LAMAR JACKSON HAS REAL LEGACY ISSUES — WILL HE EVER REACH A SUPER BOWL?
No one in NFL history is more dazzling in the regular season, but he's 3-5 in the playoffs and committed two turnovers against Buffalo while witnessing a fumble and two-point drop by pal Mark Andrews
He sat numbly on the bench, a white hoodie and cap atop his head, asking if a legacy is too slithery a mountainside. Lamar Jackson has won three games and lost five in the NFL postseason. Again, he will not play in a Super Bowl, watching Josh Allen rise to the AFC championship game in Buffalo’s lake-effect snow.
It does not matter that he won two MVP trophies and earned three first-team honors on the All-Pro team. It doesn’t matter that he’s the first quarterback to throw at least 40 touchdown passes and fewer than five interceptions, or that he rushed for more than 900 yards. It doesn’t matter that he’s the greatest dual-threat weapon in the regular season.
Sunday night, Jackson threw an interception and fumbled away the ball in the first half. When the game was still very winnable, his longtime pal, tight end Mark Andrews, fumbled away the ball after Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard punched it out. Later, after Jackson took his time and found Isaiah Likely for a touchdown, all he needed was a catch from Andrews to create a 27-27 tie and force a rocking overtime. He rolled out and found his receiver, who caught the ball and was ready to fall into the end zone.
Andrews dropped it. He might not be allowed into Baltimore from the jet plane.
The Ravens lost, 27-25.
“I had two costly turnovers,” Jackson said in the same hoodie. “The interception … me not knowing the safety, me just knowing the coverage. It was 7-7 at the time, and they scored after that. A fumble? Trying to make something happen. It was like an RPO play, so I couldn’t really throw the ball. I tried to squeeze the ball and it slipped out of my hand. That led to points for them. As I’ve been saying all season, turnovers play a factor.
“Gotta hold on to the f—king ball. I'm sorry for my language. This s—t is annoying. I'm tired of this s—t.”
He could have torched Andrews. That won’t happen. “Nobody cares more, and fights more than Mark," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We wouldn't be here without Mark Andrews. ... It's like anything else. Destiny is a decision that you make, and how you handle what comes in life. And Mark will handle it fantastic.”
Has the league ever had a more dazzling performer who falls short in the postseason? If Patrick Mahomes is trying to win four championships at 29, Jackson might never see a Super Bowl at 28. In his mind, he does not care about his legacy, even when tens of millions of fans are gripped by his dilemma. “Excuse me for everybody watching, but I really don’t care who’s watching,” he said. “We really don’t care how people feel about it. We’re trying to go in and just win.”
He can’t win when it counts the most. This time, he was bested by Allen, who hadn’t been to the title game since 2020 and needs to bust through against the Chiefs and reach his first Super Bowl. “All year, this team has heard that it doesn’t have the talent, it’s too small and isn’t good enough to compete. What a complete win,” he said after rushing for two touchdowns. “There’s a lot of pride in that locker room. We don’t listen to the outside noise. Everyone was saying this and that about us. Our guys continue to work hard. We are internally driven.”
At least he has a shot Sunday in Kansas City. Allen will try to end Mahomes’ chances for his third consecutive title. “We know what the Chiefs are. They are perennials in the NFL,” he said. “We’ve got to beat them to get past them.” Unhappily, Jackson will keep suffering in the daze of the Ravens, who rate third in a conference with a dynasty and Allen. The Chiefs and the Bills aren’t going away. “I have so much respect and love for him,” Allen said of a post-game chat with Jackson. “The way he plays the game, a true competitor on the field. Nothing but love.”
They have no off-field connection. Jackson is trying to beat Allen and not be his love buddy, though they entered the league in the 2018 draft. “I don’t really chill with people in the offseason, especially not other quarterbacks,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s no problem or nothing like that, but we’re competing with each other. I’m trying to beat you. I’m not trying to be your friend.”
It was Harbaugh who made a grand prediction last summer. “The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League,” he said. “That's the vision. It's going to happen by Lamar, his work ethic and his brilliant talent, by all of us pouring into that effort, together as a team, teamwork, and by the grace of God and God's goodwill. That's how it's going to happen. And I believe it like we've already seen it.”
Not yet. Jackson is 1-4 in his last five divisional-round games.
“The chips didn’t fall our way,” safety Kyle Hamilton said.
Will they ever?
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.