The Baltimore Ravens’ season didn’t go as planned when the Kansas City Chiefs swept them out of the postseason. However, Lamar Jackson’s performance in Todd Monken’s new system was one area of improvement. In addition to setting career highs in passing yards (3,678) and completion % (67.2), Jackson completed 457 of his career pass attempts. His total quarterback rating (64.7) was also at its highest point since 2020. With Jackson starting at quarterback, the Ravens finished as the best regular season club, 13-3 overall and not by much. Now that the season is over, Nick Shook of NFL.com has evaluated all 66 starting quarterbacks based on their performances, with Lamar coming in first at No. 1.
“Look, I’m not going to bury Jackson because of one bad outing in his team’s most important game of the season,” Shook wrote in a letter. “By calling that AFC title game against the superior Chiefs defence and forcing Jackson to try to play hero ball when he never should have been asked to, offensive coordinator Todd Monken gave Jackson exactly zero favours. Not to mention Jackson’s incredible playoff performance in the Divisional Round, which will live in all of our memories for a while, nearly single-handedly rocking the Texans into their offseason beds with his arm and legs.
“Jackson’s season wasn’t flawless—in fact, it wasn’t very reliable. However, the high points were extremely favourable to his MVP case, and their timing couldn’t have been more ideal. Jackson won the top prize for the second time in his career as a result of the voters’ agreement. The way he and his club ended the postseason was the only negative aspect of this.”
Shook is correct; Lamar most likely won MVP over players like Josh Allen, Brock Purdy, and Dak Prescott because of the timing of his outstanding performances. In Week 16, Lamar passed for 252 yards, two touchdowns, and 45 yards rushing on seven carries as the Ravens destroyed the San Francisco 49ers 33-19 (with a QBR of 84.7).
Following that, Jackson had a flawless game in Week 17 against the Miami Dolphins, throwing for 321 yards and five touchdowns with just three interceptions (18/21) in the 56-19 rout. He also had a perfect passer rating of 158.3. It was probably hard to bet against Jackson’s MVP case after those two games considering the quality of opponents he played.
With his second-highest QBR or the season when it mattered most, Jackson ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in his best-ever playoff performance against the Houston Texans, going 16/22 for 152 yards and two touchdown
Jackson, therefore, had a solid case for MVP, but Lamar was the best quarterback in 2023 and he deserves to be at the top of the heap, even though the Chiefs playoff defeat dulled some of the glory of an otherwise incredible season.
