“Lamar Jackson! Do you wanna go for it?” Watch Ravens HC John Harbaugh defer his 4th down decision to his QB during nail-biter against the Chiefs

The Baltimore Ravens beat the Kansas City Chiefs in a classic SNF game. It was their first win against the Patrick Mahomes-led team ever since Lamar Jackson took over at QB.

Lamar Jackson has had an excellent career in the NFL so far. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2018 NFL Draft, late in the first round. He took his first NFL snap as a reliever to then starting QB Joe Flacco, in a blowout win against the Buffalo Bills and has never looked back since.

In 2019, Jackson won the NFL Most Valuable Player award. He won the award unanimously, becoming only the second player in league history to achieve that fate. The first was Patriots QB Tom Brady back in 2010. He set an NFL record for rushing yards by a QB that season (1206). He threw 26 TDs, and led the Ravens to a 14-2 record, the best in the league.

What are the criticisms that Lamar Jackson has faced throughout his young career?

With greatness, comes a lot of criticism, and Lamar is a prime example of that. No other QB in the NFL has faced more criticism than Lamar ever since he rose to stardom. Most of the criticism has been centred around his ability a passer.

People have claimed that Lamar’s style of play is predictable and that NFL defences will eventually find an answer to his seemingly-unstoppable running ability. However, nothing of that sort has happened yet and Lamar is still wreaking havoc around the league.

Critics have also claimed that Lamar is incapable of winning big, meaningful games. Up until last year, he had zero playoff wins in his resume despite having great regular season. He was also unable to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, the consensus best team in the AFC for the past few years now.

He put the playoff narrative to rest last year, when he beat the Tennessee Titans in the wild-card round of the 2020 NFL season. However, it was true that he had struggled against the Chiefs, up until their week 2 matchup of the 2021 NFL season.

Lamar was excellent in the Ravens’ victory over the defending AFC champions.

Many people wrote the Ravens off in their game against the Chiefs. Part of that is because of the Chiefs’ historically great offense, led by generational QB Patrick Mahomes. With weapons like WR Tyreek Hill and TE Travis Kelce, the Chiefs have been one of the, if not the best team in the NFL for several years now.

They were undefeated against Lamar, at 3-0, until last night. In the SNF game, the Ravens beat the Chiefs 36-35. Lamar threw for 239 passing-yards, going 18-for-26. He also had 107 rushing yards, with 6.7 yards-per-attempt. He was excellent. 

At the end of the game, after the Ravens kicked a FG to take the lead, HC John Harbaugh had a decision to make on 4th down. He could either go for it, or punt and trust their defense to stop Mahomes and that explosive KC offense from scoring.

He deferred this decision to Lamar Jackson, and the immensely self confident QB chose the former. Lamar did not disappoint, as he rushed up the middle to pick up enough yardage to secure a first down, and win the game for the Ravens.

Lamar silenced a lot of his doubters this Sunday that said he wasn’t an elite QB in the game. He might not be the best passer, but he is better at what he does that anyone else, maybe ever. He is hands down one of the best QBs in the NFL. He excels in the face of adversity and makes his teammates around him better. His story is just beginning and he is surely destined for great things.

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