{"id":15709,"date":"2024-12-30T02:52:29","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T02:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709"},"modified":"2024-12-30T02:52:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T02:52:29","slug":"update-lamar-jacksons-mvp-bid-shouldnt-distract-baltimore-ravens-from-what-really-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Following a\u00a0dominant\u00a0Christmas Day performance against the\u00a0Houston Texans, all the talk surrounding the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0was about Lamar Jackson playing his way back to MVP favorite status.<\/p>\n<p>It shouldn\u2019t be, though. After all, the Ravens have a much bigger trophy to chase.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-3 zephr-feature_video-player md:my-8 \">\n<div class=\"w-full md:m-auto md:max-w-default\" data-testid=\"video-player\">\n<div id=\"video-player\" class=\"w-full px-0 aspect-video\">\n<div data-stn-player=\"yi0rzc5q\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/library.sportingnews.com\/styles\/crop_style_16_9_desktop\/s3\/2024-12\/Lamar%20Jackson%20122324.jpg?h=895fa506&amp;itok=MKSJjPP7\" alt=\"Lamar Jackson's MVP bid shouldn't distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters image\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lost in the MVP drama between Jackson and Josh Allen of the\u00a0Buffalo Bills\u00a0is that Baltimore is heating up at the exact right time. The Ravens are winners of three straight and 11 of 14 after starting 0-2, and they\u2019ve taken command of the AFC North.\u00a0 All they need to do to clinch the division \u2014 and the likely No. 3 seed in the playoffs \u2014 is beat the 3-12\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0at home to close out their regular season.<\/p>\n<p>The Ravens have been battle-tested against fellow playoff teams the past two weeks, and have dominated both of them by a combined 65-19 margin of victory. The Bills are also rolling, but their defense is a major red flag with upwards of 40 points given up in two of their past three contests. They also barely squeaked by the 3-12\u00a0New England Patriots\u00a0on Sunday, winning 24-21.<\/p>\n<p>If the Bills lose out, Baltimore could be the No. 2 seed. That\u2019s highly unlikely considering Buffalo\u2019s opponents are the 4-11\u00a0New York Jets\u00a0and then the Patriots again, but the point remains that the Ravens are currently playing much better football. That will help Jackson\u2019s MVP case over Allen\u2019s, but more importantly, it makes the Ravens the biggest threat to the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0in the AFC playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>That should be Baltimore\u2019s primary concern in the season\u2019s final stretch, and it very likely is despite the noise from the narrative-obsessed NFL media. The Chiefs, despite being 15-1, are vulnerable with an offense that\u00a0hasn\u2019t scored more than 30 points\u00a0in a game all season. It\u2019s worth noting the Ravens were an\u00a0Isaiah Likely foot placement\u00a0away from taking them to overtime back in Week 1.<\/p>\n<p>Kansas City is beatable, and the only reason it feels otherwise is because they\u2019re the back-to-back defending champions. Individual awards are great, but the bigger story is that Jackson and the Ravens are playing their way into an opportunity to do something much more impressive: win a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following a\u00a0dominant\u00a0Christmas Day performance against the\u00a0Houston Texans, all the talk surrounding the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0was about Lamar Jackson playing his way back to MVP favorite status. It shouldn\u2019t be,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following a\u00a0dominant\u00a0Christmas Day performance against the\u00a0Houston Texans, all the talk surrounding the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0was about Lamar Jackson playing his way back to MVP favorite status. It shouldn\u2019t be,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-30T02:52:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709\",\"name\":\"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-30T02:52:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-30T02:52:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg\",\"width\":760,\"height\":427},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Following a\u00a0dominant\u00a0Christmas Day performance against the\u00a0Houston Texans, all the talk surrounding the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0was about Lamar Jackson playing his way back to MVP favorite status. It shouldn\u2019t be,...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2024-12-30T02:52:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":760,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709","name":"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-30T02:52:29+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-30T02:52:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lamar-Jackson-122324.jpg","width":760,"height":427},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15709#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UPDATE: Lamar Jackson\u2019s MVP bid shouldn\u2019t distract Baltimore Ravens from what really matters"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15713,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15709\/revisions\/15713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}