Editor’s note: This is the last of a five-part series on the quarterbacks and teams best equipped to stop Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs from becoming the first NFL team in the Super Bowl era to three-peat. No. 1 on our list: Lamar Jackson and the Ravens (No. 5 was Jalen Hurts and the Eagles, No. 4 was Brock Purdy and the 49ers, No. 3 was C.J. Stroud and the Texans, and No. 2 was Jared Goff and the Lions.)
Lamar Jackson threw his helmet to the ground in frustration, angry at himself for the error he’d just committed in the biggest game of his life.
His Ravens, trailing the Chiefs 17-7 with less than seven minutes left in last season’s AFC Championship Game, were in scoring position just outside the red zone. An opportunity to bring the game within a score was within grasp. But that’s when Jackson made an ill-advised throw to tight end Isaiah Likely, who was triple covered in the end zone. The pass was picked off.
It was the last of a number of costly mistakes made by Baltimore, which went on to lose 17-10.
For the second time in five seasons, the Ravens failed to turn the AFC’s No. 1 seed into a Super Bowl appearance.
For league observers, it was a reminder of the gap that persists between Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, who improved to 4-1 against the Ravens quarterback.
“That guy was the main guy I was playing for, honestly,” then-Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen said postgame of Jackson. “So much stuff he gets that he doesn’t deserve. This was his opportunity to be able to write some of that stuff off and move on to the next thing. That’s why it hurts, because you want to see people like that, teammates that you love and care about, get what they’re supposed to get.”
Who’s to say that can’t finally happen in 2024?
Playoff success has eluded the Ravens over the past several years, but arguably no NFL team is better equipped to supplant Kansas City than Baltimore, which boasts a roster filled with big-game experience and top-end star power.
It starts with…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/five-teams-built-beat-chiefs-no-1-lamar-jacksons-ravens
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Publish date : 2024-09-04 13:16:36
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