to do to make sure that that’s us?’”
Last year, Baltimore opened against a Kansas City team that had beaten the Ravens in the previous season's AFC championship game. The Ravens lost again, 27-20, and they never got another shot at the Chiefs. This weekend, Baltimore heads to Buffalo, and the September schedule doesn't let up much after that. The Ravens also face Detroit and Kansas City before the month is over.
But even if Baltimore wins some or all of those marquee matchups, it will be a while before Jackson and the Ravens have a chance to make this season different. Right now, the challenge is to avoid looking too far ahead — even if so many others are.
“Can’t go to the Super Bowl without making it to the playoffs. So, we’ve got to focus on Buffalo right now,” Jackson said. "This is extremely early to be thinking about a Super Bowl.”
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