Lamar Jackson admitted he was disappointed as the offense that helped his team to the NFL’s best record in the regular season failed to ignite with a place in the Super Bowl on the line.
The Ravens had won Jackson’s last seven starts coming into Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs, averaging 33.9 points a game over that span. But the offense scored only 10 points against Kansas City, and committed three turnovers, including a fumble and interception from Jackson.
“We’re mad,” Jackson, the favourite for this season’s MVP award, said after Sunday’s 17-10 loss to the Chiefs. “Offense, we didn’t put nothing on the board. We scored once. That’s not like us. We drove the ball down the field. That’s cool. But we got to put points on the board. But I feel like my team just angry, not frustrated, we just angry. We know how hard we worked to get here.”
Jackson had some fine moments on Sunday, including a touchdown pass after somehow avoiding a sack by Leo Chenal. But, against a suffocating Chiefs defense, he was nowhere near as fluid as he has been for most of this season. Sunday’s defeat means Jackson now has a 2-4 record in the playoffs, and is fuel for those who believe he shrinks in the spotlight. He has eight turnovers to four touchdowns in his playoff career. However his head coach, John Harbaugh, said he is not worried about a player who is still only 27.
“I told him to stand up tall,” Harbaugh said. “He’s had a great season, his performance today was all heart. He fought, he went out there and gave everything he had. So I don’t think that’s anything that I’d be disappointed in.”
Meanwhile, the Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years with the chance to become the first back-to-back champions since the 2004 New England Patriots.
“You don’t take it for granted,” said Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. “You never know how many you’re going to get to or if you’re going to get to any. So it truly is special just to do it with these guys after what we’ve been through all season long. Guys coming together, it really is special. But I told them, ‘The job’s not done.’ Our job now is to prepare ourselves to play a good football team in the Super Bowl and try to get that ring.”
