Lamar Jackson is as close to a unicorn as we have in the NFL right now, thanks to his mix of touch passing and raw athleticism. There are some Lamar scrambles that make you feel bad for the defenders unlucky enough to be chasing him. With Jackson’s Ravens coming to town on Sunday for a Divisional playoff matchup, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott was covering all his bases in terms of preparing for Lamar Jackson.
Advertisement
It was announced on Wednesday that the Bills had signed Anthony Brown. The QB spent the 2022 season as Jackson’s backup in Baltimore. Not only that, but Brown also offers a level of athleticism that is closer to Jackson’s than most could muster.
That will make Brown crucial for Buffalo’s defensive prep this week. He will play the part of Lamar Jackson while the Bills work on ways to stop the two-time MVP. McDermott pointed out the advantages of signing someone like Brown for this role rather than simply using any athletic player from their own roster.
“If you just put a mobile person back there when you’re planning on working on the scrambles or the quarterback run game, the defensive players know, ‘Oh, this is one of those plays’, if you just have to sub out one of our normal QBs for a mobile player like that. So, in order to hide that, what Anthony brings to the table is both, he can throw it, he can run it. So, there’s a little bit more of a true, honest look.”
Here's the answer from #Bills HC Sean McDermott today on bringing on QB Anthony Brown to the practice squad as the Bills look to prepare for facing #Ravens QB Lamar Jackson this week.#BillsMafia @WGRZ pic.twitter.com/HD6m2RH7O0
— Jonathan Acosta (@_jacosta) January 15, 2025
Brown can help keep the defense honest, but he can’t come close to matching Jackson’s in-game speed. Brown ran a 4.70 in the 40-yard dash while Jackson ran a blazing 4.34. However, it is a clever tactic that should result in Buffalo containing Jackson better than the Pittsburgh Steelers did last week—at the very least. But will that be enough to slow Lamar down?
MVP candidates meet in the Divisional round
One of the main storylines in the NFL this year has been the NFL MVP battle between Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Allen was a massive favorite to win his first MVP in late November. However, a strong December from Jackson and the Ravens meant that the race got a lot more interesting by season’s end.
This playoff matchup has no bearing on who wins the MVP, as it is a regular-season award. However, the fact that the two favorites for MVP will meet in a second-round playoff matchup is special. That is not lost on McDermott either.
“This is what everyone’s been waiting for. Right? So, it’ll be a nice week and we’ll be looking forward to it. You know, they’re a great football team, and they handled us pretty good the first go around. They’re certainly playing well, well-coached, John [Harbaugh]’s won a Super Bowl, and comes from great pedigree, so it’ll be a big challenge for us.”
This one’s being billed as a toss-up by the sportsbooks, as the point spread has flipped from Bills -1.0 to Ravens -1.0 since it opened a couple of days ago. Both of these teams have great running games and capable receivers. The Ravens would seem to have the defensive advantage, however. Their unit has emerged as the best in the business since they moved Kyle Hamilton back to free safety a couple of months ago.
At the end of the day, there’s a reason Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are the MVP frontrunners. They are both juggernauts back there at QB. So, more likely than not, this game will be decided by which of these two men makes the most jaw-dropping plays and the fewest mistakes.
