After the Baltimore Ravens lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, all of the "he can't win the big one" haters have come to circle around superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Apparently winning two MVP awards in five years isn't enough to stop the boo birds from coming out. While Jackson seems like the player best equipped to help end the stranglehold Mahomes and the Chiefs have on the league, ESPN's Mike Greenberg seems to think Baltimore is not as viable a contender as what the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Jordan Love have cooking.
Greenberg ranked Love as the non-Mahomes quarterback most likely to win the Super Bowl, putting Jackson fourth on his hypothetical list. San Francisco's Brock Purdy and Cincinnati's Joe Burrow were also ranked ahead of Jackson, with Chargers stud Justin Herbert rounding out the top five.
.@Espngreeny's top five quarterbacks that will win their first Super Bowl next 😧 pic.twitter.com/vBkMLbZjhr
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 14, 2024
Mike Greenberg foolishly puts Jordan Love over Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson
While Jackson is a better quarterback than Burrow, the fact the Bengals QB has been to a Super Bowl at least makes that ranking somewhat debatable and not completly overcome by lunacy. Purdy also has the benefit of going through the much weaker NFC before getting to Mahomes. But Love? Foolish.
Love has had one above-average season as a starter, and the first half of it was so poor that some were questioning his viability as a long-term piece. Love dominated the Cowboys in the postseason, but shouldn't Greenberg ask himself if a terrific 10-game stretch makes him a more viable Super Bowl participant than Jackson?
Lamar was one vote away from being a unanimous MVP for the second season, all while commanding a Ravens team that far exceeds Green Bay's depth and overall talent, and has made it to an AFC Championship game. Putting Love with Jackson in any capacity at this stage is simply not doing enough homework.
Jackson will have the stink of postseason losses on him, fairly or unfairly, until he shows that he can slay the Mahomes dragon. While there's a good chance someone else finishes the job before he does, nothing about Love's career suggests he is currently better positioned to take down Mahomes than his chief AFC rival in Jackson.