RAVENS QB OUT TO SHED CHOKER LABEL
Jackson says his primary motivation is to prove he can win in the playoffs
When it comes to momentum, no team enters wild card weekend with the same sizzle as the Buffalo Bills.
They are totally and completely en fuego.
Like the Green Bay Packers, who will enjoy a bye as the NFC'S No. 1 seed, the Bills won their last six games of the season. In their last three, they averaged 47 points for and just 18 against.
Twelve months removed from their disappointing wild card loss to the Texans in Houston, the Bills head into the playoffs with a 13-3 record, and for the first time in a year they'll be playing in front of their extremely passionate fans, if only 6,800 of them, at their home stadium, where they won seven of eight games this season.
By all rights, the Indianapolis Colts should be roadkill sometime around 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Entering wild card Sunday, no team will be hotter than the Baltimore Ravens. They have won five straight to finish at 11-5, the same as their opponents, the Tennessee Titans. The game will be played in Nashville because the Titans won the AFC division on a tiebreaker with the Colts. The Titans boast a two-time rushing king in Derrick Henry, one of only eight players in history to gallop for more than 2,000 yards over the course of a season.
But Tennessee, like Indy, is also in big trouble.
The Ravens were 14-2 last season, but were eliminated by Henry, who rushed for 195 yards as the Titans prevailed 28-12 in a divisional playoff. It's natural for the Ravens to want revenge, no matter how hard coach John Harbaugh insists it won't be their motivation.
At the same time, quarterback Lamar Jackson won't even pretend this game isn't about his personal redemption.
Consider the Ravens' numbers with Jackson, the 2019 most valuable player who turns 24 on Thursday, at the helm:
Regular season: 30-7 win-loss record; 30.6 points per game; 206.0 rush yards per game; 1.9 sacks per game; 1.0 giveaways per game.
Post-season: 0-2 W-L record; 14.5 points per game; 137.5 rush yards per game; 5.5 sacks per game; 3.0 giveaways per game.
After just three seasons as a pro, Jackson has a reputation of being a player who fails to show up for the big game.
More crudely put, he's a choker. “I'm trying to erase that narrative,” Jackson said Wednesday. “That's No. 1 on my mind, for sure.”
Odds say he does it. Interestingly, the Ravens are a 4.5-point road favourite.
It's more than the law of averages that are suggesting they'll knock off the Titans.
It's their momentum, and the fact that Jackson knows he has something to prove in the post-season.
As good as he is, he should prove it.
OFF THE TEE
Trevor Lawrence has declared for the 2021 NFL draft.
“I really feel like I'm a man now and I'm ready to take on those challenges,” said the Clemson quarterback — who is certain to be taken first overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars — on social media.
Lawrence was a Heisman Trophy runner-up to Alabama wide receiver Devonta Smith on Wednesday. A mock draft conducted by CBS Sports the day before looked like this:
1. Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars
2. Penei Sewell, OL, Jets
3. Zach Wilson, QB, Dolphins
4. Justin Fields, QB, Falcons
5. Devonta Smith, WR, Bengals
6. Ja'marr Chase, WR, Eagles Wilson going to the Dolphins tells you that not everybody believed general manager Chris Grier when he said he's happy Tua Tagovailoa — the No. 5 pick from 2020 — will remain the team's starting QB going forward.
For Chase to go in the No. 6 spot says the game-changing winner of the Fred Biletnikoff Award as U.S. college's best receiver in 2019 is the prize Philadelphia gets for what will be remembered as the Tank Game.
The most recent words addressing the game come from Eagles veteran centre Jason Kelce, who tried to clear some air on Instagram by saying neither he nor his teammates threatened a mutiny after head coach Doug Pederson replaced starting quarterback Jalen Hurts with third-stringer Nate Sudfeld on Sunday.
“I went up to Doug and asked him if he was taking Hurts out. He said `Yes, I think Nate's earned the right to play,' Kelce wrote. “I said, `Everyone else is staying in?' He said, `Absolutely.' At no point was anything from me or anyone else confrontational.”
Quarterback Lamar Jackson won’t even pretend this game isn’t about his personal redemption.
GOING DEEP
Good news from Cleveland: no positive COVID tests reported Wednesday. … Rams have activated WR Cooper Kupp from the reserve/covid-19 list. … Ravens DE Calais Campbell on his mindset heading into Tennessee: “Derrick Henry is one of the best running backs to ever play this game and he's in the zone right now. I take pride in the challenge to line up and try to shut him down.” … Texans are hiring Nick Caserio, the Patriots' VP of player personnel, as their next GM. … Saints coach Sean Payton, on the possibility of WR Michael Thomas returning from the IR for Sunday's wild card game against the Bears. “I'm going to see what this week holds,” he said. “I know he's been working at it.”