The Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens are set to meet on Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium for a battle that could decide the top seed in the AFC when the game clock expires.
The two teams have played in each of the last two years with the aqua and orange winning both contests by a combined score of 64-48.
Baltimore and Miami may not be playing the exact same brand of football, but they’re both playing extremely well, and their quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson and Tua Tagovailoa, are near the top of the list of MVP candidates for this season.
This year, Jackson has completed a career-high 66.3% of his attempts for 3,357 yards (career-best), 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s also rushed for 786 yards and five scores on 5.5 yards per carry.
Tagovailoa has remained healthy this year and is playing the best football of his career. He leads the league in completion percentage (70.5%) and passing yards (4,214) while throwing 26 touchdowns. All of those numbers are career highs.
Before the two meet on Sunday for the third time, Jackson shared some admiration for his counterpart in Miami during his weekly media availability.
“Tua’s a phenomenal player, I believe,” Jackson said. “I saw him, I think it was, I don’t know who they were playing. Georgia in the national championship game when I think they took one quarterback out and put him in. He threw the game-winning touchdown. After that, I was like, he’s amazing. I just fell in love with his game then and his poise in the games and situations. I believe he was going to win the Heisman one year, and I DM’d him like, ‘Bro, you need to win the Heisman. I voted for you.’ His game is great. Phenomenal quarterback. He just has to keep doing what he’s doing, just not this week.”
Tagovailoa got an opportunity to say some nice things about the Ravens quarterback as well this week.
“I got a lot of respect for Lamar,” Tagovailoa said. “The things that he’s done throughout his career. I can vividly remember when I was in college, I think he was in the NFL, and he reached out to me. He told me I was balling, and I thought that was the one of the coolest things. I think that was the year he won the MVP. But just the amount of respect I have for him, who he is as a player. And then I’ve been hearing talks about what people say about him and whatnot and how he handles himself and how he goes about his business. Very respectable. Very commendable. He’s a baller. That’s just flat out what he is and that’s what he does. He’s a gamechanger with what he can do in the pocket, throwing the ball deep, on the run and then he can make you miss with his legs as well. I got a lot of respect for him.”
This Sunday, two of the best quarterbacks will lead their teams into a showdown that will have playoff implications, and it’s a contest that will surely provide fireworks.