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“I Don’t Want Him to Win the MVP”: Skip Bayless Urges Lamar Jackson to Chase AFC Championship This Year

Ayush Juneja
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Skip Bayless and Lamar Jackson

It’s time for the voters to pick the winner of this season’s fiercely contested NFL MVP race. Josh Allen currently leads the pack with -200 odds, followed closely by Lamar Jackson at +200. Could Jackson, a 2x MVP, beat the odds and add to his tally? Well, it’s certainly possible. But Skip Bayless doesn’t think he should, arguing that the Baltimore Ravens QB has enough MVPs but not enough Championships.

 “I can make a strong case that Lamar Jackson deserves the MVP again but I don’t want him to win MVP again. I want him to win the AFC Championship game. I wouldn’t mind it if he won his first Super Bowl. But not another MVP. Not a third MVP,” said Bayless on his YouTube show.

Jackson’s postseason record, at 2-4, is indeed poor. Last year, the Ravens lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at home in the AFC title game.

Bayless emphasized that earning a third MVP won’t matter much if the Ravens lose at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers come Sunday. That scenario, while unlikely, could happen too.

Skip, of course, wants Lamar to carry his incredible form and stats into the postseason, capping it all off with a Lombardi Trophy, and not an MVP award.

While Skip is right about Jackson’s playoff record, the MVP honors are decided by performances in the regular season games. That’s why fans and many across the NFL world still see Lamar as their MVP for the season.

Is Jackson truly an MVP this season?

The Ravens QB has been phenomenal this season. He truly blossomed as a passer without diminishing his impact as a runner and put up stats that we haven’t seen from a QB before.

He has thrown for 4172 yards (6th in the league) along with 41 TD passes (2nd in the league). Jackson has turned the ball over only nine times (four picks and five fumbles) this season and boasts a completion percentage of 66.7. He also leads the NFL in both QBR at 77.5 and a passer rating of 119.5.

Lamar also added 915 rushing yards, with four rushing TDs. This takes his total to 5087 yards and 45 total TDs. He is the only QB with 40+ TD passes and less than five intercepted passes. All the quarterbacks with such numbers have won the MVP in the past.

However, the MVP award is not solely a game of numbers.

Bayless’ pick for MVP this season is Allen. The Buffalo Bills QB has done slightly more with a lot less talent at his disposal, he argued.

Skip is right. The Bills, who weren’t even expected to make the playoffs this year, are the second seed, riding on Allen’s impressive performance alone. The QB has a total of 4262 yards, 40 TDs, and 8 turnovers. Allen has also played 11 fewer quarters of football than Lamar.

Jackson, meanwhile, played all season with a future Hall of Fame rusher in the backfield, Derrick Henry, and nine Pro-Bowlers on his team.

In this season’s tight MVP race, it remains to be seen which side the voters would favor. Will they stick to hard numbers? Or will they consider other factors, the subjective ones, that make a performance great?

Post Edited By:Nidhi

About the author

Ayush Juneja

Ayush Juneja

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Ayush Juneja is an NFL sports journalist at The SportsRush. With over a year of covering the sport, he has penned more than 750 articles so far. As a sports enthusiast and true adrenaline junkie, he finds the physical side of American Football to be especially thrilling and engaging. A big San Francisco 49ers fan but when it comes to playmakers, he prefers Josh Allen over Brock Purdy. However, he would gladly place Christian McCaffrey in second, someone he supported throughout the 2023 season and who ended up winning the OPOY.

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