Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens narrowly defeated Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in a Thursday night thriller, 35-34.
Jackson was excellent once again for the Ravens, completing 25 of 33 passing attempts for 290 yards and four touchdowns, which propelled Baltimore over Cincinnati despite a huge night from Burrow and star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase.
Jackson solidified his status as the frontrunner in the MVP race, which led to an impassioned discussion on ESPN's Get Up on Friday morning.
"I'm gonna be honest. Let's take away history and only focus on this season. He's the best player in the world," ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark said. "To me, that includes Patrick Mahomes. That includes Joe Burrow. That includes any other non-quarterback that you want to talk about in this conversation. It's only about winning a championship for Lamar Jackson right now, and based on his play? It's a no brainer that they have everything offensively to do it. But if your defense can't stop a nosebleed, then you don't have a chance to beat a team like the Kansas City Chiefs who have a Patrick Mahomes. The Kansas City Chiefs who have a defense. And what makes me nervous is Lamar Jackson wins his third MVP. We know this season he's the runaway best player in the world, and he's still at home watching with us on Super Bowl Sunday because of a defense that's inept.
Those were all good points made by Clark. But Bart Scott chimed in and cut to the chase very quickly.
"Right now, Lamar Jackson is Peyton Manning and Patrick Mahomes is Tom Brady," Scott said, harkening the stellar play of Manning to the repeated championships of Brady.
"Right now, Lamar Jackson is Peyton Manning and Patrick Mahomes is Tom Brady."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 8, 2024
—@BartScott57 on if Lamar Jackson can get over the hump and defeat Kansas City despite the Ravens' defensive struggles 👀 pic.twitter.com/lajoHozIYO
It took Manning some time to not only overcome the excellence of the New England Patriots, but to cash it in with a Super Bowl title. Of course, Manning ended up capturing two championships in his Hall of Fame career.
Who knows what the future holds for Jackson, but with his incredibly high level of play, it still seems like a matter of when, not if, he captures the elusive Lombardi Trophy before the end of his career.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Analyst Compares Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes Rivalry to Hall of Fame Duo.
