It took LeBron James seven seasons to make it to his first NBA finals and eight seasons to finally win. Before then he had already won two MVPs and was knocking on the door for the third but didn’t have a ring. Lamar Jackson is at a similar stage in his career. A two-time MVP, he is in his seventh season in the NFL and hopefully a ring is in his future. And Chris Broussard thinks that that future is much closer than we think.
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Broussard believes that, like King James, Lamar will get the monkey off his back this season and finally show up in the playoffs. Broussard predicted on ‘First Things First’ that not only will Jackson make it to the Super Bowl this time but will win and lift the elusive Lombardi.
“This is the year he gets over the hump. Not only does he play well in the playoffs, but he also leads the Ravens to the Super Bowl.”
Jackson, like LeBron, has a bad case of the yips in the playoffs but Broussard believes great players need to get over those to be truly great, pointing out James’s struggles before finally getting close and then winning it.
“Let’s say it’s nervousness. The great ones have to get over that. I remember another great one who used to get fidgety and nervous and has meltdowns in the biggest games. I am talking about great LeBron James. He had to do soul-searching and he got over it.”
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Lamar is 2-4 in the playoffs, combining for 1845 total yards, and 9TDs, and has turned the ball over nine times despite getting first-round byes twice. The Ravens have been to only one AFC Game with him. But his regular season numbers have been the opposite. So why does Chris Broussard think he will finally show up in the postseason this time?
Well, for one, Lamar is playing like an MVP again, putting up numbers that we have never seen from him before. For the first time in his career, he has thrown for over 4000 yards, 41 TDs, and has turned the ball over merely 9 times. He has elevated his passing game, finally showing his ability to be a pocket passer. He has also rushed for 915 yards with four rushing scores.
The Ravens have the best overall offense in the NFL this season, averaging over 400 yards a game. They have efficiently run the ball, and have a star WR in Derrick Henry, who’s rushed for 1921 yards.
They also have a top-ten defense right now. Jackson finally has the support he needs to be to finally take it home.
The Ravens currently have the third-best odds to win the Super Bowl with +600, the same as the Bills. Only the Lions and the Chiefs have better odds.
They start their playoff journey at home against their divisional rivals, Pittsburgh Steelers, in the wild-card round and are overwhelmingly the favorites to win that fixture. But these are playoffs. Will Lamar finally show up and make Broussard’s prediction come true? Or will it be as it has always been—a playoff choke?
