Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been terrifying defenses since his college days at Louisville. He has continued this dominance in the NFL, as he has been nothing short of spectacular in the regular season.
Jackson, a two-time league MVP, uses his arm, legs, and improvisational ability to become arguably the most dangerous player in the NFL.
Facing him feels like running into a storm, with his fast and unpredictable moves making him nearly impossible to stop.
Yet even storms have a weakness. For Jackson, it comes in the postseason against elite quarterbacks. When the lights shine brightest on the league's biggest stages, he has struggled against Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
In the 2020 divisional round, Jackson earned a 48.6 PFF overall grade against Allen and the Bills. In 2023, he posted a 61.7 PFF overall grade against Mahomes and the Chiefs, including a 50.6 PFF passing grade.
Last year, Jackson had the best postseason of his career, an 83.9 PFF overall grade, only to watch it end once more at the hands of Allen and the Bills. Two costly turnovers in that divisional-round loss overshadowed an otherwise stellar performance.
His postseason shortcomings are not about his talent. Jackson has almost no weaknesses in the regular season. He reads defenses, escapes pressure, and makes plays few quarterbacks could even imagine.
But when he faces the best of the best in the playoffs, the margin for error shrinks. Mistakes that might slide during the regular season are magnified, and the consequences are often season-ending.
For Baltimore, that is the ultimate challenge. Jackson can dominate a 17-game schedule and put up MVP-caliber numbers, but winning in the playoffs requires eliminating those mistakes. It is a test of execution, composure, and decision-making under pressure.
If Jackson can find a way to take down Mahomes and Allen in the postseason, he would finally get a chance to play in the Super Bowl. Winning there could cement his place among the elite quarterbacks of his generation.
Until then, his postseason track record remains the clearest vulnerability in an otherwise brilliant career. Jackson has the talent, the tools, and the mindset to consistently translate his regular-season success to the playoffs.
The question now is whether he can take that brilliance and make it unstoppable when the stakes are highest. The Ravens' playoff ceiling depends on his ability to rise above and learn from his past mistakes.
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