Ravens QB Lamar Jackson voted team MVP for second straight year

While the odds of Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson repeating as the Most Valuable Player in the NFL for the second year in a row are slim to none at this point even though his statistical drop off from his historic 2019 breakout campaign hasn’t been drastically different, he can at least take solace in being voted the team MVP for the second consecutive season.

A pool of media members that cover the team voted for Jackson to become just the second player since former running back Ray Rice to win it in back-to-back years. Rice first won it in 2011 and then again in 2012 just before Baltimore made its historic playoff run that resulted in the second Superbowl title in franchise history.

All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey came in second in the voting and Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker tied for the third-most votes.

“I appreciate that,” Jackson said. “You know, I always tell you guys I feel like that’s a team award. We’ve been through so much adversity this year and humps and stuff like that. Guys just found a way to pull through and keep fighting, especially for this playoff run.”

The MVP award is typically given to a player who is either coming off of or amid a historic record-breaking season and whose contributions in key moments were some of if not the most pivotal and/or awe-inspiring of the year.

Just like Rice in 2011 and 2012, Jackson has been the focal point of the offense and the engine that drives the success of the team. Without him, who knows how far out of contention the Ravens would be but with him, they are arguably the most dangerous team heading into the postseason despite being holding one of the wildcard spots in the new expanded playoff format.

Coming into the 2020 season, one of the hottest questions of the offseason outside of where Tom Brady would land and the status of Dak Prescott’s contract situation was whether the Ravens offense as a whole and Jackson, in particular, were going to be able to replicate the same revolutionary level of success as they did in 2019.

Before the Ravens started their current four-game winning streak, it had appeared that the rest of the league had caught up to or at least better figured out how to defend and attack Jackson, the offense, and the team as a whole.

However, since recovering from his bout with COVID-19 and even before, Jackson has been the glue that has kept the Ravens’ ship afloat, the wind beneath their sails and spark that has ignited their last season comeback after a rough midseason slump marred by injuries and a COVID outbreak.

“He’s a guy that can look tough situations squarely in the eye and try to figure out a way to overcome them,” Harbaugh said. “He never gets too down about anything. He’s always upbeat and always works hard.”

His most memorable performance of the season to date came in Week 14 on Monday Night Football when he returned to the field after spending nearly the entire fourth quarter in the locker receiving treatment for cramps while the Cleveland Browns chipped away at the lead that he impressively built and saved the Ravens season in the final minutes of the game.

He trotted out to the field with the team trailing by a point and the offense facing a fourth-and-5 just outside of field goal range and connected on a 44-yard bomb to Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown to put the Ravens up and when the Browns tied the game less than a minute later, he masterfully orchestrated a drive to set Tucker up for the eventual game-winning field goal.

The Ravens have been all in and fully invested in Jackson since he took over the reins for former Superbowl MVP Joe Flacco midway through his rookie season and just like in 2018, he has guided the Ravens to a second-half surge down the stretch. He’s a generational talent who the franchise believes will lead them back to the mountain top and even greater heights.

“Lamar is a special person. He’s a talented guy, of course,” Harbaugh said. “He’s in the process of proving himself, and making a name for himself, and building a career as a quarterback in the National Football League. … We’re proud to be a part of it and we’ll help in every way we can.”

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