Having QB Lamar Jackson makes the Baltimore Ravens perennial Super Bowl contenders—but those aren’t thoughts for late July. Not for Jackson anyway, who refused to engage in a question about the team’s 2025 Super Bowl qualifications. Speaking to reporters at the outset of training camp, he seemed leery given their history.
“To be honest, I’m really not trying to think that far [ahead], because every time we had those discussions, man, we get to the playoffs, but we don’t punch in”, Jackson said about talking about Super Bowl expectations now, via the Ravens’ website. “We don’t finish, so I’m pretty much just trying to finish camp the correct way and then get ready for the Bills. I’m not really trying to think about the Super Bowl yet”.
The Ravens selected Lamar Jackson in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Since then, they have reached the postseason in every year except one, in which he missed five games. Baltimore went on a 1-4 slide without him, and they collapsed.
On a personal level, Jackson has played in five postseasons for the Ravens, never reaching the Super Bowl. Indeed, they have yet to win multiple games in a single postseason since selecting him. To his, and their, credit, they have won at least one game in their last three appearances with him. Considering the Steelers’ losing streak going back to 2016, that’s not insignificant.
“Things happen. It happens, man. It’s football”, Jackson said of the Ravens’ playoff struggles preventing them from reaching a Super Bowl. “Things are meant to happen. It’s God’s time. It’s not my time, because if it was my time, we would’ve had seven Super Bowls in a row already. Real talk”.
Last season, Baltimore came close to tying the Buffalo Bills on a last-minute two-point conversion attempt. Pro Bowl TE Mark Andrews could not hold onto the ball, and he later faced death threats. If only those poor souls understood it just wasn’t God’s time for the Ravens to reach the Super Bowl yet.
During his two postseason games last year, Lamar Jackson went 34-for-46 for 429 yards with 4 touchdown passes to 1 interception. He rushed for 120 yards, but he also lost a fumble. Both Jackson’s interception and fumble came in the Ravens’ loss to the Bills, stifling another potential Super Bowl run.
Of course, Josh Allen hasn’t taken the Bills much closer to the Super Bowl than Jackson has the Ravens. In the AFC, everybody is giving way to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Since 2018, Jackson’s rookie season, the Chiefs have reached the conference finals every year. They have made it to the Super Bowl five times, winning three, including in 2023, when they knocked out Jackson and the Ravens in the conference finals.
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