It’s Lamar Jackson versus everyone else in the NFL MVP race

BALTIMORE – The AP MVP race takes center stage in Week 8 of the NFL regular season: He’s the Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson – and everyone else.

Even by Jackson’s exceptionally high standards, the All-Pro superstar was so sensational during the Ravens’ five-game winning streak that he established a large lead over the remainder of the field. Jackson’s performance is the biggest reason why Baltimore (5-2), AFC North co-leaders with the Pittsburgh Steelers, leads the league in total offense, rushing attack and is tied for first in points with the Washington Commanders.

Of course, Jackson’s play is not the only reason the Ravens are thriving. At this point, Jackson’s closest competitor for the AP MVP award could also be certainly one of his teammates from Baltimore’s offensive defense.

After joining Baltimore in free agency, the All-Pro running back Derrick Henry leads the NFL in rushing again. The Ravens’ signing of Henry turned out to be the best move of the NFL offseason (Dallas Cowboys fans can attest to that) because Henry complemented Jackson well, to say the least.

Without a doubt, on condition that passionate fans of the franchise have a lot to root for, these are strong moments for the Ravens, who travel on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns (1-6). Ultimately, though, Jackson’s legacy might be defined by how he performs in the postseason. There continues to be much work to be done in this effort.

To his credit, Jackson sees the larger picture.

“I’m chasing something right now,” Jackson told reporters Monday night after visiting the game in which Baltimore won 41-31 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“Every match will be the same for me. I will be the same person. I try to win every match.”

In the opening of the NFL season, the visiting Ravens lost to the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. After that loss, the Ravens and Jackson faced the Chiefs, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, to 1-5.

Then in the second game, Baltimore lost at home to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Since then, nevertheless, the Ravens have been unstoppable: Among the victories in this series are convincing victories over the Buffalo Bills, who lead the AFC East commanders and Washington, who occupy first place in the NFC East. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7, Jackson had 281 passing yards, five touchdown passes and 52 rushing yards.

While some may consider it a stretch to suggest that the two-time MVP has never played higher, well, facts are facts.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh disagrees with that assessment.

“He does it at a very high level,” Harbaugh said. “I’m proud of him. I’m happy for him. He’s a great leader and a great player.”

After spending his first eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans, Henry is seeing greatness – as close as possible – at the most significant position.

“He’s the type of guy who can have a really fantastic game and doesn’t even know his stats,” Henry said of Jackson. “All he knows are the guys he threw to and the guys who scored. Dude is just amazing. A few weeks ago in an interview I said, “This is definitely the GOAT (biggest ever).” “

In his position, Henry can be climbing the all-time scoring ladder.

The Ravens aggressively pursued Henry this offseason, believing that he and Jackson – the biggest dual-threat quarterback in league history – could mix to form a historic offensive line. The Ravens appear to have nailed it.

Henry, 30, led the NFL in rushing in consecutive seasons (2019, 2020). During his final season with the Titans, he scored nearly 1,200 yards (1,167), rushing for 12 touchdowns and leading the league with 280 carries.

Already this season, Henry has scored 10 touchdowns, including eight rushing. The 2020 AP Offensive Player of the Year has a personal-best average of 6.5 yards on 134 rushing attempts in the NFL, and has two rushes of at the very least 81 yards.

If Henry maintains his current pace of 124.7 yards per game, he’ll finish with 2,120 rushing yards and break the single-season league record of two,105 yards set by Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson in 1984.

“The offensive line is doing a great job,” Henry said. “All the credit goes to them.”

Jackson cheers on his teammate.

“It’s there. I feel like (Henry) has a great chance to do that,” Jackson said. “He can do it. I believe he can do it.”

The Ravens defense was historically great last season. He’s not as dominant statistically this season: Baltimore’s opponents are averaging 25.7 points, which ranks twenty seventh in the league, and their defense is last in passing.

Fortunately for the Ravens, the combination of Jackson and Henry allowed Baltimore to compensate for offense.

“When you put the team first and focus on execution and defining who we want to be as a team, then the individual stuff is just window dressing,” Henry said. “It will take care of itself.”

On social media, Ravens doubters rightly indicate that the team has been here before.

Once again, Baltimore is racking up yards and points in bunches on their technique to potentially clinching the top overall seed in the AFC playoffs. During Jackson’s time in Baltimore, the Ravens twice failed to succeed in the Super Bowl despite having home field advantage. Despite being favored in last season’s AFC Championship Game, the Ravens lost to the Chiefs 17-10 at M&T Bank Stadium.

For now, though, the Ravens are having fun with their winning streak, Jackson’s pursuit of his third AP MVP award and second in as many seasons, and Henry’s pursuit of the NFL’s fastest single-season mark. The postseason just isn’t the Ravens’ primary goal. But there’s a very good probability it is going to occur again soon.

And the query might be whether the Ravens will finally win the most significant thing with Jackson at the helm.