Lamar Jackson Is The Clear NFL MVP

Lamar Jackson (Darron Cummings, Google Images)

Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens is having quite the season. On Monday night in southern California, he torched a Los Angeles Rams squad that has a respectable defense and beat them down with absolute ease in a 45-6 win.

If Jackson was not running around the LA Memorial Coliseum (had eight carries for 95 rushing yards), he was passing footballs to players that easily found the way to the end zone. Of Jackson’s 15 completions, five were for touchdowns. He only had 169 yards passing, but a quarterback rating of 99.7.

Speaking of quarterback rating, Jackson has the highest rating at the moment at 81.9. He may only be 18th in passing yards, but is tied with Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks for most touchdown passes with 24. Jackson is also ninth in rushing yards with 876 and has 458 more yards than the quarterback who is second on the list–Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals.

From a receiver standpoint, it was a strong performance by Marquise Brown. The 22-year-old from Hollywood, Florida had two touchdown catches and now has six touchdowns on the season. Meanwhile, Jackson is not the only Ravens player who can run. Mark Ingram is 12th in the NFL with 778 rushing yards and led Baltimore with 111 rushing yards.

Jackson deserves to be an MVP on a Ravens team that has a legitimate chance of winning the Super Bowl. The Ravens will have to get by a mighty good New England Patriots squad. However, one must realize three things here. The Ravens defense is comparable to the Patriots. Baltimore has the third-best defense in the AFC, while the Patriots are the best. Baltimore, however, has a quarterback two decades younger than New England’s and they have already beaten the Patriots already this season by a score of 37-20.

One thing that did not go the Ravens way on Monday was the fact that center Matt Skura injured his knee and will require season-ending surgery. A lot of the Ravens’ success has to do with their solid offensive line and it will be interesting to see how Baltimore responds with the loss of Skura.