The Clock is Ticking on Lamar Jackson

Time waits for no man.

Not even for someone as fast as Lamar Jackson.

It’s Super Bowl-or-bust in Baltimore.

Being ‘in the mix’ is no longer good enough. Not having back-to-back losing seasons since the turn of the century is no longer good enough. Winning the AFC North four of the last seven seasons is no longer good enough.

And why should it be?

During his illustrious career, Jackson has done everything but hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

He was the youngest two-time NFL MVP since the merger, and he missed being the first two-time unanimous MVP by a single vote. Hell, were it not for a handful of voters inexplicably flipping their MVP votes to Josh Allen after voting Jackson first-team All-Pro in 2025, he would be three-time MVP.

Still not impressed?

Jackson is one of just eight quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era to be named first-team All-Pro at least 3 times, alongside: Peyton Manning (7), Aaron Rodgers (4), Tom Brady (3), Brett Favre (3), Dan Marino (3), Joe Montana (3) and Steve Young (3).

Shall I continue?

Jackson's four games with a perfect passer rating (158.3) are the most in NFL history, and he has seven career games in which he has recorded more touchdown passes than incompletions, which are also the most in NFL history.

What can’t this man do?!

The only problem is, for all his regular season greatness, postseason success has proven to be elusive for the most dynamic rushing quarterback the NFL has ever seen. Of the ten NFL quarterbacks with multiple MVP awards, Jackson is the only one with a losing record in the playoffs (3-5) and the only one without a Super Bowl championship. What’s more, since entering the NFL in 2018, Jackson’s 11 postseason turnovers are the most in the NFL.

Ain’t that a kick in the head?

Now, that’s not to say that Jackson’s postseason foibles are entirely his fault. Zay

Flowers fumbled a would-be touchdown through the back of the end zone for a

touchback in the fourth quarter of the 2024 AFC Championship Game in a game

Baltimore lost by seven. The next season, Mark Andrews dropped a game-tying two-

point conversion in the final minute of a two-point loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round.

Problem is, when a team gives their quarterback a $260 million contract, it does so with the expectation that their All-World signal caller would be able to overcome those kinds of mental mistakes.

When a club lets an All-Pro center (Tyler Linderbaum), an All-Pro fullback (Patrick Ricard) and their most explosive tight end (Isaiah Likely) walk in free agency, it does so with the expectation that their All-Pro quarterback can still produce a high-octane offense.

When one of the most well-respected organizations in the NFL throws all that goodwill out the window by backing out of a trade for Maxx Crosby only to sign Trey Hendrickson twelve hours later in one of the slimiest moves off the season, it does so with the expectation that their MVP under center will win enough games to wash away the bad press.

Tom Brady did it. Patrick Mahomes did it. Why can’t Jackson?

Former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh - and his propensity for blowing double- digit second half leads (an NFL-high 18 in his coaching career) - was shown the door back in January. The Kansas City Chiefs - a team who Jackson himself once referred to as the Ravens’ ‘kryptonite’ – seem destined to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season after yet another roster purge.

There are no more excuses.

Jackson’s path to the Super Bowl has never been more wide-open.

The only question is, will he make it there before it’s too late?