Tag: Lamar Jackson MVP

4 most important takeaways from Ravens 42-21 win over Jets

The Baltimore Ravens have won 10 straight games after beating the New York Jets but aren’t done quite yet as they look to the playoffs

The Baltimore Ravens played a pretty sloppy game on a short week, beating the New York Jets 42-21 with a second-half surge. Though it’s still a blowout victory, there are a few areas the Ravens will need to address as they eye up their second consecutive trip to the playoffs.

Thanks to playing on Thursday night, Baltimore will get a little extra time to rest. But once the Ravens return, they’ll get two AFC North opponents in their final two games before walking into the postseason. Here’s what they will have learned from this game to apply to future weeks as they look to get better for a Super Bowl run.

Kings of the North:

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Baltimore has been on a roll this season, winning 10 consecutive games. But knowing they have locked up the AFC North crown likely gives the team a little extra swagger as they close out the season over two more weeks.

This hasn’t been the toughest division in football by any stretch but both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns are no slouches this season. With both teams still on the schedule and playoff seeding still to be determined, already having the AFC North locked up is a sigh of relief.

It also doesn’t hurt the team’s confidence either — who can go into these last two games knowing their the best in the division regardless of what else happens. And until another team can take the crown from them, they’re going to be the kings of the north.

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Irish in the NFL: Boykin Shines Again in LA Coliseum

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

With the Baltimore Ravens playing on and owning Monday Night Football this week it meant for a chance for the nation to get a closeup of MVP-frontrunner, Lamar Jackson.  Before we get to the Notre Dame connection to this game let me just say that his meteoric rise to super-stardom makes me incredibly happy to be wrong about what he might be able to do in the NFL.

He’s not only the most exciting player going this season but he’s also got to be the favorite to win the MVP award after doing what he did to the Patriots a couple weeks ago on Sunday Night Football and again for his five touchdown passes and complete domination of the Rams on Monday Night Football.

Now to the Notre Dame side of this game:

Miles Boykin must have a thing for the Los Angeles Coliseum.  In last year’s regular season finale you may remember what he did to spring Tony Jones, Jr. to the end zone to clinch a 12-0 regular season.

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

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Well, Boykin was at it again Monday night as the Ravens embarrassed the reigning NFC Champs on their home field, 45-6.

It may have been out of hand at this point but its remarkable to me how Boykin’s highlight catch tonight occurs in almost the exact same spot as his block, nearly exactly a year to the day, that sent the Fighting Irish to their first College Football Playoff appearance. (Shoutout to Austin Hough of The Goshen News for pointing that out to me on Twitter).

I also wouldn’t be doing my proper work if I didn’t send mad-praise the way of Ronnie Stanley who has been an absolute monster for the Ravens and is a huge reason their downright nasty rushing attack works as well as it does.

The Ravens now sit at 9-2 on the season and atop the AFC North standings.  Along with Boykin and Stanley, former Notre Dame corner back Bennett Jackson, Jr. is also currently on the Ravens roster.

Mark Ingram will beat you up if you don’t think Lamar Jackson is the MVP

Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram is willing to fight those that don’t think Lamar Jackson is the NFL MVP frontrunner

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Another week and the Lamar Jackson for MVP bandwagon continues to grow. And if you’re not on it, you’re going to have to go face-to-face with running back Mark Ingram, who introduced the quarterback after the Baltimore Ravens beat the Houston Texans 41-7 in Week 11.

While Ingram is clearly joking and hyping Jackson up, there’s serious merit to that talk. In spite of some still thinking Jackson isn’t a capable passer, he added to his MVP resume with another amazing performance in Week 11.

Against the Texans, Jackson completed 70.8% of his passes for 222 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 139.2 passer rating. It’s his second consecutive game and his fourth game this season with at least three touchdown passes. He’s very likely on his way to a third straight AFC Offensive Player of the Week award — it’d be the fourth of this season through 10 games.

But in usual Jackson fashion, he made electric plays on the ground, including a 39-yard run in which he juked one defender and ran over another. He finished the game with 86 yards on nine carries. It brings him closer to breaking Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record for quarterbacks.

After Week 11, Jackson has 2,258 passing yards, 19 touchdown passes and just five interceptions, while adding another 788 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Though not traditional play by a quarterback, it’s those combined stats that have Jackson in the thick of the MVP race. And he’s getting even more support from those not on his team.

Following the game, opposing quarterback Deshaun Watson gave him some MVP love with a note on an exchanged jersey. It’s just one in a long line of opponents giving praise to Jackson after he just torched their team this season. And with Ingram now playing enforcer to Jackson’s MVP talk, I’d hate to be one of the voters who disagrees with him.

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Deshaun Watson gave Lamar Jackson ‘MVP’ jersey after game

With yet another game against an MVP contender at quarterback, Jackson is proving he’s a step above all of them.

In what was a matchup of two MVP-contending quarterbacks vying for one of the top seeds in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson anointed themselves as the superior team with a 41-7 victory over the Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson.

It was expected to be a tight game as both Jackson and Watson tried to outduel one another in a rematch of their famous Clemson-Louisville shootout. But when Jackson got pulled in the fourth quarter, it was obvious which one was the real MVP candidate. Following the game when the two traded jerseys, Watson gave a little MVP love to Jackson.

Watson specifically wrote:

“To: LJ8
Keep going fam!
Always Love!
100!
MVP”

Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images

Jackson should be en route to yet another AFC Offensive Player of the Week nomination and potentially his third consecutive win of the award. He completed 17-of-24 passes for 222 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 139.2 passer rating.

Watson, on the other hand, was harassed all game long and made several big mistakes. He finished 18-of-29 for 169 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, one fumble and a passer rating of just 63.7. By comparison, punter Sam Koch completed one pass for minus-two yards and had a passer rating of 79.2.

But Jackson was also the far more dynamic quarterback on the ground as well, gaining 86 yards on just nine carries, including yet another highlight-reel run. Watson ran for just 12 yards on three carries while being sacked six times as Baltimore contained him in the pocket and hit him routinely.

With yet another game against an MVP contender at quarterback, Jackson is proving he’s a step above all of them. If he wasn’t an MVP front-runner before this game, there’s little question he’s there now.

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