Of the four quarterbacks that remain in the NFL Playoffs, there may be none that has more to prove than Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens. He and his team have been one of the best in the regular season over the past few years, but have routinely come up short in the postseason when the games matter the most.

NFL: Ravens Will Need To Overcome Mahomes To Reach Their Goals

Reporter: What do you like about competing against Patrick Mahomes

Lamar Jackson: “I don’t like competing against him at all.”

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) January 24, 2024

The franchise is hoping that this will be the year that they are finally able to make it over the hump, but they’ll have to defeat one of the best playoff performers that we have seen in recent memory.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have had a dominant run over the past half-decade plus. They are playing in their 6th straight AFC Championship Game, looking for their third Super Bowl title in that span, and their quarterback was the NFL MVP last season. They’re the team standing in the way of Jackson and the Ravens getting to the big game, and Baltimore will have to overcome their history against Kansas City in order to advance.

Since becoming the starter midway through his rookie season, Jackson is 1-3 against the Chiefs. He and Mahomes faced off once during each regular season from 2018 to 2021, and Baltimore’s only win came in the most recent matchup.

Jackson Calls Matchup With Mahomes A “Heavyweight Fight”

Lamar Jackson talking about how it is to play against Patrick Mahomes:

“He’s a great quarterback, definitely a hall of famer”

Game respect game

(: @AryePulli )

pic.twitter.com/pYJDE4lQ9o

— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) January 24, 2024

In a press conference leading up to this weekend’s AFC Championship, Jackson was asked about his thoughts on competing against the reigning MVP, and he joked that he’d rather not have to go through Mahomes to achieve his goals:

“I don’t like competing against him at all. (Laughter) He’s a great quarterback, definitely a Hall of Famer…Two up and coming greats going toe-to-toe like a heavyweight fight”

Jackson is expected to take home the NFL MVP award this season. He led the Ravens to the best record in the AFC, securing the #1 seed, and did so by accounting for 4,499 total yards and 29 combined touchdowns.

Mahomes will be playing in just his second road postseason game of his career, but he proved that he can win away from home last week in Buffalo. For the first time in the 6 championship game appearances, the Chiefs will be listed as underdogs. The spread is currently sitting at -3.5 in favor of the Ravens.