Only with absurd luck. Only Lamar is throwing that ball.

Maybe Brady throws it into the stands and gets a PI call.

This was the best team he’s had, and the rest of the AFC was more vulnerable than it’s ever going to be. This was the year if it was ever gonna happen for Lamar.

I've been screaming this from the top of my lungs for 5 years now. Lamar is not a top 5 Quarterback. You could argue he's not even top 10.

Just reminds me of the Ravens fans saying that Lamar will "catch up to Mahomes" in SB wins or that it will all "even out" over the course of his career.

Mahomes Playoff Record: 14-3
Lamar Jacksons Playoff Record: 2-4

Good luck with that.

The problem is even if he catches mahomes which is an uphill run that’s turned into a mountain, he has what… maybe 2 more years before he has to run less and before the meat of his contract gets hammered hard. This was their best shot by a mile. No burrow, chiefs not ant #1 seed, hobbled bills team and they blew it.

Yup. Devastating loss. The stars aligned for him like no other, and he couldn't do it. You could see it on the sideline, too. Completely shrunk when the game didn't go his way. No mental toughness. What can you say other than he's a playoff choker.

Yes, if the Ravens couldn’t do it this year, when will they?

QB not yet making the fat part of its deal.

Multiple mercenary vets having strong years.

Team stayed healthy, save for Andrews, and they found a rookie deal star replacement in his absence.

Multiple young players on rookie deals ascending to all-pro performance levels.

That roster plan came together perfectly.

They ended up with homefield advantage against a playoff field that ended up being a lot weaker than expected.

Now, next year they have a few key FAs from the defense that will be expecting big deals. Their star DC is almost certainly getting a HC job, and his best replacement option is taking the same job with the other Harbaugh.

Oh, and their QB has shown that even with a complete and stacked team around him, it isn’t enough (while also continuing to shows signs of physical decline)

It is highly unlikely their path is this “easy” again next year. That’s a problem.

I could replace “Ravens” with “Eagles”, change a couple names, and change the year. This could easily describe last year’s Eagles too.

Expect a similar decline.

Mahomes and the Chiefs have ruined “dream seasons” for very good franchises.

I can’t imagine how low they feel. Even our 2018 team had a shit defense. We a young cheap Mahomes, we had every reason to be positive after that.

When the opposing defenses best course of action and what they wanna do is "rush smart and keep him in the pocket to make him beat us throwing the ball"....you've got a real problem.

Yeah - this is the best Jackson will ever be.

It may not be the best roster he ever has - Baltimore still has a path to improving at a few key areas next season, but they have a couple ugly deals they'll have to deal with that we don't.

They're stuck with $40 million in Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Williams next season. And OBJ's pro-rated bonus from this year is on their books next year becuase of his voided deal. Lamar's deal is already 1/2 bonus next saeson so there's not a lot of money to move out of it. Likewise with Stanley.

We could get Sneed tagged and probably still have around $30 million of cap to play with after draft picks without much damage to the roster. The Ravens can maybe get to $20 million WITHOUT retaining anybody on their roster. If they bring back Queen and/or Madubuike, they're pretty much stuck with a 'run it back' season. In so doing, they'd lose both of their starting guards in the process.

And again, Lamar's peaked. Burrow is back next season. The Chiefs are likely to improve and the AFC North is going to be the same bloodbath it always is. They also have a 1st place schedule next year.

This was their best shot so now they'll have to hope to steal one going forward. It closes the door on any 'historical greatness' that Jackson could've achieved, IMO. Because now they may steal one before he's washed, but they ain't stealing two and they won't remain prohibitive favorites going forward.

That's the ugly reality of the situation. There's no avoiding it...

I heard all this season how dumb teams were for not trying to sign LJ this past off season and maybe some were. But this game kind of shows why they didn't.

Then you don't know ball.

Every season Baltimore's FO is running the Kobayashi Maru again.

You have the courage to do what needs to be done and walk away from Jackson, probably resulting in your getting fired

Or you just watch your team fail again and again, every year, due to his being good but not good enough.

Yup. It’s tough for them.

But they’re in better shape than a lot of the other AFC contenders (Dolphins, Bills, Chargers). But it’s not shape that lets you make big moves to improve the roster.