Can Lamar Jackson go from MVP-caliber quarterback to a Super Bowl winner?

Lamar Jackson has won every conceivable individual accolade. The quarterback won the Heisman Trophy in 2016, earning the honor of college football’s best player despite playing at typically overlooked Louisville. Three years later, he was winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award, something he’s likely to take home again this season.

Jackson is a dynamic player, one that makes the Ravens a tough team to beat. In the regular season. At least that was the knock heading into this year’s playoffs.

It’s not as though there isn’t some merit to the criticism. Jackson is 58-19 as a starter in the regular season; that’s a crazy .753 winning percentage. During those 77 games, the quarterback has thrown for 125 touchdowns and rushed for 29 more. He’s a two-way player unlike anything the league has ever seen.

But in the playoffs, things have changed. Heading into this year, Jackson was just 1-3 in the postseason. In those four games, he’d thrown just three touchdowns to five interceptions, while only rushing for one score. In the playoffs, where defenses tend to clamp down, Jackson’s style had proven in effective.

The quarterback started to change that narrative a week ago, however. In a dominant, 34-10 victory over the Texans in the Divisional Round, Jackson threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 100 yards and another pair of scores. It was a command performance, one that started to answer a lot of the critics.

Now in his first trip to the AFC Championship Game, Jackson can silence almost everyone. Leading the Ravens to the Super Bowl would be the final feather in his cap.

Steve Quinne’s pick: Ravens to win the Super Bowl (+205)

Yes, the Ravens are at home for the AFC title game, but that’s not all that important to them. During the regular season, Baltimore was actually better on the road (7-1) than it was at M&T Bank Stadium (6-3). Lamar Jackson’s game travels, but it also isn’t unbeatable at home. That’s a bit of a concern against a Chiefs team that has been to three of the last four Super Bowls, winning a pair of Lombardi Trophies. Kansas City is seasoned, led by a quarterback of its own who can work magic. Patrick Mahomes is 13-3 in the playoffs, with 38 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions. Even if the Ravens get by the Chiefs, they’ll likely face the 49ers in the Super Bowl. That’s a matchup against arguably the league’s best team. That’s too hard of a gauntlet to justify barely more than a 2-to-1 return.