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When Lamar Jackson stepped in as the full-time Ravens starter in 2019, he set the NFL on fire en route to an all-time season and just the second unanimous MVP award in NFL history. Four years later, Jackson punched his ticket to a second MVP award, the No. 1 seed in the AFC and probably his ticket to Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a superb five-touchdown Week 17 effort in Baltimore’s 56-19 rout of the Miami Dolphins.
Jackson has done it all in Year 1 under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken and with a host of new weapons, all while dealing with injuries to several key players on offense.
That’s a lot to take in, so let’s break it down piece by piece.
The 2023 MVP award
Brock Purdy was the consensus favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award this time last week. Yada yada yada, the Ravens kicked the 49ers right in the teeth, Purdy tossed four picks and suddenly the San Francisco quarterback was 19-1 with no chance to recover from his sluggish prime-time performance. Jackson was the favorite and needed to really just show up and beat the Dolphins.
Somewhat ironic: Jackson kickstarted the 2019 campaign with a 59-10 beatdown of the Dolphins, unleashing his full skill set as a multi-faceted athlete in Greg Roman’s offense and destroying defenses the entire year. Fast forward to the last day of 2023 and Lamar did the same thing to the Dolphins. (Notable — the Fins waved the literal white flag and tossed backup Mike White under center late in this game, and Tyler Huntley threw a touchdown as well.)
Jackson used his legs some against Miami, running six times for 35 yards and picking up some key first downs. But much like the full season, he mostly lived in the pocket, slicing and dicing the Dolphins defense with throws to an assortment of young weapons. Jackson would finish the game 18 of 21 for 321 yards and five passing touchdowns, good for a perfect 158.3…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ravens-lamar-jackson-all-but-locks-up-2023-nfl-mvp-probably-hof-enshrinement-and-no-teams-wanted-him/
Author : Will Brinson
Publish date : 2023-12-31 22:12:18
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