Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has had one heck of a season, but all he’s accomplished could be nothing but a memory if they stumble against the Houston Texans this week. Jackson was so good this year that he could become the first QB since Steve McNair in 2003 to win the MVP award with fewer than 25 touchdown passes. With that in mind, this divisional-round weekend is set up to be a defining moment in Jackson’s young career.
When you play in an era where one player seemingly dominates everything, eventually all the individual accolades fade into the background. Jackson will forever be chasing Patrick Mahomes in the eyes of many because of his and the Ravens’ lack of postseason success. Jackson has competed in four playoff games since 2018 and has just one victory.
Falling to 1-4 and not playing up to par in the process would reignite all of Jackson’s detractors whom he silenced all year. Winning a second MVP will be amazing, but legends are conceived in the postseason. That’s where athletes really cement their legacy: Winning and advancing in the playoffs. Mahomes could retire tomorrow and he’d be a Hall of Famer largely based on having won two Super Bowls and being named MVP in both.
Most people are picking the Ravens to win this game fairly easily. While Houston is scrappy with a young QB who is likely taking home Rookie of the Year honors, the overall scope of the situation is that Baltimore is the more complete team. However, we’ve seen Jackson and the Ravens in a similar spot in the past.
During the 2019-20 postseason, the same campaign that saw Jackson take home his first MVP, the top-seeded Ravens were ousted in the divisional round by the No. 6 seed Tennessee Titans. Sure, that was a few years ago and Action Jackson was a first-year starter, but none of this is even thought about if he’d had major playoff success since then. One win in four postseason contests is enough to make critics question whether he can get them over the hump.
So, we know all too well the story of Jackson in the postseason. But that can quickly be turned around and the entire perception could change seemingly overnight. The most recent example of a QB changing his legacy in one playoff run happened a couple of years ago with Matthew Stafford. When arriving in Los Angeles to the Rams, Stafford was 0 for 3 in the playoffs as a Detroit Lion. Stafford and the Rams went on to win four playoff games in his first year in LA, culminating in a Super Bowl triumph.
Stafford went from a perceived big-game bust to a Super Bowl-winning QB in a matter of weeks. In one run, all the past failures in Detroit had been forgotten and are rarely mentioned anymore when discussing Stafford. Jackson has the opportunity to do the same this year, but it starts Saturday at home against the upstart Texans. First, he and this Ravens squad need to get past that mental block of the divisional round.
