Patrick Mahomes Knows KC Chiefs Face ‘Tall Task’ With Lamar Jackson in AFC Title Game

Kansas City's two-time MVP winner recognizes the challenge of slowing down the likely 2023-24 MVP in the AFC Championship Game.

To kick off the Kansas City Chiefs' current playoff run, they made quick work of the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card round. After that, the Buffalo Bills kept a Divisional Round contest close but ultimately came up short.

Kansas City knows that in the AFC Championship Game, the Baltimore Ravens could turn the difficulty sliders up another notch or two. A large reason why is quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Jackson, the likely 2023-24 NFL MVP winner, is enjoying one of his best seasons this year. The former first-round pick found great success in Todd Monken's offense during the regular season, throwing for a career-high in yards and remaining a lethal threat on the ground. He started off slow in last weekend's win over the Houston Texans, although he bounced back in time to score four total touchdowns. 

Ahead of this Sunday's game, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke about the challenge Jackson poses. 

"Yeah, no, it's challenging," Mahomes said. "The way he's able to just be a competitor and score the football, obviously, and then their entire team. It's a tall task. You've got to go out there and play your best football and if you make any mistakes, it seems like the game's going to go the other way. We've been able to play in a couple games, not in a few years now, but I've admired watching him from afar and know that it's going to be a great challenge for us every time we go up against him."

Mahomes, a two-time MVP winner, is widely regarded as the best quarterback in the league. Jackson, while not quite that same level of player, is probable to join that multi-MVP club next month. The list includes talents like Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Steve Young, Joe Montana and more. 

Kansas City's signal-caller said Jackson is "going to be the MVP for a reason," citing his improvement as a major factor. 

"I think the biggest thing you like to see in other quarterbacks is how they improve every single year," Mahomes said. "Obviously everybody talked about his running, but you can see how he's developed as a passer. Throwing from within the pocket, arm angles, making the accurate throw in big situations and big moments. That's what the great quarterbacks do, and he continues to get better and better every single year. I knew we were going to play in a lot of games like this as our careers [have] gone on, and I'm sure this will be the first of many."

Jackson threw 24 passing touchdowns during the regular season, yet he still managed to make a huge impact through the air. In addition to the aforementioned personal best in passing yards, he posted the lowest bad throw percentage of his career (per Pro-Football-Reference) with his most on-target passes. Several other advanced statistics such as yards per attempt, passer rating and completion percentage indexes signal his growth as a pure passer. It didn't come without sacrificing much of what makes Jackson unique, though.

In 16 games, Jackson led all quarterbacks with 821 rushing yards. That was his most since 2020, as were his five rushing touchdowns. He also led all field generals in rushing yards per attempt. There isn't a more lethal dual-threat player in the NFL, although Bills quarterback Josh Allen makes it a conversation. Jackson, though, has such an insane blend of vision, quickness and speed that he's extremely hard to track down or contain.

This year, many analysts have indicated that the way to beat Baltimore is to make Jackson throw the football. Keep him in the pocket, make him go through his progressions and pressure him into a mistake. While that's valid, his growth makes it difficult for any defensive game plan to stop him. The criticism he faced earlier in his career doesn't hold as much water now. Ahead of the conference title game, Mahomes doesn't think it ever made sense to begin with.  

"I think so a little bit but I mean, to me, there never was criticism because you just cut the tape on and watch him play," Mahomes said. "I mean, dude won MVP his first full year starting. He was throwing the football, he was running the football, he was doing whatever it took to win. I think we've kind of started to break through that mold now. The quarterbacks before us kind of set that standard and we've been able to kind of keep rising the level to, hopefully, even higher standards. Hopefully, the kids behind us do the same. I'm glad to see the level he continues to grow and get better and better. Obviously, I don't want him to play great this weekend, but I am glad to see where he's gotten to." 

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