How Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has reentered the NFL MVP race

BALTIMORE — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is not focused on a potential third NFL Most Valuable Player Award, even though it would put him in the rarefied company of the six current and future Pro Football Hall of Famers, including Jim Brown and Tom Brady, who have won it at least three times. He also has little interest in the talk surrounding it given bigger stakes on his mind.

Those six players, of course, have achieved something Jackson has not: A championship.

“That’s never been my goal,” Jackson said Monday of his MVP chances suddenly being rekindled by a three-touchdown performance in a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers along with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s underwhelming output against the lousy New England Patriots. “That’s never been my goal. Even the first, the second one, I always want to finish with the championship.

“I got no other choice but to hear it. They tag me in it.”

That noise will only continue to grow if he has a similar performance against the Houston Texans on Christmas.

The Ravens (10-5) are tied with the Steelers for first place in the AFC North. A win over the Texans (9-6) would at least keep them there with Pittsburgh playing the Kansas City Chiefs earlier on Christmas Day.

As good as Jackson was against the Steelers and has been this season — he set a franchise record for touchdown passes in a year with his 37th on Saturday, breaking his own mark — lighting up Houston and its elite defense in front of a prime-time audience that will include a halftime performance by Beyoncé would go a long way toward adding to the MVP Awards he won in 2019 and 2023.

The Texans’ 46 sacks are third-most in the NFL and they have the highest pass rush win rate (49%) in the league, per ESPN analytics. At the nexus of their disruption are star edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., who rank first and sixth, respectively, in pass rush win rate at 28% and 22%.

While Ravens running back Derrick Henry has made life easier for Jackson, ranking second in the NFL in rushing yards, it could be tough sledding for the 30-year-old on Christmas, with the Texans ranking second in run-stop win rate.

Houston is also second in the league in interceptions (19), led by rookie safety Caleb Bullock and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who have five apiece.

Still, Jackson has been elite. He has just four interceptions, which are two fewer than his career-low of six in 2019. That included one against the Steelers last week on a miscommunication with receiver Rashod Bateman, but it was also his first interception in a month.

“He’s a really young player still,” coach John Harbaugh said of the progression he has seen from his 27-year-old star this season. “It’s what you would expect from a diligent, talented player who works at it.

“I think he grows in every area as we go. The whole tree line’s getting higher.”

It’s noticeable, even to the man himself.

“I’m improving because each year I’m critiquing myself,” Jackson said. “I’m seeing what teams are doing to me and I’m seeing all the types of defenses they’re trying to throw at me and I’m just studying those. So when I’m going into games I’m getting a feel for what they’re doing to me.

“That’s definitely just age because early on in my career I wasn’t critiquing myself like that. I probably go see what I did because I just got in the league. … Now, it’s totally different.”

Take Jackson’s second-quarter touchdown pass to Bateman against the Steelers.

He gave a small but quick hitch to draw Cory Trice Jr. in, causing the cornerback to bite underneath. That left Bateman with overmatched safety Damontae Kazee, with the receiver easily beating him to the back corner of the end zone.

It was just one of many examples of Jackson’s precision and command this season. He is on pace for a career high in completion percentage (currently 67.9%) and has already surpassed his career high in passing yards with 3,787 with two games remaining. He also has the highest Pro Football Focus grade (97.1) on throws of more than 10 yards downfield of any quarterback in the league.

Tight end Mark Andrews, who has been the quarterback’s favorite target and security blanket since the two arrived in Baltimore in 2018, said on Pat McAfee’s eponymous show this week that Jackson is playing better than ever.

“He’s found a way each and every year to elevate his game,” Andrews said. “I think the game is just slow for him right now. He’s making his checks, he’s making the right reads and he’s putting the ball right on the money. … The way his brain is working is on another level.”

It’s also not worried about another MVP.

“I think it’s just him not thinking too much about everything going on around him and just focused on where he is in the moment at hand, whether it be practice, whether it be his recovery day, whether it be game day,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “He’s great at keeping his feet where he is.”

And great at sleep.

That’s been the key focus, Jackson said, with Wednesday’s game marking Baltimore’s third in 11 days.

The Ravens won the first two, blowing out the terrible New York Giants in New Jersey followed by a hugely important win over the Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium last week to keep their division hopes alive. Now comes the sternest test of all in the Texans.

“Anytime I can get some rest, I get some rest,” Jackson said. “You start getting a little wear and tear when you get older.”

It’s not just physical, either.

“Workloads change,” Harbaugh said. “The mental stuff is packed in more. Everything just gets packed in more. It’s not as much physical, it’s not as much fast moving. Most of it is just condensed.”

Which is a good way to describe the MVP race between Jackson, Allen and Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who leads the NFL in rushing yards.

Not that Jackson is paying much attention.

“If it do happen, it happen,” Jackson said of another MVP. “That’ll be dope.

“I’m trying to win the championship. That’s my biggest goal. That’s been my goal ever since [I was] a little kid.”