Lamar Jackson has right attitude before playing Chiefs
The Baltimore Ravens are hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, and Lamar Jackson has the proper perspective.
Lamar Jackson is the only chance for the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Yet he’s taking the right tact.
Jackson, who is 0-3 in his career against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, isn’t making Sunday’s tilt about he and his famous counterpart. Instead, the 2019 MVP sees the game as the teams squaring off, with he and Mahomes simply as a pair of focal points, per NFL.com:
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“It’s not about me and Mahomes – not to me, probably to everyone else. It’s the Ravens versus the Kansas City Chiefs. They did beat us three times or whatever, but that’s in the past. We have a better opportunity this time to come around, and we’ll take the advantage and win at our home stadium. But I’m not dwelling on those losses; come Sunday night, we’re going to play.”
For the injured Ravens to win, Jackson will undoubtedly need to be great, but if the defense doesn’t hold up, or if Mahomes goes full Mahomes, it’ll likely be for naught.
In their last meeting during the 2020 season, Baltimore played host on a Monday night in Week 3 but of course was without fans. Both teams came into the showdown 2-0 with the Ravens favored, only to watch Mahomes launch five touchdowns while Jackson threw for 97 yards. The result was a 34-20 Kansas City win, and the score could’ve been much worse. The Chiefs allowed a kick return for a touchdown, and missed an extra point and a field goal.
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This time around, the Ravens are somewhat desperate. They’ve been hammered by injuries including season-enders to running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards and corner Marcus Peters. Additionally, guard Tyre Phillips, receivers Miles Boykin and Rashod Bateman are all on short-term IR, out a minimum of three games. All this, and Baltimore is sitting at 0-1 after losing on Monday night to the Las Vegas Raiders.
To beat the Chiefs — who don’t have a single name on their injury report — Jackson must be spectacular. Without a phenomenal effort, the Ravens are likely to go 0-2 in the AFC’s most competitive division, with the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers looking particularly strong.
On Sunday night, Jackson has a chance to bust narratives and change the conversation around Baltimore with a great effort.
And yet Jackson is right. It’s not only Mahomes and himself, but an entire team which must step up.
