Poor performance conveys just how much Lamar Jackson means to Ravens

There are many ways to define Most Valuable Player, and Baltimore Ravens fans certainly learned that last season, in the Lamar Jackson vs. Josh Allen debate. Is the MVP the best overall player on the league's top team? Or is the MVP the player whose presence or absence most directly impacts the team's results?

Jackson had his best statistical season ever in 2024, putting up numbers that were superior to the two campaigns in which he actually won the MVP award. However, Allen claimed the honors over him.

You can gauge the MVP by not just the good performances, but also the bad ones, and last night was a dreadful showing for Jackson, individually.

As one would expect, it was an awful result for the team as well, with the Ravens losing 32-14, at home, to the previously 3-8 Cincinnati Bengals.

Lamar completed 17 of 32 passes for 246 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, a 22.5 QBR, and a 65.4 QB rating. He also lost two fumbles, bringing his total number of turnovers to three. He was also sacked three times.

As a team, the Ravens committed five TOs, leading to an embarrassing outcome.

In the three games in which Jackson did not play this season, the Ravens averaged 14.3 points per game. In the eight full games that he has played (so not counting that week four loss to the Kansas City Chiefs) Baltimore has averaged 28.3 points per game.

As Jackson goes, so do the Ravens, and that was clear on Thanksgiving night. By this definition, the Ravens QB1 is the MVP. His teammate, starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley, certainly thinks so.

“He’s definitely the Most Valuable Player, I think the majority in the NFL would agree,” Stanley said in a one-on-one interview with Ratings.org.

“I can’t really put it into words, but it’s been an impact, not only on the team, but the whole organization. It’s been an organizational impact that he’s had, it’s been a city-wide impact.

"I think he’s been doing this on a consistent level and just been improving. It’s kind of immeasurable.”

You can see just how much Jackson impacts the game and his team from a statistical standpoint just by reading the box score. However, his impact is much greater than that.

His presence alone can impact the game in ways that are impossible to quantify. And when he is on, which is almost all the time, the Ravens offense clicks. For the rare times that he is off, as he obviously was last night, the unit sputters.

This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Lamar Jackson's bad performances also convey his value to the team