Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson values team success above individual accolades, yet he continues to earn more and more awards with his incredible play.
Jackson, the reigning league MVP, was nothing short of brilliant against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, accounting for over 400 total yards and four passing touchdowns in a 41-38 overtime victory. Unsurprisingly, he won AFC Offensive Player of the Week after his incredible performance.
“Jackson was in vintage form on Sunday, propelling his Baltimore Ravens past the Cincinnati Bengals, 41-38, in overtime,” NFL.com’s Grant Gordon wrote. “Jackson was responsible for more than 400 yards of offense, completing 26 of 42 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns. He added 55 yards on the ground.”
This marks Jackson’s 11th time winning the award, as well as the first time a Raven has won it in back-to-back weeks since 2019 (Jackson in Weeks 9 and 10). Last week, running back Derrick Henry took home the award after rushing for 199 yards and scoring two total touchdowns in a 35-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Even for someone with as many highlight-reel plays as Jackson, he continues to dazzle on the field. In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Jackson bobbled a snap, picked it up, rolled out to his right while stiff-arming Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard and threw an incredible touchdown to tight end Isaiah Likely. It was a play that one has to see to believe.
Jackson was nearly perfect on the day, which he had to be with the defense struggling, but he still left unsatisfied. In one of his lone mistakes, he fumbled a snap in overtime that set the Bengals up in plus territory with a chance to win the game. Baltimore got lucky that Cincinnati botched the ensuing drive, but Jackson’s still not happy that he almost cost his team the game.
“I was furious. I didn’t want that to happen. Like I said, we [were] driving the ball. I feel like we would have scored on that drive, but the time was going down, and I was just trying to hurry up and get the snap from Tyler [Linderbaum], and as I’m looking to see if it’s a delay [of game], I took my eyes off for a split second, and … yes. It was a fumble, but we got the win.”
Now that a few days have passed, and he’s added yet another award to his collection, he may look back on the game more favorably.
